[Infowarrior] - Australia's controversial national ID program hits the dumpster

[Richard Forno]

Australia's controversial national ID program hits the dumpster

By Joel Hruska | Published: December 24, 2007 - 08:44AM CT

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071224-australias-controversial-natio
nal-id-program-hits-the-dumpster.html

Opponents of Australia's controversial Access Card received an early
Christmas present earlier this month when the incoming Rudd Labor Government
finally axed the controversial ID program. Had it been implemented, the
Access Card program would have required Australians to present the smart
card anytime they dealt with certain federal departments, including
Medicare, Centrelink, the Child Support Agency, or Veterans' Affairs.

For reference, Medicare is the government agency responsible for the
maintenance of Australia's universal health care system, Centrelink is
responsible for the dispersement of social security payments, the Child
Support Agency is responsible for the collection of child support from each
parent in the event of a separation or divorce. Veterans' Affairs appears to
be at least somewhat analogous to its US counterpart, minus the provisions
for medical treatment.

Although the Australian government attempted to paint the Access Card system
as a "Human Services Access Card," there's little doubt that it would've
doubled as an effective national ID system. Information printed on the card
was to include one's name, photo, signature, card, and DVA entitlements.
Those particular requirements aren't any more onerous than what the US
requires for a driver's license, but the Access Card didn't stop there. Each
card would have been tied to an individual user via a specific card number
and a corresponding PIN required to access the card's more detailed
information .

Encrypted information contained within the card's RFID chip would have
included a person's legal name, date of birth, gender, address, signature,
card number, card expiration date, and Medicare number. Provisions were also
included that would allow additional information deemed to be necessary for
either "the administration or purposes of the Act."

Australians were unhappy about being forced to carry a unique ID card merely
for the purpose of interacting with basic human and health services, and the
proposal faced opposition from its very inception. The defeat of John Howard
in the Australian polls was the last gasp of the Access Card program, which
was killed off as one of the very first acts of the new Labor government,
lead by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Australia's battle against the Access Card system echoes the active
opposition in America to the REAL ID act. Although the two plans differ
substantially in scope and implementation, critics of both argued against
them on the same privacy- and civil-liberties-oriented grounds.