Thought I would share this with the thread. It is in my opinion that we are going to see this type of technology within one year here in Ontario.
Who supplies it is going to be the million dollar question. The article was in the Friday paper of the Globe and Mail in Toronto. Sorry I could not get the link right but it is still available on the Globes web site.
Ontario's ID plan spurs privacy fears
Throne Speech unveils proposal for single 'smart card'
RICHARD MACKIE
Queen's Park Bureau; With reports from John Ibbitson and John Saunders
Friday, October 22, 1999
Toronto -- Every resident of Ontario would be required to carry new high-tech ID, possibly using a retina scan or electronic fingerprint, under a proposal in yesterday's Speech from the Throne.The cards would be needed for all dealings with the provincial government, including health insurance, social-assistance payments, students' or seniors' eligibility, or enrolment in an educational institution. Drivers' licences, birth certificates, and hunting and fishing permits also could be incorporated in the cards, which would put Ontario at the forefront of the use of so-called "smart cards" to deliver services.
Smart cards carry information on magnetic strips like those on credit cards; on optical surfaces like those of music CDs; or in embedded computer chips that store and process data.
Eventually, a single card could enable an Ontario resident to gain access to federal as well as provincial services, said Management Board Chairman Chris Hodgson, who is responsible for bringing in the new cards.
The Throne Speech gave no details of the specific technology that would be used but a high-tech firm working with the government to implement the new card says biometrics -- the use of a digital imprint of a finger, retina, or facial or hand feature to identify a person -- is central to the project.
The government first tried to introduce smart cards in 1995 but the plan ran aground because of concerns over individuals' privacy and because the technology was expensive. That same year, Premier Mike Harris praised a Metropolitan Toronto plan to identify welfare recipients by electronic scanning their fingertips. The plan, criticized as treating the needy like criminals, has since been dropped.
Yesterday, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ann Cavoukian, voiced her concern about the new cards.
"We understand the potential public concern that a single wallet card could ultimately serve as a unique identifier for the purposes of tracking and surveillance, and we would resist any attempt to use smart cards for this purpose," she said in a statement.
Ms. Cavoukian said she expects the government to consult her office before introducing the cards. She said new technologies sometimes enhance privacy but she wants to ensure that the cards are used for "appropriate purposes" and that private data are protected.
Richard Wellen, who teaches courses on information and technology at York University, said Ontario needs legal safeguards to "make people comfortable with smart cards" and ensure that they are not used as instruments of social control.
"You have to be cautious with any technology that's going to increase the capacity to gather and match information," he said. "You have to be really cautious."
The promise to bring in the smart cards over the next several years was one of the few unexpected elements in the Throne Speech delivered by Lieutenant-Governor Hilary Weston to the legislative chamber. It emphasized the themes of law and order, balanced budgets, tax cuts, more efficient government, improved education and health-care systems, and upgraded early-childhood education.
The speech also criticized the federal government for not cutting taxes fast enough and said it must act to curb high gasoline prices by September, 2000. To that end, Ontario will establish "a full investigative review of gasoline pricing."
On taxes, Mr. Harris said after the Throne Speech that the federal government is "in a very healthy situation [financially] and yet they've contributed next to nothing to tax competitiveness."
He said he is "very, very, very much concerned" about the federal approach to tax cuts. "It says that if the economy is strong then we'll cut taxes. We have demonstrated and proven . . . that if you don't cut taxes, you won't have a strong economy."
The Ontario government plans to cut personal income tax rates by 20 per cent over the next four years. It also plans to lower taxes on small business and on residential properties.
Liberal Party Leader Dalton McGuinty dismissed the speech as "an empty document from an arrogant government."
"This government is too arrogant to even acknowledge our real problems," he said. "Where's the crackdown on hospital deficits, sky-high tuition, carnage on our highways, gridlock on our streets or homelessness in our communities?"
New Democratic Party Leader Howard Hampton called the speech "ridiculous and insulting" and complained that it "does nothing to address the real needs of the working families of Ontario and reduce the growing gap between the richest and poorest people in Ontario."
Neither Mr. Harris nor Mr. Hodgson could set a date for the introduction of the high-tech smart cards. "Today is the beginning of the start so there will be a lot of discussions and consultations," Mr. Hodgson said.
The card could not be used by another individual because it would be accompanied by an electronic scan of an identifiable physical feature, such as a fingerprint or a retina.
As a result, it would allow transactions to be performed via computers and communications links that now must be done in person or by signed documents.
The result would be more convenient access to services for individuals and more efficient, and less costly operations for the government, Mr. Hodgson said. The cards also would go a long way to reduce fraud in the social-assistance and health-insurance systems.
The government bureaucracy has been moving on the new cards in advance of the Throne Speech.
Ross Hutchison, chairman of Mytec Technologies, which specializes in biometric identification systems, said the Ontario government is already far advanced in preparing its information systems to receive the card.
"They're well out of the blocks, but they're not at the point yet of blasting ahead with applications in the public's hands," he said, "although I would suggest that within the year 2000 that will be happening."
"We have had conversations with the Ontario government," said Jennifer McNaughton, director of sales and marketing for Mytec. Smart cards, she said, are "definitely a very big part of their strategy. They are also considering biometrics as their identification piece."
Mr. Hodgson said advanced-technology cards are being used in European countries such as Germany and France, which has helped bring down the costs. But as yet, there are no cost estimates for the program.
The European experience also will help on the privacy issue, he said. "The Europeans probably have more concerns about privacy than North Americans. And they've been able to do it. So I want to learn from what they've done and build on it."
Discussion Forums
Identification Crisis
Are you comfortable with the idea of a "smart card"?
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