The A to Z of ID cards

T is for Traceability

The National Identity Registration Number (Nirno) will no longer be written on the card or stored on the microchip following concerns that a person's day-to-day behaviour would be able to be tracked every time the card was read.

Pressure group Privacy International welcomed the removal of the Nirno, following fears it could be cross-referenced across multiple transactions - such as proof of age purchases or opening a bank account.

But it criticised the government for not deciding to remove the Nirno until 2008, five years after it first raised its concerns.