ID Card - Is Big Brother Stalking You?

This is a special edition of the Diffusion Science Radio show from 2007,
looking at a controversial application of science and technology:
the proposed card to identify everyone accessing Australian
government services. This technology was implemented online in 2026 under the guise of "age verification" from web searches to games to using AI

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Program Summary

Developments in "smart-card" technology have resulted in a push by
governments world-wide to identify people (eg Real ID in the US, and the Access Card
in Australia) - ostensibly to reduce fraud by those who use their services.
Unfortunately, extensive collection of personal details could lead to abuse and
suppression of dissent.

Will the Access Card Bill be passed and effectively become
a National Identity Card?

We speak with Professor Graham Greenleaf of the University of New
South Wales and former New South Wales Deputy Privacy Commissioner
Anna Johnston, now of the Australian Privacy Foundation. They explore
the issue of function creep by which the access card would become a de
facto national identity card and the risks that involves.

Engineer Aras Vaichas explains the workings of possible smart card
technologies, and how they might be made secure.

Concealment of identity when exposing fraud and malpractice has long
been an issue for whistleblowers. That has partly been resolved by
disguising their voice. We experiment with a further level of
concealment - concealing the inteviewer as well, by replacing their
voice with an anonymous synthetic voice.

We also explore synthesising an interview - using answers from
a real interview but splicing them with new questions spoken by
an anonymous interviewer voice.

The show was presented by Darren Osborne and produced by Ian Woolf and
Charles Willock from the
Diffusion Science Radio team at
2SER Sydney.

Is it now possible to ensure complete anonymity for both interviewer and interviewee?


What steps are required to eliminate all clues to identity?


What are the as-yet-undisclosed "commercial benefits" of the card.

(Click for full visual map)

Credits

• Presented by Darren Osborne


• Synthetic interview with Anna Johnston about privacy concerns, by Anonymous Voice,


• Aras Vaichas speaks with Ian Woolf about RFID cards,


• Anonymous Voice interviews Professor Graham Greenleaf about card use and Cyberlaw


• Produced by Ian Woolf and Charles Willock

Acknowledgments

The interview with Anna Johnston was synthesised from a story by
Alex Koutts, produced by Erica Vowles and

originally broadcast 

on 13th February 2007 by

2SER on The Wire.  

Permission to adapt and rebroadcast that interview is
gratefully acknowledged.

Podcasts

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REFERENCES:

Links used in preparing the Big Brother special program are
listed below. It is worth noting that while most pages remain
constant, some government web sites, changed on an almost
daily basis).

• Updates
• International and General


• Campaigns and Issues


• Need for Identity? - Need for Privacy?


• Blogs and Commentary


• Australian Government Websites


• Technology Sites
• Business Issues

Updates: (. . . and developments since the program aired)

International and General

Privacy legislation applied to businesses is substantially different
from privacy legislation for government organisations.