Re: Where rubber meets the road in privacy debate

[Robert <Robert@xxxxxxx>]

Robert L Bass wrote:
> 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.
>
>
>