Well, I guess experiences vary. My driver's license has my social security number on it. My health insurance I.D. card has my social security number on it. I'm not, as Al points out and you allude to, required to show either when travelling in public transportation. [Although many airlines require some sort of photo I.D. when issuing boarding passes - they say to prevent people from cheating on their roundtrip fares - and don't ever try to purchase a ticket for cash unless you want to run a substantial risk of forfeiting the ticket and the cash.] However, I really think that the fact that you "don't have to" show a national i.d. card when travelling on public transportation has to do with the lack of an internal passport system in the U.S., and I doubt it really has anything to do per se with a national i.d. card or lack thereof. [Some countries - like Russia, Germany, Japan, etc. have traditionally had an internal pass system to some degree - others have not.]
As for the centralized national data bank, there are in fact specific statutes preventing consolidation of such data. However, the anecdotal evidence seems to be that these statutes are widely disregarded without any consequence for the officials who ignore them.
Incidentally, if you care to share you SS number I can run a "skip trace" on you and get your address [current and last three most recent], your DMV records, including a photo, a list of your relatives and their addresses, your credit history, etc. almost instantaneously and for a very small charge. I can do the same thing with just your name and a rough current residential address or birthdate [to make sure I've got the right person]. Of course, I have to make certain probably untrue representations to do so, but I find it difficult to believe that any level of government cannot and does not routinely do the same when it considers someone to be "suspicious".
Is this a horrible state of affairs? I don't really think so. When people lived in small communities all of this information was widely known about them and all of it is more or less needed to conduct business [including the collection of debts from those who will not voluntarily pay up]. The notion that you're going to somehow disappear into the crowd without a lot of advanced preparation and breaking a number of laws along the way is simply a myth.
Yours for happy thoughts,
CJB
At 09:58 AM 1/23/00 -0700, you wrote:
>hmm good point. I just forward these, since it sounds so ominous. I guess
>I've never been asked for my ss card to get on a plane, and I've refused to
>give it for medical care and still gotten it. Also, I doubt the card leads
>into some monolothic "massive data bank" like this article suggests the new
>id card would. And my ss card doesn't have my address on it, or my photo,
>or fingerprint ID. And I doubt my employer would care to use my number
>except for filing their end of the w-2 (I'm not sure what form they have to
>file for their employees).
>
>ms
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Craig J. Bolton <lawecon@SWLINK.NET>
>To: <LIBERTARIANS@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
>Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 4:41 AM
>Subject: Re: Fw: OT: did you guys know this? i didn't
>
>
>> Ah, would you please explain to us wwhat the difference is between
>> a "Federal I.D. Card" and a Social Security Card?
>>
>>
>> At 10:47 PM 1/22/00 -0700, you wrote:
>> >----- Original Message -----
>> >From: kathy mcleod <klmcleod@ev1.net>
>> >To: <raverg@hyperreal.org>
>> >Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2000 9:23 PM
>> >Subject: RG: OT: did you guys know this? i didn't
>> >
>> >
>> >> Sent from a friend of mine:
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> >From the American Policy Center
>> >> Tom DeWeese, President
>> >>
>> >> American Policy Center
>> >> 13873 Park Center Road
>> >> Herndon, VA 20171
>> >> 703-925-0881
>> >> FAX: 703-925-0991
>> >> apc@americanpolicy.org
>> >> www.americanpolicy.org
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> National Identification Card
>> >> Back from the Dead...
>> >>
>> >> It was just this past October that legislation which established a green
>> >> light for creating a National ID system was repealed through the courageous
>> >> efforts of Senator Richard Shelby, numerous Congressmen and the protests of
>> >> hundreds of thousands of Americans like you and me. Now, four months
>> >> later, it has been resurrected.
>> >>
>> >> Congressman Bill Barrett (R-NE) has introduced HR 3429, the Legal
>> >> Employment Authentication Program (LEAP) Act of 1999, a bill that will
>> >> completely reinstate the federal ID system. Barrett's pandering to
>> >federal
>> >> bureaucrats and big business--both of whom want the federal government to
>> >> gather information on you for their benefit--will overturn our hard-earned
>> >> victory.
>> >>
>> >> You and I must react swiftly and with force--before this new effort to
>> >> shackle Americans with "Big Brother's" chains has a chance to gain favor in
>> >> Congress. If passed, Barrett's bill will make it federal law that all
>> >> Americans must carry a national identification card at all times.
>> >>
>> >> You will be required to show your ID card in order to cash a check, get on
>> >> a plane or open a bank account. Without your national ID card you will not
>> >> be able to get medical care or get a job. That's right-it gives the
>> >> federal government the power to clear all hiring decisions where even a 1%
>> >> error in the data banks could result in 600,000 wrongful work denials.
>> >> Think of what such an error in your medical file would mean! All of your
>> >> personal information like income, medical records and personal family
>> >> business will all be put into one massive federal data bank in order to
>> >> make the card valid.
>> >>
>> >> This is an invasion of your privacy. It is an invasion of your
>> >> Constitutional rights. It is an outrage.
>> >>
>> >> We must exert pressure to bury this legislation NOW in order to avoid a
>> >> long and costly battle. In addition to calling our own Congressmen we must
>> >> call Congressman Bill Goodling, Chariman of the House Committee on
>> >> Education and the Workforce. His committee will decide whether or not to
>> >> approve HR 3429 and move it to the floor of the House of Representatives
>> >> for a vote. In short, whether or not we are shackled with a National ID
>> >> card is in Chairman Goodling's hands.
>> >>
>> >> ACTION ITEM
>> >>
>> >> 1. Call Congressman Goodling, Chariman of the House Committee on Education
>> >> and the Workforce at (202) 225-4527 and tell him you oppose HR 3429 and any
>> >> other effort which would ultimately give rise to a national ID system.
>> >>
>> >> 2. Call your Congressman (Capitol Hill Switchboard 202-225-3121) and make
>> >> him understand that any attempt to support such an invasion of our
>> >> liberties is unprincipled and dishonorable for one who was entrusted with
>> >> the protection of such liberties. Urge him to oppose HR 3429.
>> >>
>> >> ********************************************
>> >> To unsubscribe from the APC Action Alert System, write to
>> >> apc@americanpolicy.org and put "unsubsribe" in the subject with your email
>> >> address in the body of the message.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Kathy McLeod Digital~Guild Digital Media 713.527.2548
>> >>
>> >
>>
>