- Related Stories
-
Digital IDs face opposition among states
February 26, 2007 -
State officials oppose repealing Real ID Act
February 8, 2007 -
Maine rejects Real ID Act
January 25, 2007 -
Homeland Security chief defends Real ID plan
December 14, 2006 -
The Real ID rebellion
April 17, 2006 -
FAQ: How Real ID will affect you
May 6, 2005 -
National ID cards on the way?
February 14, 2005 -
House backs major shift to electronic IDs
February 10, 2005 -
National IDs for everybody?
October 4, 2004 -
Dean should come clean on privacy
January 26, 2004 -
Do we need a national ID plan?
July 22, 2002
The announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers a five-year extension to the deadline for states to issue the ID cards, and proposes creating the equivalent of a national database that would include details on all 240 million licensed drivers.
According to the draft regulations (PDF), which were required by Congress in the 2005 Real ID Act and are unlikely to assuage privacy and cost concerns raised by state legislatures:
• The Real ID cards must include all drivers' home addresses and other personal information printed on the front and in a two-dimensional barcode on the back. The barcode will not be encrypted because of "operational complexity," which means that businesses like bars and banks that require ID would be capable of scanning and recording customers' home addresses.
• A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is under consideration. Homeland Security is asking for input on how the licenses could incorporate "RFID-enabled vicinity chip technology, in addition to" the two-dimensional barcode requirement.
• States must submit a plan of how they'll comply with the Real ID Act by October 7, 2007. If they don't, their residents will not be able to use IDs to board planes or enter federal buildings starting on May 11, 2008.
• Homeland Security is considering standardizing a "unique design or color for Real ID licenses," which would effectively create a uniform national ID card.
Thursday's draft regulations arrive amid a groundswell of opposition to the Real ID Act from privacy groups, libertarians and state officials. On Wednesday, the National Governors Association endorsed a bill by Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, that would reduce Homeland Security's power to order states to comply with the law.
The draft rules, which are not final and will be subject to a public comment period, also include a more detailed estimate of how much it will cost to comply. The National Conference of State Legislatures and other state groups estimated last year that states will have to spend more than $11 billion. But Homeland Security says the total cost--including the cost to individuals--will be $23.1 billion over a 10-year period.
Another section of the 162-page regulations says that states have until December 31, 2009, to certify that they're on the path toward fully complying with the Real ID Act.
Push for repeal continues
Opponents of the Real ID Act, who have been advising states to publicly oppose the system, said that the draft rules are insufficiently privacy-protective and reiterated their call for a repeal of the entire law.
"We still need dramatic legislative action from Congress," said Tim Sparapani, legislative counsel for the ACLU, which runs the RealNightmare.org site. "We've got to wipe out the underlying act."
Sparapani and his allies of more than 50 groups, including the National Organization for Women and United Automobile Workers, sent a letter (PDF) on Monday endorsing a bill to repeal the Real ID Act. The letter says it was a "poorly-conceived law that can never be made to work in any fair or reasonable manner."
The ACLU believes Collins' bill is only a half-hearted step that doesn't go as far as it should. Other proposals include one from Rep. Thomas Allen, a Maine Democrat, that would rewrite the Real ID Act, insert privacy safeguards, and hand $2.4 billion to states over an eight-year period. On Wednesday, Sen. John Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican, and Daniel Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat, reintroduced a broader bill to repeal portions of the existing law.
Some state governments, such as Maine, already have come out against the Real ID Act--a move that effectively dares the federal government to continue even when some states refuse to participate. At least eight states (including Arizona, Georgia, and Vermont) have had anti-Real ID bills approved by one or both chambers of the legislature.
For their part, proponents of the Real ID Act say it's designed to implement proposals suggested by the 9/11 Commission, which noted that some of the hijackers on September 11, 2001, had fraudulently obtained state driver's licenses. But not all did: at least one hijacker simply showed his foreign passport and walked onto the airplane that day.
The Bush administration and many congressional Republicans have defended the Real ID Act as a way to stop future terrorist attacks and deter illegal immigrants.
"Raising the security standards on driver's licenses establishes another layer of protection to prevent terrorists from obtaining and using fake documents to plan or carry out an attack," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement. "These standards correct glaring vulnerabilities exploited by some of the 9/11 hijackers who used fraudulently obtained drivers licenses to board the airplanes in their attack against America."
A 23-page report released this week by Janice Kephart, a former lawyer with the 9/11 Commission, defended the Real ID Act by calling it a "significant step in enhancing our national and economic security and our public safety." Kephart is now president of 9/11 Security Solutions.
