I got my new passport yesterday at the cost of a Kin?s ransom?
Presumably the extra charges are to support the wireless antenna and ?ID? chip that are built into the back page of the thing? No doubt I will now be able to ?fast? track? though the normal time wasting routines at airports around the world? Course not ? it is a complete waste of time and money like the ID card will be?
They will bring it in eventually but like so many other failed IT projects it will be watered down until it becomes like the ID cards everywhere else in the world ? your picture, name and address on it. By then of course they will have spent billions on it and it will all be too late?
I love this bit in the original post: -
In other areas of "usefulness", Mr Byrne said trials were progressing between the Criminal Records Bureau and the Identity and Passport Service, involving 200 volunteers, aimed at reducing the time taken for background criminal checks from four weeks to four days.
What a pile of cock! How exactly are they going to achieve that? For the card to do what they claim it has to be
totally secure and accurate with no chance whatsoever that the biometrics on the card do not relate to the person you claim to be. How will they do a thorough background check in a few days and how will I get mine out here?
Of course they will probably populate the ?Verification Centres? with Nigerians so at least one large portion of the applicants will be processed swiftly.