We currently carry many ID cards all of which are issued by others and owned by someone else like our driver’s license, our passport, our credit cards, our Tatts Lotto card, our club membership cards etc.

We can solve the citizen's problem the national ID card is meant to solve by having a universal ID card that we own. This would have our photograph, our name, our signature and would contain embedded in it many unique numbers.

That is our ID card does not have a single identifying number but many numbers. We register different numbers with different organisations and each number represents a relationship with a different organisation (this is what we already do but with different cards) We have different numbers for the tax department, for the bank, for immigration etc. We would never physically see any number as it would be very large and would be encrypted.

Instead of every organisation issuing a card we allocate one of our numbers to them. If they have already given us a number we map one of our numbers to their number.

By having different numbers for different organisations we prevent the card number being used to collate information about us and remove the major privacy issue with ID cards while still serving the main purpose of an identity card which is to make it simpler for us to identify ourselves when needed.

It would be self funding because we would buy it and own it as it potentially replaces all the cards we now carry.

Is it technically possible? Yes. All the technology to make it happen exists today and is in common use.

Is it legislatively possible? Yes. The system can operate within existing laws including the privacy laws.

Will it happen? Yes. It solves the identity card problem without impinging on our privacy.

Why do it when we can do it with lots of cards? We do it because OUR card can also be used to ask governments and other organisations to tell US what information they have on us.

Fickle Pickle,
This concept is interesting, but it does not overcome the problem of what to do if the card becomes lost, or is stolen, or is purposely taken from someone.

How can you prove that you exist, or that you are not an alien, when everything is tied up in a single card, which has non-identifiable encrypted numbers or bar codes that can’t be read by a person. There are some countries where the card has become an “entitlement card” rather than an “identity card”. So if you are a good boy and do what we want, we will let you keep your card, and keep your identity.

It may also not overcome the problem of a government collecting information on someone, but not telling them, or collecting more and more information in time (ie “information creep”). Under legislation in some countries, a government can already collect information on someone, but is not obliged to tell them what information they are collecting (Bill of Rights or not).

The technology is also moving towards chips being built into the cards, including positioning chips, which basically means that physical tracking of any individual at any time will become possible. This may be “technology creep” as well as “information creep”, but eventually someone becomes a dot on the map and a database file, with minimal human value (see Menezes in the UK - 5 shots to the head, and only a “sorry” issued.

Timkins all good questions and there are solutions. Remember that you OWN the card. The card in fact is a copy of an electronic version that you also own that is on the Internet. As you own it you can also "destroy" it if you wish. You destroy it by telling all the people who have an association with you through the card that the old one is no longer to be used and here is the new one. As soon as the person who has stolen the card tried to use it then they would find it did not work. Remember how people will use the card - it will be much like an EFTPOS machine and have to be verified.

The point is that everything is not tied up in the single card or in a single number. I have not gone into the details of how it works but essentially the card is a copy of an electronic identity that YOU own and you keep securely and safely and privately on the Internet. To steal your identity they will have to steal your online identity and that is very very difficult.

Also remember that the card is voluntary and is not owned by the government or any other organisation. You do not have to own one or use it and you will only do so if you are confident about its security.

I should at this stage disclose that we are working on a system to implement the electronic identity part. The card is an "emergent property" of the system. There are a lot more issues about keeping your data secure and private but we have both technical and social solutions.

Thanks for the questions and anymore you may have because we need to understand the difficulties. You can read more at www.edentiti.com

Sam said

I am of the impression that you think that women are more likely to favour an ID card because of the 'group mentality' you referred to in your post. If I have interpreted you incorrectly then please disabuse me.

I believe you will find a similar diversity of opinion regarding the ID card and Bill of Rights as you would among men. We are not clones. We are individuals just like men. The marked difference between men and women is our ability to communicate our experiences to one another and having been the primary care giver in times past this was a necessary survival tactic. However, our communal strategies don't proceed to strong and organised groups - if women were able to form such strong groups we would rule this world and we most certainly do not.

I apologise for bringing gender politics into this thread. But I am astounded that a man can make pronouncements about female behaviour and then get defensive if challenged - by a woman no less.

Trinity - you go gurrl. Below is another womyn's opinion.

Below is part of an article from the Australian.

"The depth of personal information held by the Government has reached extraordinary levels, with the Tax Office keeping records of such details as religious affiliation and criminal convictions.
"Matching is inherently contrary to the privacy principle that (personal) information should only be used for the purpose it was collected," Australian Privacy Foundation spokesman Nigel Waters said.
The Attorney-General's Department says identity theft costs the Australian economy more than $1.1billion a year.
While the largest federal government data-matching program is covered by laws restricting the use of personal information, most activity is covered by less stringent voluntary guidelines administered by federal Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis. Ms Curtis was not available for comment yesterday.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16019185%255E2702,00.html

I believe that an ID card is just the thin edge of the wedge in terms of diminishing our democracy.

However, as the above article would indicate our personal details are already available for misuse. It is not a matter of whether you have anything to hide or not. It is a matter that personal information can be sold or used to misrepresent or discriminate against you. For example your religious affiliations, sexual orientation, gender, race, where you live, what school you attended etc are all aspects that can be used to stereotype you or cast aspersions. This is not fabrication because it has happened and is happening now.

I guess I am a glass half full person as I see technology giving us the power to protect ourselves. Rather than seeing technology as a way for us to be damaged by someone or some body misrepresenting us I see it as giving us the power to punish those who misrepresent.

If we know what matching is going on and if matching can ONLY be done legally with our permission then we are in control and we can protect ourselves by making it uneconomic for people to do other than preserve our privacy. What hurts us most is what we do not know and what others are saying about us particularly if it is incorrect.

We can never stop organisations who want to keep information about us collecting information any more than we can stop gossips from gossiping behind our backs. However, if we know what other people know about us, and if we have recourse to correcting incorrect information, and if we have recourse to purging their files of our information if they have no valid reason for holding it, and if we can prosecute those who use information about us in unacceptable ways, then we have more protection than the current situation where organisations mix and match without our knowledge. These are the areas we should be working on - not trying to prevent the accumulation of information as that is going to happen whether we like it or not, but in finding ways to know what is going on and finding wasy to protect us when misuse happens.

Our identity is like any other property. We want to use it but we want people to be punished if they steal it or any part of it for their advantage and our disadvantage.