Tony Blair e-mails opponents

In a further attempt to draft support for the beleaguered identity cards proposal, the British prime minister has sent an e-mail response to the almost 28 000 people who signed a recent online petition against the scheme.

The petition, which closed on 15 February and attracted thousands of supporters, purported the introduction of ID cards would not prevent terrorism or crime, but would instead be a form of indirect tax.

According to Blair's e-mail, the petition attracted one of the largest responses since the service was set up. "So I thought I would reply personally to those who signed up, to explain why the government believes national ID cards, and the National Identity Register needed to make them effective, will help make Britain a safer place," he added.

Liberal Democrat shadow education secretary Sarah Teather MP has claimed biometric system developers are "worse than thieves", since someone could close a bank account if their PIN was stolen, whereas biometric systems took a child's identity for life.

Teather made the comment during the recent installation of a biometric 'fingerprint recognition' door access system at Snapdragons Nursery in Bath.

Matthew James, UK Biometrics MD and supplier of the biometric access system installed at Snapdragons Nursery, said: "I would have thought a shadow minister would check her facts before branding a responsible industry as worse then identity thieves. The biometric access system installed at Snapdragons Nursery does not scan children's fingerprints; it registers parents and staff to allow secure door access. Our biometric access systems protect children and staff throughout the UK."

Driver's licences across the US are going hi-tech, with invisible features to stop identity thieves scheming to commit credit card fraud, or just hoping to buy a beer before turning 21.

Almost half of the states now use specialised technology to make driver's licences more secure, spelling an end to the days when the most personal information they carried was a driver's name, age and weight.

Iowa is the latest state to adopt biometric facial-recognition technology to defend against identity theft. It joins Georgia, Massachusetts, Texas and West Virginia in using computer software to digitally map an applicant's facial features to prevent thieves from using multiple identities to get real driver's licences.

Brunei's Immigration and National Registration Department will become the third Asean country to implement biometric features in travel documents following the signing of a contract for two projects.

The move is in line with the standard issued by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The project includes supply, delivery, installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance of the e-passport system and the production, supply and delivery of the documents.