The Friendly Future of a National ID Card
23.05.12
There's more, and you should read the whole thing. I usually break this topic into two separate issues:
Having a reliable picture ID card. Having a permanent ID number that allows information about you to be reliably tracked.
But here's the thing: we already do this for most people. Most of us already have picture IDs in the form of driver licenses. And nearly all of us have a permanent ID number in the form of a Social Security number. So like it or not, if you're worried about having tons of information about yourself collected into computerized databases — well, that ship sailed a long time ago. It's already happened.
Given that, what's the real objection to formalizing this? I can suggest several benefits of a national ID card:
Done right, it would be more reliable and harder to forge. It would be free (if I had my way, anyway), which means that everyone has access to high-quality ID even if they don't drive and don't have a bunch of credit cards.
Source: Mother Jones