The Government has been urged to be more transparent about plans for the controversial Public Service Card.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Digital Rights Ireland say the use of the card is potentially open to abuse and could lead to breaches of privacy.
The scheme has been criticised after many government agencies made it mandatory in order to access services and payments.
Liam Herrick from the ICCL says similar identity cards have been blocked in parts of the UK.
"Over the last numbers of years, concerns of the type that we're raising here have been voiced," he said.
"Certainly in England and Wales, these concerns led to the government backing down on the introduction of a mandatory identification card system, over 10 years ago.."
"In Scotland, they're having the same debate today," added Mr Herrick.