Universal Card Delayed

From Moscow Times:
"Universal Card Delayed Until at Least 2013"

The universal electronic card demonstrated by President Dmitry Medvedev in the spring of last year is facing delays, with the rollout that was scheduled for this month being pushed to January of 2013. The card, which is supposed to serve as a combination of an electronic ID, driver's license, car insurance certificate, ATM card and migration document, among other possible functions, is the expected result of a project the government estimates will cost as much as 150 billion rubles to 170 billion rubles ($5.2 billion to $5.6 billion) to put in the hands of every citizen.

Limited initial use of the card was to take place beginning in 2012, but the law that set up the project was amended in December to allow for a one-year delay.

The Communications and Press Ministry set up the Universal Electronic Cards company, or UEC, to run the card program. A spokesman for UEC told The Moscow Times that the program will begin to function next year and that this year will be spent organizing the places that will receive applications for the card. Application sites are expected to be set up at post offices, banks, commercial centers and other locations.

A ministry spokesman confirmed that infrastructure for the project is just beginning to be created, and only four out of 83 regions having begun work on it.

The current card distribution plan foresees them being given out in the course of 2013 to those who apply for them. The following year they will be issued to all citizens, unless a person makes a written statement of refusal. There are concerns about the public's willingness to adopt the card. Medvedev said last year that the risk of identity theft was an issue for the universal smart card. The card's official website states that the universal electronic card will be safe, since the card itself does not hold any sensitive information. Such data will, as is done now, be stored in government databases so that even if the card is lost or stolen, there is no risk that sensitive personal information will be lost. The card is simply a faster more convenient way to access this information. This is scant reassurance in a country where classified government databases can be freely purchased online or at electronics markets. Sberbank, who own a 34 percent share in Universal Electronic Cards, says the smart card itself poses no security risk.

^ I don't think this is a very good idea. I can see Russia changing its internal passport from the booklet form it now uses to a credit card-sized document, but I don't think it should have all the other information that the government wants to put on it (such as a driver's license or ATM card.) The government should focus on the basic card first and get that perfect before adding everything else. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/universal-card-held-off-another-year/451901.html