B.C. Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said Tuesday she hopes a new medical ID card being introduced by the province will prevent the kind of fraud that happened recently after a North Vancouver woman had her wallet stolen.
MacDiarmid was speaking after the ministry announced this week it is introducing a new BC Services Card featuring a micro chip, photograph and anti-forgery features to replace the current CareCard, at a cost of $150 million.
MacDiarmid said she's concerned the lack of security features on the current card have led to fraud, although the ministry has not been able to quantify that.
B.C. has issued about nine million cards, although there are currently only about 4.5 million people living in the province.
MacDiarmid said ideally, anyone presenting their CareCard would also be asked for photo identification, but, "I don't think that always happens in practice."
The new card will combine the medical CareCard and B.C. Drivers Licence for those who want that option.
Over the next five years, B.C. residents between 19 and 74 will have to replace their current CareCard with the new card and renew it every five years. The new card will be mandatory by 2018 to access health care in the province.
The government hopes to eventually tie in the card to accessing other services online.
"Most people understand why we're doing this and are quite supportive," said MacDiarmid.
Privacy is still protected under the new card, MacDiarmid said, because no personal records will be physically stored on the card.
But privacy watchdogs aren't so sure. Calling the program Government 2.0, Vince Gogolek, executive director of the B.C. Information and Privacy Association, questioned why the new cards are needed. "We're concerned about government's plan to collect more information on citizens," said Gogolek, adding the system could potentially create a goldmine for hackers.
"If you can crack this thing, they're going to get everything about us," he said.
Gogolek said his group has been trying to find out more about the program for the past two years and has been stonewalled by the province.
Elizabeth Denham, the information and privacy commissioner for B.C., issued a statement saying her office was still reviewing security issues associated with the new card.
Gogolek said the province should have waited until that was complete before going ahead with the cards. "But they are just rocketing on ahead," he said.
Most B.C. residents will get their new B.C. Service Cards when they renew their driver's licences. Children, people who don't drive or who don't wish to link their driver's licence to their medical ID can still enroll to get their card in places where driver's licences are issued.
