Apprehension by some people to the suggestion from Federal Education minister Julia Gillard that every school child will be allocated a personal identification number to track their progress on the " My School " website.
Years ago the idea of an " Australia card " form of ID was rejected as too authoritarian and " Big Brother ", and yet we seem to have no problems with an existing form of numerical identification which we must produce to do all sorts of transactions - from opening a bank account to purchasing shares or bonds.
The day we start work we become attached to a tax file number, and that number accompanies us through all the years until we finally end up in the grave.
That " TFN " allows every form of government, both state and Federal - to track our progress in the commercial world and through social security channels. A tap on a computer - and all our details are instantly available.
Julia Gillard claims that giving each child a number will ensure privacy, and in the event of a change of school - all the necessary background information will be helpful.
In this age of the computer - identification by number is simply a fact of life.
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