Office of Public Sector Information

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations prescribe information that must be recorded on an ID card or an identification card and other prescribed requirements and facts.

Regulations 2 and 3 prescribe information that must be recorded on an ID Card. Regulation 4 provides that, in the case of identification cards (which are ID cards issued to EEA nationals, persons subject to banning orders etc., and to persons who require an additional card in a different gender), certain information relating to the holder’s nationality is excluded from the requirements.

Section 6(3)(b) of the 2006 Act provides that prescribed parts of the information recorded on the card must be recorded in an encrypted form. Regulation 5 provides that the information specified in paragraph (2), when cryptographically protected by means of the digital signature, is prescribed for these purposes.

Regulation 6 prescribes the registrable facts that are to be recorded in the Register where an ID card is issued to an individual who is entitled to be entered in the Register or is subject to compulsory registration.

Section 8 of the 2006 Act sets out functions of designated documents authorities i.e. persons with the power or duty to issue a designated document. A designated document is a document which is designated for the purposes of the 2006 Act by an order under section 4 of the Act. The effect of designation is that a person who applies for a designated document is required, by section 6(7) of the 2006 Act, to apply for an ID card, unless he already holds one. This is subject to an exemption in relation to United Kingdom passports. Regulation 7 prescribes requirements to be satisfied by an ID card when it is issued together with a designated document. The requirements are the same as those that must be satisfied by an ID card when issued in all other circumstances.