States bowing out of Real ID requirements is "not the way to secure America," the report says. "Embedding identity security into state-issued (ID card) systems will take significant planning to fulfill the requirements of Real ID and significant financial resources for the 'brick and mortar' start-up costs. Congress must step up to the plate and make securing of identity documents the national priority that our citizens deserve."
The Real ID Act passed Congress as part of an $82 billion military spending bill that also included funds for tsunami relief. No up-or-down vote on solely the Real ID Act took place in the entire Congress, though the House of Representatives did approve the rules by a 261-161 vote.
See more CNET content tagged:
Real ID Act,
homeland security,
ID card,
RFID,
Maine
Either people are getting licenses very young, driving until they are very old, or there are a lot of bogus licences out there!
The system may be broken before it ever gets started.
The way it was stuck on a critical defense spending bill and crammed down the collective throat of the states shows how dishonorable a group this is.
Your papers, please?
requirement. I don't see any implementation by
2008, particularly since about 20% of states
have openly balked at the idea.
If you can't enter a federal building because
your state refuses to comply with the federal
mandate, does that mean you can't go to the
social security office, show up for federal
court, etc. What happens when the IRS audits
someone and they respond with "Sorry, I'm from
New Hampshire and we aren't allowed in federal
buildings".
The premise is stupid. The card MUST have an
address, but millions of people have no address,
other have multiple addresses, and millions are
expected to experience a change of address while
the ID is still valid. There's nothing in the
design to suggest the ID would verifiably
identify the holder, or resist forgery, so
what's the point?
HOW NICE!
So, when I am on the road, doing a show tour, or on vacation, the nice people who like to break in to houses will KNOW that I am away FROM home, WHERE home IS and, thanks to the US GIVErment, will be able to clean me and millions of other Americans out of everything they own!
And, if they put the RFID chips in there, sure as hell's a mantrap, some smart young hacker will crack THAT code and people will be able to scan these puppies from a distance and do the SAME THING, but you won't even know that you have BEEN scanned!
And, for those who say these things can't BE hacked - BULL! ANYTHING can be hacked.
Remember, the codes ON these critters have to be simple enough to be read FAST or the lines at airports and federal buildings will be even worse - and the public will NOT put up with THAT!
Americans will tolerate almost anything so long as it doesn't screw up traffic. If the code on the RFID chips on the "Real IDs" is too complex, they most certainly WILL screw up traffic!
And the public will NOT put up with that - STARTING with the Congresscritters who PASSED this nonsense and who will be among the FIRST to get caught in the mess that they will CAUSE!
The second part to this is simple, ever use toll roads like the PA Turnpike? Ever hear of EZPass? So when it makes out lives easier we have no problem sending personal data across airwaves? Better yet, what about PayPass? Major credit card companies around the country now support this wireless technology that allows you to pay for items simply by tapping your card against something...no pin or signature required! No complaints there? Hmmm, no reports of people losing all their money due to hackers either!
Look, the point is simple, unless you want to live in a bubble and continue to live under a truly false sense of security we need a national system of identification. We face economic risks due to illegal immigration and even greater terror risks due to ignorrant people "afraid" of big brother. I welcome a national ID system to further secure my children's future. For all of you paranoid folks out there...Get over it already! We're not living in a secure world anymore Unless you're doing something wrong you have nothing to worry about...my experience is that those that complain the most and fear such a system are those that have something to hide; not just their privacy!
By the way, everyone who posted here has already given up their privacy to Cnet.com to about the same degree as a national ID service...your every move is tacked on their site when you register and you ARE personally identified by your registered info...Stop complaining so much!
Rosemarie Torossian
11 John St.
Cohoes, NY
Social Security # 101-62-1821
And the point of Real ID is....?
Oh right, complete tracking of everyone.
Seriously, we're so asleep that this will kick in with barely a
wimper.
It goes without saying that the motivation for this goes way
beyond terrorism.
Won't it be nice when you can essentially be deactivated
remotely?
And if they keep screaming "terrorism" they'll be able to do so
without any real probable cause.
How nice.
would make it acutally useful), along, obviously with networked
databases.
Already, you can track people from afar as their credit card is
swiped in nearly real-time.
With RFID you could track people as they move past any
scanning locations and in many other ways.
I'm not one for slippery slope arguments, but I do think the next
logical step is tying the RFID network to your financial
transactions, i.e., an electronic, ID-based economy. I mean why
not?
That means you could, in addition to tracking everyone, you
could, potentially, restrict their ability to purchase anything, etc.
It might be the "future" but it does seem to make it way too easy
to exercise control over people. Combine that with greater
secrecy, the War on Terror, and the recent enemy-combatant/
habeas corpus plays, and it gets very scary.
Also, any Tom, Dick and Harry that buys a card reader will have access to all of your personal information that is linked to your DL#, from your checking account to your medical records.
