Comment by bergie | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bergie | Hacker News Reader

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What is the problem with the idea of an ID card? There are situations where you need to prove your identity, and a government-supplied card can be useful in those cases.

The alternative is using a driver's license or a passport, both of which are also cards (or booklets), and government-supplied.

It is not like you'd be forced to get one, or carry it around. Finland has had ID cards as long as I can remember, and I never had to get one.

I had my passport stolen once, and identifying myself to the government to be able to get a new one was a bit of a pain in the ass, since I didn't have any other valid national ID (driver's license isn't considered one). The alternative way of authenticating involved maybe fifteen minutes of questions like What was your street address in 1987?

"What is the problem with the idea of an ID card?"

In my view, the problem is that it increases the government's power over citizens. Much government is useful and good, but it's an ineluctable law that powers are abused. ID cards extend the territory on which the abuse of power can play out.

In this case the power is "we can prove that you're a citizen of country X". Unless ID cards come coupled with mandatory carrying of them, I don't see an issue here. As long as countries provide services (like, say healthcare), there are valid reasons for needing to prove your nationality every now and then.

>there are valid reasons for needing to prove your nationality every now and then

Such as passport, driving license, residential address, visa if a foreign citizen, etc?

Driving license isn't a valid ID at least in most European countries. And residential address would probably need some proof, like those stupid utility bill scans some services require you to send.

Passport obviously works, but doesn't fit in your wallet. But that is the ID I use when I need one.

The problem is that governments are never competent when it comes to IT, so any database linked to it will be insecure and expensive; then there come the privacy implications - having a required identification means it can be used to track people more easily, especially if they then tie services into using it. Depending on the year and the stupidity of the government in question, it may even use RFID to allow individual movement patterns to be tracked.

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