# Why not have a national ID card? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 26, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171 "2004-09-26T16:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171/81 "2004-10-02T14:55:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Furthermore – I won’t defend the idea of reviving the draft, but if we do have one, and you’re not a conscientous objector, do you have the right to evade it, while others are subject to it? We can only have a draft if draft-age males are registered and can be found when needed. Yes, I would submit that you have the (moral, obviously, not legal) right to evade it. Not only that, but , depending on the circumstances possibly the moral _duty_ to evade it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171/82 "2004-10-03T10:44:18Z")
Why do folks still continue to assume that if we have a draft in the US it will only include young men? How could we justify excluding young women, since there are already a significant number serving on active duty in the military? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171/83 "2004-10-03T10:53:07Z")
Also, about social security numbers in the US… For one thing, not everyone has one. Railroad workers, for example, continue to use their own separate retirement account that pre-dates social security. The Amish are exempted from social security. So one can exist as a full citizen of the US without having one, even if in many circumstances it has become a _de facto_ national ID number. And while it may be _asked for_ seldom does it have to be _given_. I have, for over 20 years, refused to have it put on my driver’s license (although many a DMV worker has expressed surprised that I don’t wan the “convenience” - convenience for whom? Identity thieves?). When I am asked for it I always inquire _why do you want this?_ and _is it truly required?_ And, as identity theft increases there is more and more resistance to divulging personal information. Due to a very recent change in the law, my health insurance company will no longer be able to use SS#'s as patient ID numbers so starting next year my SS# comes off my health insurance card. While many Americans do (sometimes foolishly in my opinon) give it out casually some of us do not and consider it confidential. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171/84 "2004-10-10T14:45:06Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > There’s a national ID card in France. Though it’s not per se mandatory to have one, you can hardly avoid it, since it will be asked when you write a check, when you register at the local library, when dealing with various official services, etc…actually any time you need to prove your identity to someone. You can use other official IDs, like a driver’s license, for instance, in most cases, but not everybody has a driver license. Avoiding this scenario is why I suggested an identity document the size of a book (and not a small book) for the few cases where there is a **legitimate** need for it (e.g. when voting). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171/85 "2004-10-10T15:27:25Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > Avoiding this scenario is why I suggested an identity document the size of a book (and not a small book) for the few cases where there is a **legitimate** need for it (e.g. when voting). The scenario **clairobscur** described is not in any way inconvenient, unpleasant, or dangerous to civil liberties. Why is it something you would want to “avoid”? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171/86 "2004-10-10T21:03:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The scenario **clairobscur** described is not in any way inconvenient, unpleasant, or dangerous to civil liberties. Why is it something you would want to “avoid”? “the police stormed in and checked everybody” “black and arab-looking people are much more likely to be checked” Your definition of “civil liberties” appears to fit Sarek’s description of Klingon justice – “a unique point of view”. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171/87 "2004-10-10T21:31:05Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Privacy is not my issue. I don’t get people who get worked up about their SSN privacy when a 12 year old can easily figure it out. Nothing is private these days, nothing! It’s because some guy wrote a nice sci-fi book about an all knowing government and it scared the shit out of people. Now, people think that since they read it, it MUST be true. And now they are so damned paranoid about Big Brother coming to life one day and “controlling” their lives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-have-a-national-id-card/266171.md?page=4)