National ID cards: REAL ID goes too far

Manchester Union Leader ^ | September 20, 2005 | Editorial

[billorites]

IF THE REAL ID Act were such a great idea, why did Congress attach it to a military spending bill and pass it without public hearings?

The answer, of course, is that it is not a great idea.

Supporters of REAL ID, including Reps. Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley and Sen. Judd Gregg, say people should not be able to get driver’s licenses without proving they are who they say they are.

Very true. But REAL ID goes further. If the bill simply set a few minimum standards for the issuance of state identification cards such as drivers’ licenses, it would raise few eyebrows. Some states had dangerously lax standards before 9/11. For instance, seven of the 9/11 hijackers got Virginia drivers’ licenses because that state gave licenses to undocumented immigrants.

REAL ID, however, nationalizes the driver’s license, turning it into an electronic national ID card, and creates a de facto nationwide database for personal information. It is a hacker’s dream come true. Personal data on virtually every adult in the United States will become highly vulnerable when this law is fully implemented.

The law requires “common machine-readable technology” for verifying the identity of each license holder. The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly leaning toward Radio Frequency Identifier tags to accomplish this goal. Small tags in the cards would transmit data via radio signals.

This past May the Government Accountability Office wrote of RFID, “Without effective security controls, data on the tag can be read by any compliant reader; data transmitted through the air can be intercepted and read by unauthorized devices; and data stored in the databases can be accessed by unauthorized users.”

RFID tags also can be used to track people’s movements without their knowledge, according to experts.

All of this is superfluous to ensuring that people are who they say they are. That could be done at the DMV simply by requiring proof of ID.

Kudos to Sen. John Sununu for having the guts to oppose this overreaching law under pressure from the administration and his own party. The act goes too far, and he has been one of the few Republicans to say so.

[COUNTrecount]

http://www.adcritic.com/interactive/view.php?id=5927

[PeteB570]

I have no problem with a National ID card.

I do have a big problem with a National Data Base System. As we have seen, large data base systems are not only vulnerable to hackers, but to employees willing to sell info for chump change.

[llevrok]

I used to be dead set against a national ID until 9/11. We do need some form of citizenship proof, I am now convinced, so we can start to weed out the illegals.

The Real ID is over kill in that direction though.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Department of Homeland Security is reportedly leaning toward Radio Frequency Identifier tags to accomplish this goal. Small tags in the cards would transmit data via radio signals.


___



Good thing I just got a new tin foil hat!

Come on, If a hacker wants something, they can already get it via the State Dept of Trans. National data base, hmmmmm. Social Security Number. That rings a bell.

This is the only way we are going to be able to cut down on voter fraud. If you can't ID yourself and prove who you are and where you live, you don't vote. If you can, it will not matter where you are in the country or overseas serving, you can vote and the results go back to the place you live. Dems don't want the military to vote on time in close races, that is only one of the reasons they don't want it.

I am not all for the RFID tags in the cards though.

[GarySpFc]

REAL ID, however, nationalizes the driver’s license, turning it into an electronic national ID card, and creates a de facto nationwide database for personal information. It is a hacker’s dream come true.

The data remains in the hands of the indiviudal states. I wonder if the people making these charges of Real ID going to far when a couple of our cities become radioactive dust.

[snowrip]

Republicans, Democrats... With a few exceptions, who can tell the difference anymore? Case in point: our President, who leads the charge for utterly unsecure borders, rapidly-growing government, out-of-control spending, billions in federal handouts, and the fallacy of a smaller military being somehow better for the defense of the country...

All things that are classically liberal in both theory and practice. It's time to call a spade a spade.

[sono]

In the 1940's a large segment of the European population had a real ID tattooed on their forearms ...

[tkathy]

A national ID is worthless with out a national database.

[joesnuffy]

Everytime it gets hacked will generate another patch or fix
and each time increasingly more intrusion will be required..

Good plan...

[GarySpFc]

In the 1940's a large segment of the European population had a real ID tattooed on their forearms ...

Typical fearmonger.

[PeteB570]

Sounds like they'll use a Windows program?

[Esther Ruth]

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13649&hed=Banker+Gets+ID+Chip+Implant

[tkathy]

A national ID is worthless with out a national database.

[Esther Ruth]

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050912005659&newsLang=en

[bmwcyle]

There is always a problem when government punishes the innocent.

[KenmcG414]

True it creates a data base for hackers, but I'm sure technology should be able to address that. Any law-abiding citizen should have no problem with a national id. It will restrict illegals from voting, collecting benefits etc. It will also deter crime and terrorists.

[Esther Ruth]

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=newIssuesNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20050919:MTFH10181_2005-09-19_17-07-55_N19252722:1

Mastercard to use RFID

"top executive with Mastercard Inc. (MA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday the company, the world's No. 2 credit-card association, expected to have 4 million so-called "pay pass" cards in circulation by year's end.

"Speaking at an industry conference here, Ruth Ann Marshall, Americas president for MasterCard, said that Citibank, HSBC and Key Bank had all begun offering the cards, which are equipped with a radio-frequency chip that allows customers to pay for purchases by simply waving their cards at readers posted near cash registers or gas pumps."

[COUNTrecount]

I agree.