Health Minister Tony Abbott, recently suggested that "a central database" could be used to manage Australians' identity on health and Medicare records, but this sparked off fears that only one document would need to be counterfeited in order to establish an identity. However, Christine Axton, the research director at Ovum, said that the Australian's Government's proposal to establish an entitlement as part of its eHealth programme could have its advantages.
"Although each card contains identification information relating to one specific individual, the cards are effectively self-policing since there is no advantage to the citizen in carrying more than one card, because it is not a unique identification card and only one card carries entitlement to a service.
"For example a workers tax and dole benefits are only credited to one card and so the holder can only claim access to federal and state services on that card. This is a much more measured and sensible approach to ID cards and one we wholeheartedly support."
But Axton also foresees problems in how citizen's personal data should be stored and protected.
"The problems here is that whilst centralising data is perceived as an increase to security risks and a potential factor in compromising privacy, centralising data makes sense from an efficiency and service point of view when Governments are providing joined services for citizens.
"Shared services and e-government initiatives are the biggest focus areas for Governments across the world. Primarily because Governments believe they are the best way to enhance efficiency, reduce tax payer costs and improve citizen based services."
Ovum believes that any moves to centralise data should be rigorously scrutinised to ensure that it can be justified by the net benefits.
Axton added: "ID cards should only be implemented if they are designed principally to give citizens the power to control and secure their identity in a digital world, rather than for the Government to monitor and validate that identity."
She closed by saying that entitlement cards potentially bring obvious improvements to medical care and other services, but citizens will have to ensure that their rights are protected and the Government uses the power of the available technology to deliver the best possible compromise.
Quelle: IDM, 20.07.2005
