Access Cards Under Cloud As Chief Advisor Quits
Access Cards Under Cloud As Chief Advisor Quits
May 9th, 2006: James Kelaher, a principal adviser on the Government’s new smartcard project has resigned in prostest saying that it is being rushed and is missing necessary third party advice and safty measures.
After warning Human Services Minister Joe Hockey against financial management and privacy protection plans for the $1 billion dollar ID card project, Kelaher has quit from the project saying that he did not agree with the rushed way in which such a sensitive project was being approached.
The AFR has reported that Kelahar also urged Hockey “not to base the project inside new Department of Human Services, and not to abandon a proposed external expert/stakeholder advisory board offering independent checks on privacy and security.”
Hockey has rejected all calls for an independent advisory board saying that he does not want any conflict of interest from potential tenderers in the private sector. However, Kelaher has dismissed this statement saying that there are enough qualified people for an advisory board without compromising tenders.
Kelaher’s resignation has greatly added to the cloud covering the smartcard project. Many important details surrounding privacy, the sharing of personal information between agencies and overall cost are already causing controversy, Kelaher’s resignation is being seen by some as confirmation of their fears.
The Australian Privacy Foundation (APF) for example, has expressed concerns that the card is “pseudo-voluntary”, is proceeding without adequate safeguards, and that “there is almost nothing available that explains what it actually is that the Government proposes to do, and that Cabinet is supposed to have approved.”
The APF has also revealed that the card will not save the estimated $3 billion per year as the Government first claimed, but rather $3 billion over 10 years. It found that this estimate is not “conservative advice”, but rather the largest figure consultants KPMG came up when researching estimates for the project.
"The government's refusal so far to release any significant information about the details of the massive project, and their dismissive underestimation of cost, technical and security questions, suggests they may have something to hide - probably that they have not done their homework on these key issues," says APF vice chair, David Vaile.
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