wow thanks for all the responses . amazing info guys . <| sep |> In practice , it ' s used the same way you guys use your drivers license , hunting one or whatever else you guys also use . It ' s just standardized , meaning that only legal options are either government issued ID that you are obliged to have after turning 16 , or your passport . You use those for everything . From proving you are old enough to be in a club , to voting , getting your money from the bank , or stuff from post office . Not having one on yourself is fineble , but I never heard of anyone getting fined . Most of the times , the only people police checks are usually kids , since if you are under sixteen , you aren ' t supposed to be on the street unsupervised as in , without someone who ' s at least 18 years old after 10 or 11 pm .