KEY POINTS:
A bid to halt the microchipping of discount cards for senior citizens has failed, but stronger safeguards will be included to ensure privacy and security of card-holders is guarded.
Yesterday, Parliament voted down an attempt by Act MP Heather Roy to have the microchipping clause removed from the bill which introduces senior citizen discount cards, the Super Gold Cards.
However, an amendment by Independent MP Taito Philip Field will allow microchipping to go ahead only after consultation with the Privacy Commissioner, the State Services Commission and any other relevant bodies.
The driving force behind the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill, NZ First leader Winston Peters, yesterday moved to reassure senior citizens that they could trust him.
In Parliament, he said the microchip detractors were simply "scaremongering" with claims of identity theft and personal information being misused. "This is not a sci-fi fantasy or Dancing with the Stars, it is real life."
He denied the Government was trying to slip through microchip technology "secretly in the dead of night" by including it in the Super Gold Card bill.
He said it would be irresponsible to introduce a discount card without ensuring it could use the technology of the future. However, any move to microchipping would require checks by the Privacy Commissioner and others.
"We have no desire to see information relating to our seniors abused or misused and the checks are already in place to provide the strongest possible protection against this."
However, other politicians remained divided as to whether microchipping should be allowed in government cards before such consultation was done.
The clause in the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill would also mean other government social services cards could be microchipped.
It will be the first time a large-scale use of microchips on government cards has been authorised. However, Act, National, the Greens and Maori Party have all voiced their disquiet at pushing ahead with microchips.
United Future deputy leader Judy Turner also had concerns about introducing microchipping on "an ad hoc basis" but the party was satisfied with Mr Field's amendment.
Act MP Heather Roy said she was not opposed to microchipping, but delaying it would have no impact on the introduction of the Gold Card and would allow more time to consider the issues.
National's Judith Collins asked why Mr Peters wanted to introduce microchipping for seniors despite the public outrage over microchipping dogs.
Green MP Keith Locke asked whether Ms Collins could be reassured by Mr Peters' agreement that he "would intend to microchip only dangerous and menacing pensioners".
Mr Locke noted the Privacy Commissioner had already warned of "function creep" with microchips where cards were used for wider purposes than initially intended.
"We have to be careful as we go down this track that it's not a Trojan horse for a move toward a more general ID card containing information that may infringe our privacy."
Minister for Senior Citizens, Ruth Dyson, said the safeguards in Field's amendment were the most sensible approach.
She said the information that could be put on the microchip was limited under the law, and included only a person's name, an identification number, and a code denoting eligibility for discounts.
Mr Peters said the first issue of Super Gold Cards, due to launch in August, would not include microchips.
