That is the hard issue because you need a unique identifier. What you maybe don't need is a unique identifier that works for everybody. Why not have one for the credit bureaus, which is the credit bureau type of number? In order to identify yourself for credit, you become whatever this long stream of numbers is, for the purpose of credit. It doesn't have to be for all of the other purposes in society that a social insurance number is used for and has become used for. The trouble with the social insurance number is, of course, that it's used as a password for so many things.
If you create a national identity card, the concern on our part is that it will become like the social insurance number times two--used for everything and only accepted for everything. The idea of keeping things in silos is perhaps one way to go. Now, I'm not suggesting that it's the best way, because we haven't studied the actual use of that and how to get from here to there, but the idea that your identifier can work all across society and for many purposes is part of the problem.