ID card database holds 538 names

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The database that backs up the national ID cards has officially been unveiled, and so far it holds just 538 names.

Of those, all are British citizens and just one is a foreign nationals, despite people such as overseas students being given the cards since last November. The one foreigner is from the EU.

We asked the Home Office press department if there were two separate databases for foreigners and British citizens, and where data on foreigners was currently being held, but they have as of yet been unable to provide an answer.

ID commissioner not 'safe hands'

Speaking to the home affairs committee, the new identity commissioner Sir Joseph Pilling said he would earn £44,000 for each six months in the role, and would report to the Home Secretary Alan Johnson, not to parliament, the BBC reported.

While he told the committee that he didn't believe it was his job to judge whether the cards were good or bad, he stressed he was still independent.

"If it was a safe pair of hands they were looking for I am probably the wrong person," he was quoted as saying.

Click here for everything you need to know about ID cards.

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