Since HMRC lost 25 million records, public trust in the government’s introduction of ID cards is fading and alternative schemes are growing in appeal.

UK Biometrics Ltd has proposed a scheme where an individual’s biometric data would be stored on their smart card chips in their credit cards, and there would be no need for a centralised national identity database.

“When required by police or authorities to positively identify themselves the card holder would slot their smart card into a hand held biometric scanner, place their fingertip onto the reader and have their identity confirmed,” said the firm.

The solution would help eliminate fraud as well as giving the ownership of data to the individual.

Matthew James, UK Biometrics Managing Director, said “In the event that someone loses their smart card, their fingerprint cannot be reproduced from the encrypted data held for comparison on the chip.”