"There would also be savings for service providers as there would be a single definitive source of information about people's identity and possibly a unique personal number for everyone registered on the system".The OGC Review thus confirms that the ID Card database is likely to develop into a reference point database for all the important public services used by the Card holder, and for certain private sector services where there is a requirement to check identity.The Office of National Statistics (ONS) is also planning additional uses of the ID Card database, and is in the second stage of project definition which will exploit the database for purposes unconnected with terrorism, crime, identity fraud and immigration.According to a statement given to Parliament the ONS "has investigated the costs and benefits of a range of potential options for delivering a population register" and has concluded that it should integrate "proposals for a national identity register (NIR) as part of the Government's proposals for ID cards".The ONS will report to Ministers by June 2005 "in more detail how the NIR could function as a population register and exploring opportunities for adding value to existing database developments that could be cost effective ahead of the NIR reaching maturity".As these developments relate to the ID Card database, they also heighten the constitutional and privacy issues identified by the Constitution and Human Rights Committees.Finally, OUT-LAW can resolve one ambiguity over the fingerprinting of passport applicants. Recent press reports have give the impression that that only those applying for passports for the first time will be fingerprinted. A spokesperson for the Labour Party has confirmed that "If you decide to apply for a new passport you will get a new ID card". This means that any applicant for a passport will be fingerprinted, not only for the purposes of the new passport, but for the ID Card and the related database entry.
