by Didi Rankovich | Reclaim The Net

The Australian Digital ID Law (Digital ID Bill 2024), which already passed the Senate, was adopted by Australia’s House of Representatives in an 87-56 vote.

Australia is joining the EU and several countries who seek to get rid of people’s physical IDs and replace them with digital schemes that pool the most sensitive personal information into massive, centralized databases.

This is considered by opponents as a security and privacy catastrophe in the making, with many purely political (ab)uses possible down the road.

In Australia, the goal is to get government services, health insurance, taxes, etc, all linked. And to do this, the governments will spend just shy of $197 million to launch the scheme.

MPs from the parties who voted against the bill – the Liberal-National Opposition – said that their constituents were worried about privacy, their freedoms in general, and government intervention.

Once again, arguments such as “convenience” – clearly a lopsided trade-off considering the gravity of these concerns – are offered to assuage them, and the point is made that participation is not mandatory. Read Full Article >

Leave a Comment