Large companies, organizations and associations use identification cards to verify membership, limit access to specified privileges or to allow entry to a property, building or specific area.

In December, 2000, the New Yorker ran a piece called "My Fake Job". In the article, Rodney Rothman reported his days posing as an employee for an unnamed Manhattan dot-com consultancy. He walked in, laid claim to a desk, got a phone extension under a phoney name, then spent three weeks pretending to make business calls. He enjoyed free snacks, company-paid massages and a free T-shirt he mentioned in the article.

The company recognized the reporter's description and quickly tightened security procedures. Photo ID would likely have avoided this embarrassment. The moral? Photo ID should be an integral part of your security plan.

Identification cards can incorporate special security features such as magnetic striping bar codes proximity cards or smart cards.