But...what is the real price of identity

The previous discussion asks some questions about the actual dollars and cents involved in establishing identity and such things as providing certificates.
All this begs the question about the current debate concerning an Australia Card and what the price of that might be, and who might foot the bill.
The previous discussion notes that we should not be confident that Government will not expect citizens to pay for the price of establishing one's identity to its satisfaction. This, if a passport is anything to go by, is quite a costly exercise.
But the real price will never be the dollars and cents, but the erosion of privacy and civil liberty. These matters always have to be balanced with other issues such as security and the common good but this is a tight rope and a slippery slide to mix a couple of metaphors.
In principle it seems to me that there are some important guidelines that government and other organisations could do well to keep in mind:

• Information is power. Personal details are not neutral, they colour the picture considerably. Whether it be gender, economic status, age, health details, HIV status, criminal record, likes and dislikes, political affiliation, credit rating and so we could go on... all of this has some intrinsic value
• In principle, information should not be kept that is not necessary to keep. The collection of information for its own sake should be discouraged.
• The collection of any information should be regulated and approved by independent authority which has to be satisfiued that there is adequate justification
• Cross referencing of information should be carefully monitored

There are indeed so many principles that we begin to see something of why it is so scary.