Hundreds of millions of Australian identity checks may have been illegally conducted, Senate hears

Senator David Shoebridge has asked if legislation for the identity verification service is being pushed through parliament to shield the government from liability. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Hundreds of millions of identity checks under the federal government’s ID verification service may have been illegally conducted, with the Albanese government rushing through legislation to underpin the service.

Identity verification services are used by government departments and businesses – such as credit card providers and power companies – to combat fraud and identity theft.