Lords call for ID guards.

This article reports that there are doubts over the British government's ability to prevent breaches of data security in its proposed National Identity Register (NIR), after two influential committees released critical reports last week. The House of Lords all-party Constitution Committee voiced its concerns that public servants and others may gain improper access to data. It recommended the appointment of an independent body as custodian of the NIR, with the power to investigate complaints. Lorenzo Valeri of the Information Assurance Advisory Council said that any independent custodian would have to balance the needs of citizens against the protection of the registry.