Biometric IDs urged for Maryland licenses {THE POLICE STATE SYSTEM FOR TOTAL CONTROL}

ASSOCIATED PRESS ^ | December 4, 2001 | By Tom Stuckey

[cascademountaineer]

what do you think would be the states attitude if I said "OK, license me, but for ID I will only submit the print of my big toe".

Maybe its just mental overload, Ive been up for awhile working on a project and surfing FR, but you completely lost me on that one. Could you be more specific?

[mindprism.com]

What Im saying is -- in the interests of making the roads safer, the state has trampled our right to privacy simply because it is more convenient for them.

I should be able to get a DL without having to submit my name, address, picture or anything. All they need is a means of knowing that "the guy behind the wheel, is the guy on the license".

Even arguments about the payment of fines needing to know who I am and where I live are bogus because there are ways around that too (I could buy a coupon-book from the state beforehand to pay fines on the spot).

In short, especially in the modern age, with a modern government, your right to anonymity is critical to being a free person. The state SHOULD do what it can to protect that right, and not be asking you to surrender it in the name of bureaucratic efficiency.

But bureaucratic efficiency is not the real reason why the state would oppose my proposals and we all know it, it is about control. A while ago I read a story about a suit made against a certain company and several states that forced them to stop the compilation of a 'mug shot' database made from DL photos. Perhaps that example will help show you that you are NOT a object to be databased in the interests of police efficiency.