http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-stati..._positives.html

i really need to dig into charlie's blog/diary more it seems.

Here in Denmark, everyone has a CPR number, which is the same as a SIN. It works great, and I find it really strange that all countries don't have it. It is extremely practical to have everyone uniquely identified.

I always thought SSN was the same as a SIN

Same effect, zebo, but on a larger scale. Everything you do in real life (in the USA) is tracked by either: SSN, first & last name, or telephone number, depending upon whether its a corporate entity or the government doing the tracking. In SR, your SIN is the universal tracking system as to what you do and where you go. Plus, it's a sort of proof-of-citizenship; you can have a SSN and not be a US citizen. Additionally, if you don't have a SSN, you still receive certain inalienable rights from the government, such as police protection & fire department coverage; if you don't have a SIN in SR, then the local security provider can tell you to piss off. You also cannot own or run a business (legally), work for a legal and reputable business, hold a driver's license, go to school. . . with a SIN, the government simply does not recognize your right to exist.

In the US, you can do quite a lot without an SSN. Certainly (Bush notwithstanding), I have certain rights regardless as to my having an SSN. You can rent an apartment, own land, own a vehicle, shop, get a job, etc. all without an SSN (you cannot generally can't get large loans, however).

In SR, things are different. You really cannot hold cash. Your credit card, individual rights, your power to purchase, own or sell are all linked to your SIN. Without a SIN, officially, you simply do not exist. Think of all the things people who do not exist do, and that's the list of what you're permitted to do. To do anything, it must be through black/grey channels.

From what I've seen, a large part of the reason that SIN isn't in the USA is because of the way it's been suggested; as a chip on the wrist. I may be off, but I recall a vote for a chip in the wrist effectively creating a SIN, and people started worrying about the Mark of the Beast (sure, mostly conservative Christians, but I heard little else for a while). It was quite annoying, to be honest. (NOTE: I have nothing against Christianity. I am a Christian. I just find people who shout "IT IS THE DEVIL!" at any advancement annoying.)

That article misses one important thing about a centralised database - more widespread use means that errors get spotted much more rapidly and therefore corrected faster. It also allows the maintainers to centralise their quality control apparatus and maximises the amount of benefit that any single correction brings. Since there can be more staff devoted to overseeing the database, corrections can be processed faster. I would think that'd rapidly reduce the number of errors.

I'm not sure why having many more errors is somehow batter.

If I am remembering correctly, I believe that it is technically illegal in the US to use someone's SSN as an identification number (even though everyone, even the government uses it as such), which is why you can refuse to give it to someone when asked for it on applications.

I seem to recall it was more along the lines of "requiring I always have my papers on me, enforced by legal mandate and physiological modification, is an affront to my human rights and dangerous to my liberty" (albeit, perhaps in fewer words).

THis of course is ignoring the fact that it's simply unconstitutional.

Both reasons are why the US ID Act (or whatever it was called) hit so many road bumps. Just standardizing driver's licenses has hit a lot of negative support.

I live in a right-wing, primarily Christian area. Normally that doesn't annoy me, but that was most of what I heard on the topic. Mea culpa, I figured I was off lol

S'alright. I live in a left-wing area and chat primarily with people with a strong sense of paranoia.

iirc, left in US still is right of right in europe

Where I come from, its already a corporate enclave here. Everything official requires your Identity Card number. Or if you are a foreigner, your passport number at the very least.