Although renewed calls for a national identity card have sparked a heated debate in the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, such cards are the norm in most of the world.

Although renewed calls for a national identity card have sparked a heated debate in the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, such cards are the norm in most of the world. "It's hard to find countries without ID cards," said Simon Davies, the director of Privacy International, which is based in England. "It's safe to say that the majority of countries have some kind of national identification system." Civil liberties groups oppose national identification cards on the grounds that they substantially increase police power and facilitate information-sharing among government agencies. Proponents, including law enforcement officials, say the cards help streamline government interactions with the public by providing tamper-resistant proof of identification.