Re: Why the fuss?
It's a matter of classes of citizenship.
It's certainly the case that I am identified by various primary keys, that I'm spied on by cameras all over the place, and that my progress through the world leaves a messy financial spoor. But all this is optional. I surrender my anonymity in return for social benefits. A person who chooses to could, in theory, live totally anonymously in Britain, though it would be hard work. More realistically, he can selectively avoid identification as long as he's prepared to forego the asscociated benefits.
By contrast, in a country with mandatory national databases and identity papers, if you aren't in the database you are an un-person, not a citizen.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
