- Congressional passage of the "Real ID" legislation
is now all but a done deal, House and Senate conferees having agreed to
inclusion of language in an appropriations bill that is all but certain
to pass.
-
- The name "Real ID" is, if anything, too modest.
Despite deep public opposition over the years to a national identity card,
and Congress's unwillingness to even consider the idea directly, our security
agencies have now gotten what they want as proponents have succeeded in
pushing through Congress a National ID-in-disguise.
-
- The "Real ID" Act Is Indeed A Real (National)
ID.
-
- Although individual states' driver's licenses may continue
to exhibit cosmetic differences, they will now contain a standardized set
of information collected by all 50 states, which means that underneath
each state's pretty designs they are really a single standardized national
card - backed up not only by biometrics, but also by a standardized "machine-readable
zone" and by a national database of ID information. Local DMV offices
may continue to appear to be state offices, but they will now become agents
acting on behalf of the federal government, charged with issuing a national
identity document without which one will be unable to function in America.
-
- * National Database Creates Powerful Tracking Tool.*
-
- Real ID requires the states to link their databases together
for the mutual sharing of data from these IDs. This is, in effect, a single
seamless national database, available to all the states and to the federal
government. (The fact that the database is a distributed one, maintained
on interconnected servers in the separate states, makes no difference.)
-
- * National Database Creates Security Risks.*
-
- The creation of a single interlinked database creates
a one-stop shop for identity thieves and terrorists who want to assume
an American's identity. The security problems with creating concentrated
databases has recently been demonstrated by the rampant number of data
breaches in recent months in which information held by commercial database
companies has fallen into the hands of identity thieves or others. The
government's record at information security is little better and that is
especially true at state Motor Vehicle Departments that have routinely
been the targets of both insider and outsider fraud and just plain larceny.
-
- * The "Machine-Readable Zone" Paves The Way
For Privator-Sector Piggybacking.*
-
- Our new IDs will have to make their data available through
a "common machine-readable technology." That will make it easy
for anybody in private industry to snap up the data on these IDs. Bars
swiping licenses to collect personal data on customers will be just the
tip of the iceberg as every retailer in America learns to grab that data
and sell it to Choicepoint for a dime. It won't matter whether the states
and federal government protect the data - it will be harvested by the private
sector, which will keep it in a parallel database not subject even to the
limited privacy rules in effect for the government.
-
- * This national ID card will make observation of citizens
easy but won't do much about terrorism.*
-
- The fact Is, identity-based security is not an effective
way to stop terrorism. ID documents do not reveal anything about evil
intent - and even if they did, determined terrorists will always be able
to obtain fraudulent documents (either counterfeit or real documents bought
from corrupt officials).
-
- * Negotiated Rulemaking.*
-
- Among the any unfortunate effects of this legislation
is that it pre-empts another process for considering standardized driver's
licenses that was far superior. That process (set in motion by the Intelligence
Reform Act of 2004) included a "negotiated rulemaking" among
interested parties - including the states and civil liberties groups -
to create standards. Instead, the worst form of rules is being imposed,
with the details to be worked out by security officials at DHS instead
of through balanced negotiations among affected parties.
-
- * "Your Papers, Please."*
-
- In the days after 9/11, President Bush and others proclaimed
that we must not let the terrorists change American life. It is now clear
that - despite its lack of effectiveness against actual terrorism - we
have allowed our security agencies push us into making a deep, far-reaching
change to the character of American life.
-
- Barry Steinhardt
-
- Director Technology and Liberty Project American Civil
Liberties Union
|