Is that what you want?
If so, buy an airplane ticket and go to Russia before the state adoption cutoff date.
Pardon me, but the local Applebee's doesnt need access to my tax records.
Why do I care? because my information is nobody's business but my own, and it is my choice to give it, or not. An identity thief could easily have all my personal information available to him, just by being near enough to "read" my card.
I personally intend to find out who proposed this stupid legislation, and hound them out of office! We need to become politically active and enraged at this loss of personal liberty - otherwise, we might as well be living in Iran.
to make our country safer?
Personally, I know of three businesses in my area that have Illegal Aliens on their "unofficial' payroll.. and DHS-ICE could care less. I've called them and they DON'T CARE.
VOTE 98% of CONGRESS OUT OF OFFICE in the next elections and you WILL get results IF you vote for PATRIOTS and Shun the POLITICIANS like Clinton, Kennedy, etc...(anyone esposing "for the children", "Entitlement Programs" etc....) Cut Cut Cut.....Get Rid of them...Stop putting these people on a pedestal and worshipping these people.....They are OUR MINIONS, we ARE NOT THEIR MINIONS. UNtil Americans wake up to this fact and VOTE in all election (including local - school board, sheriff, governor, mayor etc..), NOTHING will ever change.
Keep screwing it up guys , it entertains me
If my happiness depends on me being able to board an airplane to travel to Trinidad and Tobago for a vacation, isn't denying me access to an airplane an infringement of my civil rights?
The Bush regime has gone way to far with this "security" requirement. They can't keep illegal aliens from coming across the border any time they like, but they sure as hell can keep us from leaving!!!!!!
YES...WAKE UP... Turn off the TV, boycott any business who doesnt share your values, read, read, read on the Internet and read between the Gobledygookspeak to discern the TRUTH. It will set us all FREE.
1. AntiChrist has to come to power first
2. HE declares himself to be God
3. He institutes mark
Read the Bible and DIscern the truth. If you allow yourself to be Deceived, YOU WILL BE Deceived into receiving the MARK with open arms b/c you will be more concerned with Money and Your corporeal (flesh) livlihood than you will be with Truth and salvation.
REad, Read, Read...with an OPEN MIND, and OPEN HEART...and you WILL KNOW THE TRUTH.
plus, if you're really religious, it would need to be on your right
hand or forehead -- otherwise it doesn't count by definition.
So avoid any chips in your right hand or forehead and you should
be all set.
<insert eye rolling>
For anyone that does not like the ideal of the Real ID ACT/National ID, Please take a stand against it and go to nonationalid.com and take the NoNationalID pledge: http://www.nonationalid.com/TakeAction.aspx
the posters in this thread.
Since Maine decided not to participate, the entire Act is unconstitutional because it will deny residents of Maine access to the Federal court system...and that's a no-no. By denying an entire State access to courts, the Act is now doomed.
Learn it, LIVE IT.
Out the enemy before we are torn apart with our own Constitution...This is NOT Racist...it's necessary defense for our very survival.
DEPORT, DEPORT, DEPORT... Get rid of their leadership too. Anyone who will not swear allegiance to the US Consitution and won't swear in on a HOLY BIBLE should be summarily 'removed' from office IMMEDIATELY. RECALL, RECALL, RECALL...
We know who they are, stop listing to their Social Engineering BS. It WILL KILL US ALL.
- Driver's Licenses are already unconstitutional
-
by enscorp
March 1, 2007 4:14 PM PST
- The driver's license is already unconstitutional. If I build a car on my lawn and want to drive it, I HAVE to pay the state and be 'certified' to drive it? What kind of encrouchament on my freedom is this? It's total BS and everyone knows it.
-
Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 3 pages (92 Comments)Stop complaining, get off your arse, and Vote. And PLEASE, DON'T vote for a PARTY. Vote for a Patriot no matter what "party" they may claim to be a part of. If possible vote Constitutional party. Finally - Vote small government, SECURE borders, Fair Tax (end IRS, DOE, and other bureacracies).
It's up to us to become ONE people again and get over this Social Engineering by the mass media to distract us from Truth and Reality. STOP watching TV, use the Internet and Read, Read, Read.....compare stories and DISCERN the TRUTH between teh lines.
FOLLOW THE MONEY people...it's all about control, and money. Whay destroy the middle class ? Because it's the ONLY barrier left preventing a Totalitarian Police State her ein the US and the hastening of the One World Gestapo Governement.
Americans- WAKE UP...VOTE in EVERY election especially local ones. We DO NOT HAVE the luxury of time anymore...it's now or never to save the REPUBLIC...Remember...WE ARE NOT A DEMOCRACY. WE ARE A REPUBLIC. We will lose it if we don't act. And that WILL BE the end.