Matthew

hello steve

**__Shoud Australia have a citizens ID Card?__**
//Further information: freedom of movement and propiska// · It has been argued that identity cards impose a disproportionate burden upon both government and citizens while empowering the executive, which is contrary to the maxim: "the government that governs best, governs least". Some have pointed out that extensive lobbying for identity cards has been undertaken, in countries without compulsory identity cards, by IT companies who will be likely to reap rich benefits in the event of an identity card scheme being implemented. · Cards with centralised database could be used to track anyone's movements and private life, thus endangering privacy. The proposed British ID card (see next section) will involve a series of linked databases, to be managed by the private sector. Managing disparate linked systems using a range of institutions and any number of personnel is alleged to be a security disaster in the making. [1] · A requirement to carry an identity card at all times can lead to the inconvenience of arbitrary requests from card controllers (such as the police). This can lead to functionality creep whereby carrying a card becomes //de facto// if not //de jure// compulsory, as in the case of Social Security numbers, which are now widely used as ID. · Government claims that identity cards will prevent crimes may not be based in fact. The former UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke conceded that identity cards may only be useful in the identification of bodies in the aftermath of a crime. The facts that the terrorists involved in 9/11 and the London tube attacks did have and would have had identity cards, respectively. As a strong presumption of identity is given in favour of a card holder, the identity card scheme might be an asset to potential terrorists. · Historically, totalitarian governments which issued identity cards to citizens used them forcefully. For example, Nazi Germany made use of unique biometric identities by tattooing identification numbers on the arms of concentration-camp detainees. More recently, the apartheid-era government of South Africa used pass books as internal passports to oppress that country's black population. · In many cases, other forms of documentation such as a driver's license, passport, or Medicare card serve a similar function on a more limited scale, and thus an ID card is not needed. · The cost of introducing and administering an identity card system can be very high. Figures from £30 (US$60) to £90 or even higher have been suggested for the proposed UK ID card. [2] · In some countries where ID cards are required to show religious affiliation (as used to be the case in Greece) or ethnic background, this can lead to cases of discrimination. This can become a bureaucratic nightmare when a person changes his or her affiliation which in any case should be a private matter of no business to officialdom.
 * Arguments in opposition**
 * Arguments in favor**

· One can be identified in banks or at national borders without a passport, making the identity card as a passport. · Identity cards can be used to quickly verify ownership or eligibility to services; for example, a shopkeeper or cashier may request that an ID document be shown by a client paying with a credit card or cheque. · False identification may be reduced in countries where identity cards are required to open a bank account. Of course, phishing and many other forms of identity theft will be unaffected. · Identity cards can be a useful administrative tool that can increase efficiency in dealings with both the government and private companies. · ID cards reduce crime. All banks require that ID cards be presented by customers, which increases security. Certain auction houses also require them from sellers. · In American states that don't issue identity cards, private companies require equivalent documents, such as driver's licenses, which are not properly suited for identification purposes. Persons who don't have a driver's license are usually required in practice to get a document that is something very much like an identity card. · Law enforcers can locate and identify people who either do not know or cannot communicate their names and/or addresses (e.g., due to Alzheimer's disease, amnesia or heavy intoxication), or who claim names that are not consistent with the names on their identity cards (e.g., due to dissociative identity disorder, as in the case of Billy Milligan). · Cards may help reduce immigration service bureaucracy. In certain countries, the procedures for deporting illegal immigrants whose ages, identities or nationalities cannot be formally established are more complex than those for whom they can be readily asserted. This gives illegal immigrants more time to prepare their legal defenses. In some countries (Spain, for instance) it may prevent the immigrant's deportation altogether. However, in this situation most illegal immigrants will destroy their identity papers, nullifying the reduction in bureaucracy. · All humans already carry unfalsifiable personal identification, which cannot be discarded: DNA. In lieu of identity cards, use of DNA sequencing hashes may soon become the preferred method for personal identification, even when interacting with private economic entities. The use of identity cards is arguably a lesser evil compared to the potentially extensive privacy risks associated with daily use of DNA for identification purposes.