NSW greenlights central database for compromised IDs

NSW is establishing a centralised database of compromised identification documents, as it formally enshrines the state’s ID Support function as the key authority in tackling identity fraud.

Legislation passed overnight will allow ID Support to add documents to the register it “knows or suspects are compromised”, as well as inform individuals or organisations of their potential breach.

According to the Department of Customer Service, work is underway to build the register, with the system expected to go live next year.

Known as the Identity Protection and Recovery Bill, the legislation also grants government agencies and “accredited private” organisations to check whether ID details have been compromised or stolen.

ID Support was established at the end of 2021 as the state’s identity recovery unit, streamlining the process of replacing compromised credentials.

Since June 2022, the unit has operated under a temporary privacy code that relaxed some rules in NSW’s privacy legislation, such as the PPIP Act, allowing ID Support NSW to provide identity protection services to other agencies.

However, according to the government’s statement of public interest for permanent legislation, this temporary code limited what ID Support NSW could do, particularly in the types of services it could offer to private companies.

Now, ID Support will be able to provide a fraud check service for IDs such as NSW driver’s licences as long as the entity has applied to be an accredited “fraud check user”.

The law also authorises ID Support to share data with these entities without breaching privacy laws or being at risk of civil, criminal and disciplinary liability action.

Ahead of the legislation’s passing, NSW Police signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ID Support to improve data-sharing between the two bodies.

Signed in December last year, the MoU is designed to “create a faster and more effective response to identify theft” in response to a rising number of data breaches, scams and cyber crime.

Last year, ID Support received a $22.7 million funding commitment in the 2024-25 Budget to support it for four years.