In the movie Sleepless in Seattle 8-year-old Jonah Baldwin wants to travel from Seattle to New York to meet Annie, the woman he thinks should be his new stepmother. Jonah's 8-year-old friend, Jessica books him a seat on United Airlines flight 597 using her mother's computer. Jessica's parents are travel agents. As Jessica makes the booking, she and Jonah have the following conversation:

Jessica: (Keying in the details for Jonah's booking) ‘I am telling them that you are 12 so the stewardess won't carry you around and stuff like that.’

Jonah: ‘Are you crazy! Who would believe that I'm 12?’

Jessica: ‘If it is in the computer, they will believe anything.’

Jonah: ‘Are you sure?’

Jessica: ‘Do you want me to say that you are really, really small for your age and they shouldn't say anything because it will hurt your feelings?’

Jonah: ‘Yeah, that's a great idea!’

Needless to say, Jonah travels unaccompanied on the plane to New York without any question being raised about his age.

Introduction

In this chapter I examine the composition and legal function of the emergent concept of digital identity in the United Kingdom and Australia. The concept of identity under the Identity Cards Act is compared to the concept of identity in Australia, which is most clearly evident in the Access Card Bill introduced into federal Parliament in 2007.