In Engeland zijn topambtenaren en officieren vanaf het begin niet enthousiast geweest over het "ID-cards scheme", blijkt uit rapporten van 5 jaar geleden, die nu pas openbaar zijn gemaakt met hulp van privacy actievoerders. De Telegraph schrijft:
The authors warned that experts were divided on how reliable biometric data would be as a way of checking identity. "The scheme does less good than hoped, with perceived benefits seemingly not on a scale to justify the costs and some erosion of public support for the scheme," the report said. Chris Grayling, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "Now we know why ministers have fought so hard to release these reports, it is quite clear that it is only ministers that think ID cards are a good idea. "If no one else wants ID cards, then why on earth are we spending billions of pounds on them at a time when Gordon Brown has made such a mess of the public's finances."
Police and immigration officials lacked enthusiasm for the ID cards scheme when it was first proposed, an internal Government review showed. The authors of the "Gateway" report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, wrote of their "concern" about the response to the plans from Government agencies, departments and business. The report also identified a string of "important risks" of launching the scheme, which it is now estimated will cost £4.7 billion.