1973 - ID Card a Mythical Beast that grew two necks and Heads every time the Head was cut off,

The following links provide an understanding of the scope of the identity cards/numbers problem: in brief, it is a hydra, the mythical beast that grew two necks and heads every time its neck was cut off.

Roger Clarke is a well known security analyst from Australia who has been at the forefront of opposing the various attempts to introduce ID cards in that country over the past (nearly) 3 decades. The paragraphs below are a brief appreciation of the task they face, and which is eerily similar to the task we face (in his words):

 National Identity Schemes - The Elements by Roger Clark
  

Both governments and the media have generally focussed on 'the card' and/or 'the number'.  The public is (thought to be) only capable of understanding very simple messages, such as 'This card will stop welfare fraud / illegal immigration / terrorism').

So the *tactics* of opponents to schemes need to work with simple messages as well.  ('This card will have no impact at all on organised crime'.  'The government plans another amnesty for illegal immigrants, so the card won't send them home or save money', 'All terrorists are virgins, so the card does nothing about them at all').

But the *strategy* of opponents to schemes has to take into account the complete scheme, even if some of it is obscure, or not yet announced, or even already in place.   That leads to the need for parallel lines of attack, such as spurring opposition from other sources, such as business  ('Every employer will be required to be a policeman and a spy, and pay for the privilege').

    Just Another Piece of Plastic for your Wallet:         The 'Australia Card' Scheme - Roger Clark
    

There may be some other items of relevance indexed here:

    Index of my papers on National Identification Schemes
    

APF (occcasionally) updates this:

    Index of Privacy Campaigns
   

We're up to 9 distinct campaigns re national id schemes now, and we haven't yet added into this index anything about the 'Individual Health Identifier' (IHI) that was foisted on us recently, but is staggering at the moment:

    Index of APF Campaigns re ID Schemes
   

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