Want a Free iPod? Head for the U.K.

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Many countries are considering national ID cards, including the U.S., Australia and the U.K. Additionally, the U.K. government has been under a lot of pressure to combat online fraud after last year’s revelation that its Tax Credits website was hit to the tune of 30 million pounds of fraudulent claims. In light of this, it’s been proposed that a PIN or password be added to the proposed UK national ID card to use for online authentication.

Well, with tongue firmly planted in-cheek (I think), Patrick Cooper, the head of applications and data services in the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry, has an idea he says would be cheaper to implement … and knowing how iPod-crazy the world is, it would probably meet with a lot less resistance.

Actually, he wasn’t limiting it to iPods. Cooper indicated that cell phones or iPods with digital certificates would work. His suggestion:

“My boss would give everyone in the U.K. an iPod. That would also mean there would be no reason for anyone to steal one, because everyone would have one.” Cooper quipped that the iPod scheme would also be a more cost-efficient alternative to other government plans to combat online fraud, such as equipping the proposed National ID Card with a PIN or password system to enable it to work as an online authentication device. Source: News.com

We Say: It’s hard to say when (or if) his tongue left his cheek. His estimate was that costs for an ID card could rise as high as 500 pounds (about $884) per person due to integration costs, while an iPod nano would run about 139 pounds ($245), not including a volume discount.

I’d have to wonder if that nano needs IT integration as well … and also, despite his assertion that iPod thefts would drop, I wonder if thefts wouldn’t rise because people would want to steal them for the digital certificates. I’m hoping his tongue never left his cheek.