New federal requirements for driver's licenses rev up the arguments
By Mike Stuckey Senior news editor MSNBC Updated: 6:29 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2006
Mike Stuckey Senior news editor
--------------------------------------------------------------------
. Profile . E-mail
Any hope we may have of keeping government, industry and criminals out of our personal business is scheduled to vanish completely in
18 months, privacy advocates say.That's when the federal government's Real ID Act is to be fully in place, effectively setting up a national identification program by requiring states to adopt strict new high-tech standards for driver's licenses and ID cards if they are to be accepted by federal authorities at places ranging from airports to U.S. courthouses.
The act's passage last year has crystallized the U.S. debate over the delicate balance between individual privacy rights and the government's desire to securely identify travelers, applicants for federal benefits and anyone else who may pose a threat to its security or economy..
Real ID's looming implementation has fueled sky-is-falling rhetoric from a broad spectrum of groups. They say it will push the United States firmly toward an Orwellian surveillance society in which the federal government can track our every move. The personal data of every American with a driver's license or state ID card also will be far easier for businesses and criminals to obtain, cost billions to implement and do very little to fulfill its stated aim of increasing homeland security, they maintain.
"It is a very large step toward a national-identification, you-have-to-have-your-papers type of world," said Melissa Ngo, staff counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
On the other side, backers of Real ID say the technology is essential for government officials in the post-9/11 world to know who's who. And security industry representatives say that the technology itself and policy decisions on how it's implemented will do a fine job of protecting privacy, and could even enhance it.
Just what the 9/11 Commission ordered "The Real ID Act is a direct implementation of one of the 9/11 Commission recommendations," said Jeff Lungren, spokesman for House Judiciary Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., the legislation's key sponsor. "There's a ton of misconceptions that have been promulgated by the opponents from the get-go. It's unfortunate that they're continuing to do so."
The thinking behind Real ID is that since the 9/11 hijackers were allowed through airport security with legitimate state-issued driver's licenses or ID cards, the standards that states use to grant the cards must be tightened. Those standards are spelled out in a 1,767-word section of the act and require, in addition to the holder's name, gender, date of birth and residential address, a digital photograph, "physical security features" to prevent fraud, and the ability to be accessed by "machine-readable technology."
RELATED LINKS a.. Fact file: Better IDs, new risks b.. Read Parts 1, 2 and 3 of Privacy Lost c.. Take our privacy survey and see how others responded d.. Share your thoughts on our Privacy Lost message board
But it's what lies beneath those features that raises the specter of Big Brother for privacy advocates and budget concerns for state governments. In what some critics see as an unvarnished bid to also control illegal immigration, the act requires that states go to extraordinary lengths to verify the identities of people to whom they issue cards, ensuring that cardholders are in the country legally and verifying their Social Security numbers. The states must keep this proof on file for seven to 10 years, and they must maintain a database with all driver's license information that can be accessed by all the other states. The act also bars drivers from holding a license in more than one state at a time.
Precisely how the language of the Real ID Act is to be carried out at the practical level is in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security, which is in "the process of developing the draft regulations," according to DHS spokesman Jarrod Agen. "The best timeline I can give is that we should have those out for public comment by the end of the year." States are antsy to see the rules because the law calls for the new licenses to be issued as of May 11, 2008, which doesn't leave a lot of time for the major changes that will be required in some DMVs.
begin 666 byline_msnbc.gif M1TE&.#EA9 `4`/757G4A(2:N=R.W:RO7LXS:)65EJ"@H-G9W/SVX5F^>YJ:FU!04:JJK(J*B[2TMI*3 ME+FYNE)24TU-3K*RM>:HJGY^?VIJ:S@X.6-C9%-35$I*2^_O\_3U]_3T]_CX M^OW]_?O[_/+S]OKZ_$='2/S\_.WN\?WDH,?(R[;.TMZC+M+#?OXV:R-*,2-*-4-_@XL'!P7]D MI,/$Q=B@:ZI1:9K1TM'AV-;OW[QSA_WCG('&OOS)-;>XN?GMS)J,P('*I^[N M\O?V].[O\GRPVAF+S2HJ*H_)YNGI[>WO].KH[_7T^?#GX?[^_NOL\>WN\NSM M\J2KP?[^_^KK\ ```/___RP`````9 `4```(_P#["1Q(L*#!@P@3*ES(L*'# MAQ C2IRH$)_%BQ@S:MS(L:/'CR!#=M1'LJ3)DRA3JES)LJ7+EROSR9Q)LZ;- MFSASZMS)LV?./T"#_@GV;8&F$@8ZT!-:)L05%2KNZ#D"M(F(/E"OY$FSS@:. M-BK\S)#D!@N/$'7D_:$BP\VA0T/DU!!:@X^;(5#P7$EQ*(4;OUB"0+#3+ZBF M(QHX? HPH@*'7EF\!*5!F88#!S2 /'B0(=T&7EMHS*.,QH^_T_X@*:%,#1)J M?T/8X!F!&H9M&+7[U%!SXK6_$&0J-Z%UNA>$WOYNVT;M9QF-(CQ!((;Z=]$8B'_HS_ M(DP@-L!SF@87GC:*"JB@,L-\([3A@#0D)@#HL"P@@@7R030,-2##.!:S@ MLL$`G? 8#R LP = &^>^@,%(-HX M#"#(0S!#7Q80@3^6(9!W..1D(RD)"=)R4I:\I*8 MS*0F+,Z?(T#F&=.O!)SC]>G\J[SPRUQ;:A"B[C"V$&?O'U-$79BDCO,T9I!T MHKH,QB6,0:X\_!_P!7BK@M3.;TN:%%%+728!1110`M%%%,!AZT'I0>
MM&*0'E/BRPN+#6;R26';#G>/;%KKP^9T&6M7\P M_P"Z>#_2O+=P9L ]:Y)QLSHA*Z'W$Z(4^0;F.-QKJ?!JJ9+D`!]T7 S^-