Re: Where rubber meets the road in privacy debate

["Robert" <allspam@xxxxxx>]

"Robert L Bass" <robertbass1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:jL-dndm9rrUM-6XYnZ2dnUVZ_uidnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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.
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> 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
>
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> 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.
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