Originally Posted by master of none
I understand that most people have IDs, but we should be allowed to walk down the street without needing to produce ID-- yet in our area, police routinely ask for ID. I rarely carry ID when not driving.

Photo id is NOT free here. Haven't checked lately, but 20 years ago, it was 25.00.

I won't even touch on immigration, natural disaster, and theft-- all reasons for not having an ID or having an id that reveals inaccuracies. With an id, people can find out lots of stuff that invades privacy. I do not give out my ssn and that number is on driver's licenses. I don't want my school having that info, or the secretary at the school. Identity is precious, something to be protected. I don't give out info without a legit reason.
When the government provides valuable benefits, it needs to verify that recipients are legitimate. To send your child to a neighborhood public school, you need to prove that your child is age-eligible and that he or she lives in the school district. Sometimes schools investigate whether a child lives where his parents say he does. That's an invasion of privacy, but how do you avoid it? I know of at least one child who is illegally attending a school one of our children attends. The problem is not theoretical. Free and reduced price student lunches will require parental financial disclosure. When your children apply to college, applying for financial aid means dealing with the dreaded FAFSA form. The cost of hassling people and invading their privacy needs to be weighed against the cost to taxpayers of fraud.