Sponsor's Message

You have a phone number, an email address, a mobile number, a drivers' licence number, a passport number, an IRD number, bank account number, and of course your name -- although that may not be unique.

What a cumbersome system!

Not only do you have to keep track of all those numbers relating to yourself, but if you want to contact a friend or associate then you also need to keep track of some of their numbers.

Surely in this age of digital electronics we can improve this situation somewhat.

Imagine just how nice it would be if we had just a single unique identifier that could be used for everything.

No, I'm not talking about an ID card (shudder), but just a simple numeric or alpha-numeric identifier that would act as a phone number, fax number, email alias, etc, etc.

Readers Say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums

Imagine you're trying to get ahold of good old Bob...

You feed his unique identifier into the phone and it tells you he's not home right now.

You select to dial that number plus the 021/027 cell-phone identifier and try to catch him on his mobile -- but no luck, it's turned off.

Then you email him -- but because you can't remember his email address you can simply use that unique-identifier@forward.email. Of course this *will* cost you a few cents -- so as to avoid spammers sequentially feeding identifiers into the system and broadcasting to everyone on the planet. However, since you will be providing your own unique identifier to the system it knows how to bill you.

Wouldn't life be a whole lot simpler with this kind of consistency of identification?

Surely the current state of technology has reached the point where this system is now possible, if not practical?

The data could even be burnt to a smart-card that would allow you to identify yourself for all manner of transactions such as making purchases, entering foreign countries, voting (online or otherwise), validating your license to drive if stopped by traffic police, etc, etc.

Uh-oh, perhaps I *am* talking about a universal ID card after all.

Instead of your wallet being filled to the brim with shards of plastic embossed with magnetic strips and photos, all of that bulk could be replaced with a single slither of silicon.

Of course there's always the other side of the coin...

This card would surely become the much feared national/international ID card -- but is that really such a big deal?

Our every international move is already tracked through the use of passports -- and thanks to pressure from the USA, they're about to become a little more than just a passive document later this year.

Our every purchase is already tracked by the use of our credit/EFTPOS cards.

If requested by police, we are already required (under penalty of law) to identify ourselves.

So what's the big deal about integrating all this into a single bit of plastic?

Okay, I admit, the potential for abuse grows exponentially as you bring more and more data together into a single database -- data-matching where a universal identifier is used, becomes trivial -- but it also becomes far more accurate.

Let's face it, if the government, banks or any other institutions want to perform data-matching then they'll do it. Given that, surely it's better that they do it in a way that guarantees accuracy?

And remember, the IRD won't get details of your shopping patterns and the police won't automatically get access to your bank records or balance -- the only data your card will cough up available to all is your universal ID number.

Is this a good idea, or was Patrick McGoohan correct when, in an excellent TV series, he exclaimed "I am not a number, I am a free man!"

New Forums!
Yes folks, good news. The grotty ezboard forums have been replaced with a new phpBBS-based system that won't assault you with a myriad of pop-ups and other flotsam.

A big thanks to Managed Internet Solutions for offering to provide this service.

You can access the new forums over at aardvarkforums.co.nz

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!