National ID card: has the time come?
 

:mfr_omg:


Fears about terrorism have prompted calls for the introduction of a national identity card in Australia, a concept which has previously been shelved over privacy concerns. But as ACA reports, many believe events over the past few years may have shifted public opinion to be more accepting of the idea.

The Australia Card, the compulsory form of identification the government wanted us all to have two decades ago, is back. According to former senior Liberal Party member Dr Peter Solomon, the man who is pushing the cause, this type of identification can be both citizen-friendly and citizen-efficient.

Dr Solomon claims that if the Howard Government is re-elected, it will introduce a new high-tech card which will contain all our secrets.

"Most of what would be on a national ID card, if one came into being, is already on the record somewhere," he says. "I would see governments giving out the card in the same way they do with Medicare cards."

But the proposal has civil libertarians up in arms because the computer chip inside every card can store everything, from your driving history, your Medicare records and social security details. In fact, it can store anything the government wants to put on it, even your criminal record if you have one.

Civil libertarian Greg Conlan thinks introduction of a national identification card is a dangerous invasion of privacy.

"The government can run wild with it," he says. "There will be all sorts of abuses in terms of how government can use the information itself or how it might pass it on to third parties."

Dr Solomon, however, maintains that the technology guarantees that it will not be possible for one department to tap into information held by another.

For Dr Solomon, should the proposal gain momentum, his company stands to make a fortune if the government awards him the contract to manufacture the ID card.

"People in government are thinking seriously about it," says Dr Solomon. "If they're talking about homeland security, by definition, they have to think about it."

Still, Greg Conlan remains adamant it's the public who will be at a disadvantage.

"It's not a question of us having nothing to fear, they [the government] has a lot to gain and we have everything to lose," he says.


Arn't you guys happy this didn't happen ! :thumb_yello:

Re: National ID card: has the time come?
 

Hi Reuters,

I don't really think that ID cards are a nuisance, or anything underhand.

Here in Brazil and in most European countries, it's the norm and nothing untowards happens.

It's just to make sure that people are who they say they are.

Also ID cards can hold important information like blood group and alergies in the case of accident.

I think the merging of different documents hasn't begun because the governments would have to spend less money and dismiss many people, but I see eventually that a driving license could be embutted into an ID card and important data like registration numbers for different professions (like doctors, lawyers, arquitects etc.) and also social security numbers. All this information in one convenient place.

The tendency is that everybody on the planet will have their own personal number, this can be done simply by using a ten digit figure in the form of a bar code. :)

That way the governments that work together can find you whenever they need you. :sad:

Best regards,

Steve

Re: National ID card: has the time come?
 

HI ALL
N what makes ONE think that RUDD is any better !!

Oh yeah right Labor, funny that Liberal starts with an L too.

Hoss
E G M