U.K. players - what forms of photo ID are there?

[jerrylee]

Not being from the U.K., I'm not sure about all the forms of ID cards that exist which have both a photo and a signature. I know a passport and U.K. driving license have these elements. Are there any other government issued IDs or other ID cards in existence for residents and citizens of the U.K.? For example, in Canada I heard there's the Medicare card which is a provincial health insurance card used at hospitals, etc. It has photo+signature. Do you guys have something similar?

Also, I understand that the U.K. driving license is a pink plastic card, but I even heard of some people who have a paper license without a photo. Do you know if these people can apply for a new pink license with photo?

Thanks everyone.

[vinylweatherman]

Not being from the U.K., I'm not sure about all the forms of ID cards that exist which have both a photo and a signature. I know a passport and U.K. driving license have these elements. Are there any other government issued IDs or other ID cards in existence for residents and citizens of the U.K.? For example, in Canada I heard there's the Medicare card which is a provincial health insurance card used at hospitals, etc. It has photo+signature. Do you guys have something similar?

Also, I understand that the U.K. driving license is a pink plastic card, but I even heard of some people who have a paper license without a photo. Do you know if these people can apply for a new pink license with photo?

Thanks everyone.

Nationally, that is all there is.

At a local level, local councils issue proof of age cards, but these are intended for those between 18 and 25, so that they can prove their age when buying alcohol and tobacco. Many people have the old non-photo driving license because they are valid right up until the age of 70, and are only replaced with the new photo one if there is a need to reissue it. Change of address is the most common reason to reissue the drivers license. Anyone with a paper license is free to request a photo version at any time, but will have to pay around £50. The passport is the most secure document, and as a result is not quick to obtain, needing many checks and a face to face interview.
There are a few other forms of photo card, but these are probably not recognised as proof of ID. These would be railcards, annual season tickets to football matches, and even an annual theme park pass. The over 60s can now get a free bus pass, which also has a photo.
There is nothing in the way of a photo card that is issued to all citizens as a matter of course, they are all primarily for another purpose, and need to be applied for.

[winbig]

Nationally, that is all there is.

At a local level, local councils issue proof of age cards, but these are intended for those between 18 and 25, so that they can prove their age when buying alcohol and tobacco. Many people have the old non-photo driving license because they are valid right up until the age of 70, and are only replaced with the new photo one if there is a need to reissue it. Change of address is the most common reason to reissue the drivers license. Anyone with a paper license is free to request a photo version at any time, but will have to pay around £50. The passport is the most secure document, and as a result is not quick to obtain, needing many checks and a face to face interview.
There are a few other forms of photo card, but these are probably not recognised as proof of ID. These would be railcards, annual season tickets to football matches, and even an annual theme park pass. The over 60s can now get a free bus pass, which also has a photo.
There is nothing in the way of a photo card that is issued to all citizens as a matter of course, they are all primarily for another purpose, and need to be applied for.

With identity theft on the rise, what is there to stop it from running rampant in the UK, if residents aren't required to have a photo ID? Without extra checks, such as social security numbers in the USA, I would think it'd be much easier to steal someone's identity in the UK.

[Paul@JetCasino]

I doubt any Casino would accept any form of ID that wasn't nationally recognised as the local ones that VWM mentions are very easy to forge.

If you have no ID I suspect it would come down to birth certificate, bank statement or letter of referral from the bank, proving that they are the person who made the transaction.

There are ways around it, but most people have a passport so these other methods are very rarely used.

[same_old]

There is also some new methods that have recently come about and look to be the way of the future for verifying people online.

One is called EV ( electronic verification) which verfies the account holder via the white pages, passport , or other means. you basically access the link and you fill in the blanks and get verified that way... What happens is the company links you to certain places and confirms if you are a member there and the information is indeeed correct.

the other method is called Edentiti which is pretty much the same as EV but it is only available for selected countires at this stage, here is the link if you would like to look

http://www.edentiti.com/edentiti-id/index.php

These are going to be the normal way soon enoough as it saves so much time for the paper trail etc. it is a simple few minute process.

A few betting agencies/casino's already use this method.

Regards

Same_old

[Jasminebed]

I doubt any Casino would accept any form of ID that wasn't nationally recognised as the local ones that VWM mentions are very easy to forge.

If you have no ID I suspect it would come down to birth certificate, bank statement or letter of referral from the bank, proving that they are the person who made the transaction.

There are ways around it, but most people have a passport so these other methods are very rarely used.

Perhaps this is true in the UK and most of Europe, but no so much so for North America.

[vinylweatherman]

I doubt any Casino would accept any form of ID that wasn't nationally recognised as the local ones that VWM mentions are very easy to forge.

If you have no ID I suspect it would come down to birth certificate, bank statement or letter of referral from the bank, proving that they are the person who made the transaction.

There are ways around it, but most people have a passport so these other methods are very rarely used.

Not necessarily so. A passport is for travel, and expires after 10 years. People are likely to obtain there first passport when they first have plans to travel. In my case, I got my first passport at the age of 45!!

Many people also drive, but those that are BANNED from driving, either through illness or disability, and have no intention of foreign travel currently have to FULLY RELY on these other non-photo forms of ID. The government have a lists of what should be accepted as good enough to be pretty certain of someone's ID, and there are two lists, one for where a passport or drivers license can be provided, and one for when one cannot. EVERYBODY over the age of 17 is required to be registered on the electoral roll, and registrations are subject to checks to prevent voting frauds. Since no casino accepts anyone under 18, a check against the UK electoral register provides a link between a person and a residential address. It is also possible to check that their deposit method in most cases corresponds to that person, the exception being methods such as UKash and virtual cards.

The UK government is being pressed to introduce a national ID card to be in line with most other countries, but spectacular security and data handling issues by the government has lead to a situation where the public cannot trust that the government will not "lose" the very extensive personal data associated with a national ID card scheme, which in the wrong hands would make ID fraud child's play, rather than merely "easy". Doubts have previously been raised about the government's over enthusiasm for data collection, seeming to want to store far more data within the national ID database that could ever be justified for what is said to be an ID card scheme, leading to suspicions that the government is trying to fly something else in "under the radar" during the introduction of the scheme.

ID cards in the UK seems a dead issue at present, but new biometric passports are not. These will be more secure than the old ones, but the Rushmore fraud case has illustrated the weakness in asking players to provide "a copy of your passport" as part of the verification process.

The current verification process relies very much on the person being verified to provide COPIES of documents, which is inherrently insecure, creating a headache for some genuine players, but not too much of an obstacle to the determined and EXPERIENCED fraudster.

What is really needed is to be able to verify who is actually sat at the computer pushing the keys, not whose identity is being used for the transaction.

I expect it will be industries and governments with far more to lose through ID fraud than casinos that will push for a technical solution to this, and further push for international standards that will make it workable.

As for forgery, it is probably easier to obtain a fake drivers license or passport than a false item of "local" documentation, since the value of such government documents has lead to a thriving black market fed by master forgers and criminal gangs. A recent TV documentary illustrated how EASY it was to buy a false ID from these criminal gangs, and how INEXPENSIVE they could be. The main driving factor for this trade has been illegal immigration, one of the most lucrative criminal activities, said to be even MORE profitable, and possibly lower risk, than drug trafficking.