Obviously,the SSN in the United States is a pretty faulty method of identification - there is plenty of fraud and errors in it. Anytime you suggest some sort of secure and comprehensive identification method here - you catch a $hitstorm of criticism from those who are paranoid about privacy concerns.
OK, then do it like the “Safe Traveler” credentials program which are offered at some airports for frequent travelers willing to undergo a background and identity verification process - i.e., make it voluntary.
It won’t be comprehensive, because some will opt out. But they can chose to do that, and as long as government services are both required to use a high level of verification, and allowed to recognize and utilize the secure and advanced credentials system (with some attendant benefit in terms of speed or cost to the identified citizen), what’s the problem?
Certainly I dentity theft is a problem. But a Universal Identifier Number is simply the nose of the camel.
"The World Bank has offered to assist the government in re-structuring the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Delhi government is set to soon initiate a pilot project to launch its ‘cash for food’ program in the Capital.
the real goal is a cashless society. An economic system where the government can track and tax every transaction.
Picture a day in the not too distant future where you will not be able to have a garage sale with out a vendor’s license where you will have to have a terminal tied in to a central bank computer.
If you want to make a private off the books sale of even the smallest item it will have to be on a purely barter bases because there is no legal currency out side of a government computer network.
Personally I am not willing to surrender my anonymity.
Personally I buy and sell guns frequently on a person-to-person basis. No background check, No record of any transaction what so ever. In a cashless society there would be a defacto gun registration system because every gun purchase would be recorded in a government computer no matter where it happened.
Any voluntary system would not stay voluntary for long. Eventually commercial business would opt out of the cash system because of the added expense of handling cash. (Just consider the expenses today of moving cash around; armored cars, security guards, safes). If the number of people using cash becomes small enough the pressure to go cashless will become immense.
Cash is the enabler of crime but is also the enabler of economic freedom.