Im finding that the whole opt-out bit is something of a hoot...
Here's how it's working from my perspective:
Fred is horrifed at the idea that Big Brother will be keeping details on him in a centralized location. He's not sure whether the Government is the problem, or maybe it's the thousands of hackers who are sitting online searching his name every few minutes and patiently waiting for his details to pop up, but he knows it's not a good thing. He wants out, and breaks the world land-speed record getting to a computer so's he can start the "no! NO! NO!!" process.
The opt-out process requires that Fred supplies two items of ID - his Medicare number (which they already have), and his driver's license number. Which, of course, he supplies without a second thought.
Let's think about that for a sec, huh? Fred doesn't want Big Bro to have a whole bunch of info on him. In order to avoid that, Fred has... just given them a piece of info that they didn't have. They already had his Medicare card number, now they have his driver's license number linked to his Medicare number.
Moving forward: Fred completes the opt-out process, and is told he's been successful. For his own records, he can either print the confirmation page, or have a copy e-mailed to him. Naturally, he chooses e-mail, because printed pages can be easily lost.
So now, Big Bro has an e-mail address linked to all Fred's other details.
The process started off with Big Bro having Fred's Medicare card number. Now they also have his driver's license details and an e-mail address linked to that Medicare number.
Whoever it is who's busily compiling and cross-referencing everyone's info is probably wetting themselves with laughter at how easy it is...
