Big brother is watching you, and the arm of the State gets longer and longer. The registration card for Telecom Eireann shares requires applicants to give their date of birth. Some prospective shareholders object to this type of information winging its way around the postal system on an open card. Why does the Department of Public Enterprise want it? Because, says the PR person, it's an anti-fraud device to prevent multiple applications from the same person. If you ring up to register they ask you your mother's maiden name. And anyway, she said, it all comes under data protection and can't be divulged. On an open post card? She must be joking. So if an applicant doesn't fill in the date of birth they can't register, right? Well no, actually. "Lots of people haven't put in their date of birth and we still register them," said the woman at the Information Office.