Archive - Year 2001

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Multi-use ID cards to offer free digital certificates

December 20, 2001

A new multi-use smart ID card will come with an option of a free digital certificate when it is introduced to the population of 6.8 million from mid-2003, Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, said today (December 20).

Mrs Yau said the smart ID card would have sophisticated security features to protect personal data as well as capacity to provide other value-added services to members of the public.

She said the new smart ID card could also be used as a library card, as well as for driving licence-related functions from 2005/2006.

As part of a drive to boost e-business and e-government, every ID card holder would be offered one year's free use of an e-Cert embedded into the card's memory chip. An e-Cert, issued by the Hongkong Post Certification Authority, is valid for a year and the current fee is $50.

An e-Cert allows the certificate holder to conduct on a secure basis on-line transactions such as changing address details, banking, stock trading, renewal of driving licences and filing of tax returns.

The e-Cert provides users with a unique digital signature that verifies a person's identity. It acts very much like an electronic ID. It can also be used to encrypt a message to ensure content security.

"We have a unique opportunity to give every ID card holder in Hong Kong a free digital certificate - that would really make everyone a cyber citizen in a leading cyber city," she said.

"This would undoubtedly boost the adoption of e-business and the use of e-government services in Hong Kong and help the public become more familiar with the every-day uses of Internet and related technologies."

Only minimal personal data would be stored on the smart ID card's memory chip and any data for non-immigration-related applications would be kept separate and secure to prevent unauthorised access or alteration.

Mrs Yau said the chip in the new smart ID card would not store driving licence details, but the new smart ID card will allow people to check their driving licence data as well as other useful information stored in the backend computer system, such as the current status of their driving offence points.

"Our aim is that from 2005/2006 drivers will no longer need to carry a driving licence unless they want to do so. Traffic enforcement action will be carried out directly through the backend computer systems in a more efficient way," she said.

Mrs Yau said the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) would give the public the option of using the ID card number stored on the chip to access library services and facilities.

As with all other applications, this would be voluntary. Library users could still ask for a plastic library card if they so wished.

Mrs Yau said that in response to concerns about data protection and privacy, the proposed add-on smart ID card applications would be all voluntary.

But she believed the public would find the new features highly convenient and worth having.

She said additional privacy safeguards would be introduced. These included making it a punishable offence for an unauthorised person to access, use, store or disclose data collected under the Registration of Persons Ordinance. Currently there are no provisions to penalise such offences in the Ordinance.

Provisions will also be added into the Registration of Persons Regulations to limit the purposes for which collected personal data may be used.

The new smart ID card will be introduced in phases from mid-2003 until 2007.

The Registration of Persons Ordinance and Regulations will require amendments to provide for the smart elements of the new ID card, the value-added non-immigration applications and the ID card replacement exercise.

The library card application will require an amendment to the Libraries Regulation.

The plan to remove the requirement to physically carry a driving licence while driving will involve amendments to the Road Traffic Ordinance and related legislation.

The harnessing of smart card technology such as the new ID card initiative is one of five key result areas for the 2001 Digital 21 Strategy. The strategy is the blueprint for IT development in the HKSAR and aims to make Hong Kong a leading digital city.

To know more about digital certificates, please click here (http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/ecommerce/pki/pki.html)

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