Fergie's Tech Blog

Australia: Jiiters Over (Sort of) National ID Card

Steve Lewis and James Riley write on Australian IT:

The introduction of a national smart card with photo ID has upset Coalition MPs and privacy experts who believe it could develop into a national identity card by stealth.

John Howard yesterday played down concerns that the access card, to be used by 11million Australians for access to government services, will usher in a "big brother" era of surveillance.

Instead, the Prime Minister praised the plan, which he said would save billions of dollars in welfare fraud.

As revealed by The Australian, cabinet yesterday formally ruled out a national ID card after senior ministers complained it would be too intrusive.

But senior ministers backed the new government services card, which will be introduced after 18 months.

posted by Fergie @ 4/26/2006 07:27:00 PM