On this they're both outliers. Mandatory ID is pretty much the norm.
Living in a place with it... it's fine. Helps with some things. Definitely not the weird sci-fi tyrannical dystopia Brits and Americans suggest. It mostly depends on what is built around it. It's not like identification doesn't exist for fundamental transactions in places without a single consolidated ID document.
And yes, ours has all the accoutrements, including a digital certificate and biometric data, just like your passport does.
