Nice words Romany. I don't think I've ever heard my foremost concerns expressed in such a simple yet eloquent manner.

Romany, your story is quite frightening.

I too have heard people say things like "If you've done nothing wrong," or "if you've got nothing to hide, then you've got nothing to fear"

It's these catch phrases, usually parroted by idiots, that send chills down my spine.

You do have things to fear:
- being falsly incriminated
- having your personal information abused or put into wrong hands
- being victimised for being in a minority group or political opposition to the government.
The list could go on.

This would be paranoia if it weren't for the fact that our government cannot be trusted and politicians in general have questionable ethics, so not only are these consequences possible but they're also highly probable.

I'm not going to wax lyrical about my opposition to a card like this. No amount of 'taxpayer savings' could even begin to counteract the evils inherent in these sorts of ideas.

Nor am I going to mkae any comment on the government's ability to keep our data safe. Organizations with far more to lose in relation to data theft (banks, credit agencies, etc) have had so many security failures that it is almost a daily occurance.

Instead, I'm interested to know how many people know of the one primary exclusion in Australia's personal information privacy legislation?

I work in the IT industry and, following the introduction of the new provisions in 2001, attended a briefing held by the Privacy Commissioner.

There we were told that, in an intriguing example of bi-partisan support, the Australian Federal Government decided that political parties were exempt from requirements to adhere to the provisions of the Act. This was against the recommendations of the Commissioner.

Interesting, eh? The same people who, for their own purposes exempt themselves from the requirement to honour personal information, are now telling us to trust them not to misuse the powers inherent in a national ID - oops, sorry Access- card.

Nope- I'm not buying it.

The ID card is long overdue; I personally know of people on Centre Link benefits but are not on an electoral roll. How many people know of the scam where a labour contractor uses his or a friends tax file number for casual labour he employs. The casual labour is usually on Centre Link benefits or are illegal immigrants. How many people exploit the system with multiple identities or make good livings through repeated insurance fraud or tax evasion.

UNLESS YOU ARE INVOLVED IN SOME SORT OF SCAM OR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY YOU HAVE NOTHING FEAR FROM AN ID CARD.

From what I have seen the only protesters are criminals, terrorists and washy Civil Libertarians who are often lawyers who see diminishing opportunity with the ID card.

Sille: Romany's post pretty much pointed out the flaws in the "Nothing to hide, don't worry" argument.
You'll have to do better than that to convince me.

Despite the usual fears spread by human "rights" activists, only the guilty need fear ID cards.

Ironically, it is the fifth-columnist Australians who have openly supported continuing immigration of all odds and sods - one reason why silly governments now have to think about ID cards - who are the ones shrieking the loudest about government's belated attempts to patch up some of the damage they have done with their open borders, illegal entry type immigration free for all.

If you think that the need to identify and track people is an infringement of your liberties, just remember that your lack of interest and she'll be right mate attitudes have brought it about.

Your lack of interest in democracy and its processes will eventually see democracy lost. An ID card for all citizens is only the start. And, you have only yourselves to blame.