We've had "analog" ID cards forever, so there was no great controverse when the gov decided to switch to eID. We were used to carrying some form of ID all the time anyway. It is in countries where the carrying of IDs is new that the people feel watched all of a sudden, I think. Only advantages here: harder to forge, simple way of logging in to gov sites (secured email by our post office, fill out tax forms, request official paperwork from your home-town, etc...), oh yeah, and they are smaller then the old ones -> bank card sized