rense.com

CASPIAN/Spychips Join
Fight Against REAL ID

From Katherine Albrecht
Spychips.com
5-8-7

CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) has joined a coalition of over 50 leading organizations to oppose REAL ID, a U.S. government program that would turn state driver's licenses into national identification cards. The coalition is encouraging citizens to demonstrate overwhelming opposition to proposed rules for this program so the government will rethink its dangerously flawed plan.
 
Congress approved the REAL ID Act in 2005, giving the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the power to set federal driver's license standards. The Act also paves the way for a vast shared national database that could include sensitive personal documents like birth certificates, medical records, and a multitude of other details about licensees.
 
"REAL ID conjures up images of jack-booted authorities demanding 'Your papers, please,'" said Dr. Katherine Albrecht, Founder and Director of CASPIAN. "Americans instinctively understand the importance of limiting federal authority over their lives and are resisting this plan in record numbers."
 
In addition to privacy and civil liberties issues raised by the Act, groups are also denouncing the plan's inherent insecurity. Unifying vast amounts of personal data in a single interlinked database with multiple points of access will increase the risk of counterfeiting and identity theft.
 
Albrecht points out that the plan also raises serious privacy issues. "A database filled with sensitive personal information on virtually every adult in the U.S. will be a tempting target for private industry and marketers -- if the identity thieves don't get to it first," she said.
 
The numerous problems associated with REAL ID have united a broad spectrum of trans-partisan, nonpartisan, privacy, consumer, civil liberty, civil rights, and immigrant organizations. Coalition members include the American Library Association, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Consumer Federation of California.
 
The coalition is urging citizens to submit comments opposing the the national identification scheme. The draft regulations to implement the REAL ID Act are open for comment until 5:00 PM EST on May 8, 2007. The comments can be submitted in one of three ways:
 
1. Online through the Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov (search for "DHS-2006-0030-0001" and follow the instructions for submitting comments); 2. Fax to 1-866-466-5370. Your fax must state that you are submitting comments in response to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking DHS-2006-0030. 3. Postal Mail sent to Department of Homeland Security; Attn: NAC 1-12037; Washington, D.C. 20538. Your letter must state that you are submitting comments in response to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking DHS-2006-0030.
 
For more information, visit http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid/
 
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ABOUT CASPIAN
 
CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999 and irresponsible RFID use since 2002. With thousands of members in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide, CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade their privacy and encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the retail spectrum.
 
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE CONTACT:
 
Katherine Albrecht (kma@spychips.com) 877-287-5854 ext. 1 or Liz McIntyre (liz@spychips.com) 877-287-5854 ext. 2
 
See:http://www.spychips.com


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