All Australians to Have National 'Medical' Microchipped ID Cards

From the middle of next year, the Medicare card will provide doctors, dentists, pharmacists and paramedics with an encyclopedia-like file on patients' medical histories, medications and treatments.

"It would be a card, most likely with a chip that would store your information on it, which you would then provide to health professionals and give them access to it when you wanted them to see it."

The Howard government planned to introduce the Access Card - essentially a national identification card - which would have contained health plus welfare and tax details.

Read more...

Pilots Threaten to Strike Over ID Cards

The first wave of ID cards to be issued to British citizens has prompted airline pilots to threaten a strike rather than accept the documents.
Aviation workers have warned that proposals to make airport staff register for the cards from next year would do little to improve security. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), which represents 10,000 of the 12,000 commercial pilots and flight engineers in Britain, said its members were being treated as "guinea pigs". Jim McAuslan, Balpa's general secretary, said the Government's "early warning system should be flashing" over opposition to the plans.

Read more...