Seemingly, the UK makes loses of about 1.7 billion pounds (3.06 billion US dollars) a year to identity theft, according to Andy Burnham, the Home Office minister. This amounts to an average loss of 35 pounds (about 63 dollars) per person, and highlights again the controversial issue of identity cards in the UK, which have long been called for. The cost of introducing this technology has long been a prohibitive factor, but there are increasingly calls for the initiative to get underway even in light of the hefty bill, as the issue of identity theft becomes more and more urgent.
Burnham said national ID cards could be "a major breakthrough" for ID protection, citing "fingerprint or eye scan"on the cards together with the owner's name, address and date of birth would give people "much greater control over the use of their identity" and prevent criminals registering multiple identities.