KEY POINTS:
Legislation setting up a "Super Gold Card" for superannuitants will let the cards carry a microchip for easy scanning of personal information.
MPs worried about the possible misuse of the card and identity theft will make a determined attempt in Parliament today to remove the microchipping clause from the legislation, but the Government is expected to have enough support to pass it.
The Super Gold Card was a New Zealand First initiative, accepted by Labour, to provide senior citizens with access to discounts and benefits at various businesses or government services.
The contentious clause in the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill would also permit microchips in other social services cards.
Act MP Heather Roy will introduce an amendment seeking to remove the microchipping clause when the bill comes up in Parliament, expected today.
She said a separate review was needed on how the technology worked and how privacy was affected before a "free for all" was entered into the law.
"This technology can pass over people's private identification information for use by people who don't have authorisation.
"So there have to be parameters in place and safeguards against the illegitimate passing on of information."
Ms Roy's amendment has support from the Maori Party and the Greens.
The National Party was to decide on its position this morning, but raised concerns about the microchipping provision at earlier stages of the bill's progress.
The Government has said it has no policy allowing the use of the microchips yet. The clause is to permit future use.
Ms Roy said microchips could be read by anyone with the suitable technology and the United States and European Union had recently backed off from using the technology for human identification until more research was done on its safety.
However, New Zealand First says the cards would not be functional without microchips, which could be in use as early as next year.
Damien Edwards, adviser to NZ First leader Winston Peters, said opponents of the clause were misinformed and "scaremongering".
Talk that anyone could access personal information was "nutty stuff".
"The chips are more secure than the magnetic strips people now have on their cards and they only hold the same information."
However, the Privacy Commissioner has also sounded caution over the state sector rushing into the use of the technology. The New Zealand Law Society has also advised a full review.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said she was not opposed to the use of "smart card technology" but more debate was needed.
"There is the potential for 'function creep' where the card ends up being used for far more than was originally intended. Security is a real issue, both for the data stored on the cards and the risk of identity theft."
Grey Power president Graham Stairmand also called for a halt, saying microchips were potentially an invasion of privacy and could track the user's activities.
Mr Edwards said the chips would store only a limited amount of information.
The microchips could be in the gold cards as early as next year, as the technology used by banks and retailers changed over. If they did not have chips, retailers could not use them to provide discounts.
"If we want to have a functional card, we have to have microchip technology."
Microchips holding photos and details were first included in New Zealand passports two years ago, with privacy protection to stop unauthorised people accessing the information or intercepting radio waves that carry the data.
Ms Roy said that if the microchipping clause remained, Act would withdraw its support for the entire Super Gold Card bill although it supported the gold card itself.
The Maori Party and Greens were still considering their positions on the whole bill if microchipping remained.
