Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface / Carl Watner -- pt. I. A history of government ID and citi zen-tracking. Men ahead of their times / Jeremy Bentham, Luis Reyna Alm andos ; Government surnames and legal identities / James C. Scott, John Tehranian, Jeremy Mathias ; Genocide and group classification on natio nal ID cards / Jim Fussell ; The compulsory birth and death certificate in the United States / Carl Watner ; A national fingerprint system for the United States / Pamela Sankar ; Drivers licenses and vehicle regis tration in historical perspective / Carl Watner ; The Russian card: the propiska / Nicolas Werth ; Population registers in the Netherlands dur ing World War II / Bob Moore ; The English identity cards / C.H. Rolph ; A history of the census / Carl Watner -- pt. II. Contemporary issues. Systematic federal surveillance of ordinary Americans / Charlotte Twig ht ; National ID: our line in the sand / Claire Wolfe ; The Australia c ard: campaign of opposition / Simon Davies ; The Social Security Number in America: 1935-2000 / Robert Ellis Smith ; My national I.D. card is a threat to your civil liberties / Gregory Dicum ; How computers are a menace to liberty / Hans Sherrer ; Why I oppose government enumeration / Carl Watner -- pt. III. The future and resistance. Gandhi's story in South Africa / Calvin Kytle ; Give me liberty / Rose Wilder Lane ; Resi st enumeration / Scott McDonald ; National I.D. for all public servants / Patricia Neill ; An American refusenik / Claire Wolfe ; Red tape ; W hy I refuse to be numbered ; Slavery and national ID / Carl Watner ; ID without big brother / Sunni Maravillosa ; Epilogue: national ID and th e police state / Claire Wolfe, Aaron Zelman.