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Is the right to anonymity a thing?

Should individuals have the right to anonymity when they choose not to be identified?

There was once a time when everyone was anonymous and nobody really cared.

You could open a bank account simply by fronting up to a teller and saying "I'd like to open an account please".

Likewise, there was no need to provide an official government-issued identity document when withdrawing cash, when flying on a domestic route or when doing many of the things which now come with a "papers please" demand.

How on earth did we every survive back then, when knowing exactly who you were wasn't so important?

These days proving your identity is mandatory almost everywhere you go and for everything you do.

It seems that we can no longer trust anyone and you're assumed to be a money launderer, spy or terrorist until you're able to prove otherwise.

That's a rather sad indictment of modern society and certainly makes me think warm, cosy thoughts of the more innocent days of my youth.

Around the world there is now a move by governments to introduce digital IDs that will become the ultimate identity document. Right now, Australia is on the threshold of rolling out such a system and, although they're saying it is "voluntary" at this time, many folks believe that it will become compulsory.

Whilst some see nothing wrong with this government-run national ID system, others are warning that there are many pitfalls associated with the use of universal digital IDs and the data that flows from their use.

We've increasingly seen that virtually *any* computer system can be hacked. Even the world's top universities, hospitals, banks and governments have fallen victims to such hacks. In all too many cases this has resulted in massive data-leaks and cost billions to remedy and mitigate.

When a government runs a universal digital ID system that is available to others for the purposes of ID authentication there is always going to be a comprehensive log kept of everyone's activities. That data is a gold-mine and worth a huge amount of money to anyone that can get their hands on it -- by fair means or foul.

Another worrying aspect of this universal digital ID and the records that accrue against it is the prospect of a "social credit" system being built around it -- as is being done in China.

This, of course, would be sold to the people as "for the national good" but would effectively be the result of the state snooping into almost every aspect of our daily lives. Big brother on steroids.

In recent decades we've almost completely lost the right to privacy and the right to anonymity is very closely aligned with that. Surely, as human beings, we deserve some degree of privacy and being able to remain anonymous when we choose to do so, is an inalienable element of maintaining that privacy.

I also wonder what those brave men and women who risked and sometimes gave their lives to protect us from the "papers please" level of state fascism would think if they could see the way we're headed today.

The loss of privacy and anonymity is one of the most dehumanising things we can encounter. Once we become just a digital ID that must be presented on-demand we lose our individuality and become just a cog in the machine.

Or maybe I've got this all wrong.

Suffice to say that there are benefits to being old -- with luck I won't be around when this lunacy becomes mandatory.

Carpe Diem folks!

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