National Identity System from HP draws criticism, protest [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Here's one blog entry:
http://realidrebellion.blogspot.com/2005/05/action-hewlett-packard-national.html

Excerpt:
"If anyone else chooses to act on this news from HP- and I hope you do- 
I would appreciate it if you would please post your e-mail and any 
response you receive (no matter how pre-formed or uninformative the 
response may be) or post the crux of your telephone conversations with 
any additional feedback opportunities you may uncover in the comments 
for this post. If you are a customer or investor in Hewlitt-Packard, 
please be sure to mention that when you register your displeasure. I 
really would like to see a lot of people work this- the more people- 
particularly customers/investors- that HP hears from, the more it's 
going to mean to them that we are not on board with their plan."

And another:
http://www.sunnimaravillosa.com/archives/00000342.html

More on HP's National Identity System and Microsoft's relationship:
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/05/26/hp-announces-national/
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/05/27/HNmshpidsystems_1.html

More on Real ID Rebellion blog:
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/05/23/real-id-rebellion/

HP's press release is below.

-Declan

---

HP Announces New National Identity System Solution Built on Microsoft 
.NET platform

Solution will drive simplified, secure identification management
for governments around the world

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 27, 2005 - HP today announced the availability of 
the HP National Identity System (NIS) solution on the Microsoft® .NET 
platform.

The HP NIS solution allows governments to build and quickly deploy at an 
affordable price a complete, standards-based and technologically agile 
infrastructure that meets their changing needs for security and identity 
management.

Going beyond simple secure identification and authentication 
functionality, the solution enables modern national identification 
systems to allow citizens to access e-government services and conduct 
secure transactions. The solution also provides citizens with improved 
secure and intelligent identity documents.

For example, with heightened security awareness at national borders, the 
solution fulfils the new requirement to ensure traveler and citizen 
credentials across an entire country or region.

In addition, the modular nature of the solution enables national and 
regional governments to more easily plug in additional elements, such as 
biometrics, to customize and balance the level of security and privacy 
as defined by a government's policy and requirements.

Recent figures from industry analyst firm Morgan Keegan show that the 
worldwide identity management market is approximately $4.8 billion and 
is estimated to grow to approximately $10.7 billion in 2007(1).

"The need to securely identify people moving across national and 
international borders has never been more important than it is today," 
said Jim Ganthier, worldwide leader, Defense, Intelligence and Public 
Safety, HP. "HP and Microsoft are working together to provide government 
agencies the ability to access the integrated data streams needed to 
securely identify people both in the physical and virtual worlds."

Built using HP's expertise in national identity systems, security 
frameworks and public key infrastructures (PKI), the HP NIS can be fully 
integrated into the HP e-government framework and integrated into a 
nation's e-government services delivery framework. The solution 
encompasses all the essential national identification system attributes 
and functions, including:

·    Online and offline enrollment of demographic and biometric data 
through live capture

·    Local request as well as regional/central verification and registration

·    Multi-tier architecture

·    Secure management of the document lifecycle

·    Biometric and personalization subsystem integration

·    Online and offline identity verification

·    Fault tolerance and disaster recovery through design

HP and Microsoft are investing in the solution through initiatives such 
as joint training programs and the establishment of specialist centers 
around the world to further develop, demonstrate and sell national 
identity system solutions.

The NIS leverages HP's extensive experience in delivering fully 
integrated solutions, which include consulting and integration, 
desktops, servers, management software and support services. Recognizing 
HP's .NET commitment and unique capabilities, Microsoft has endorsed HP 
as its worldwide prime integrator for Microsoft .NET technologies.

For the HP NIS solution, Microsoft supplies a wide range of software 
products and technologies, including Microsoft Server 2003 Enterprise 
Edition, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 
(64-bit), the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Services.

"Microsoft recognizes that national governments and their principal 
agencies have unique information technology requirements, particularly 
as more governments look to implement e-government solutions," said Jan 
Muehlfeit, vice president Public Sector -EMEA, Microsoft. "Secure and 
reliable identification and authentication of individuals helps power 
more useful and compelling experiences for users and provides citizens 
easy and secure access to services. Working with industry partners such 
as HP is an important step and will provide public sector organizations 
with new technology solutions to address these key customer concerns."

HP has successfully delivered innovative NIS solutions to a wide array 
of national and regional governments. The Italian Ministry of Interior, 
for example, is working with HP to provide smart electronic national 
identity documents for all Italian citizens. The initiative will assist 
particularly in the delivery of e-government services by supplying 
secure access to government services portals and enabling transaction 
authentication through digital signatures.

In addition, HP is connecting citizens in Israel, Poland, Slovakia and 
Bulgaria with new identity and entitlement documents such as passports, 
driving licenses and identity cards to ensure security and public safety 
through improved and counterfeit resistant technology.

For nearly two decades, HP and Microsoft have been working together to 
define industry standards through joint development, testing and 
preparation of leading PC and server solutions. During this time, 
Microsoft and HP have participated in a variety of programmes including 
Microsoft's Joint Development Program, Rapid Development Program and 
Corporate Preview Program. Microsoft also has designated HP as a Global 
Launch Partner.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and 
institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, 
global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. 
For the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2005, HP revenue totaled 
$83.3 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is 
available at www.hp.com.

(1) "Homeland Security Technology Industry Overview," Morgan Keegan, 2004.

Microsoft is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve 
risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties 
materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and 
its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those 
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. 
All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements 
that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including the expected 
development, performance or rankings of products or services; statements 
of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying 
any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the 
development, performance and market acceptance of products and services 
and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities 
and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's 
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, 
2005, and other reports filed after HP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for 
the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2004. HP assumes no obligation and does 
not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
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