re privacy. I remember 20 yrs ago I did a paper on privacy and EFTs Electronic Funds Transfer SYstem, dont delude yourself into thinking you will lose your privacy with an Id card. they can track your visa or debit card spending and for that matter any banking you do. along with cell phone telephone calls, and even library withdrawals. several of the terrorists involved in the hijacking terror all reported their passports stolen around the same time in Germany (supposedly to hide any trips to countries like Afghanistan that would have aroused suspicions) At the very least the id card system and passport system should be linked and flags should go up if people have reported stolen passports. Plenty of democratic countries have national ID cards and in the US and Canada you use cards that are not intended for that purpose like Social Security and Drivers Licence. Credit Card companies are moving toward picture cards as well. For that matter people should be opposed to video surveillance cameras in public places, but I think the benefits (catching the criminals) outweigh the cons, namely privacy loss. (ITs already there anyway, if you use credit cards) petr