Campaigners have organised a meeting in Tuebrook to urge the city not to become a "guinea pig" in future voluntary schemes.
Cllr Steve Radford said: "As a young man, I campaigned against pass laws in South Africa. I never dreamed one day I might, as a British citizen, have to carry an ID card.
"The idea of 250,000 civil servants holding all my personal history is a gross offence and intrusion and flies in the face of our way of life."
A spokeswoman for the Identity and Passport Service said: "Benefits of the credit-card sized document include travel within the EU and a national proof of age card.
At £30, an ID card will offer an affordable identity document when compared to a standard passport at £77.50.
"In practice, we expect many people will choose to have both.
"As with passports, it will be for individuals to decide if they want to have an ID card."
