Ron Paul, MD 
Posted on 03/02/2003 6:52:16 PM PST by chance33_98
WKRN, Tennessee
Driver's license finger scan being considered
Public safety officials see a proposal requiring driver's license applicants to submit to a new kind of fingerprinting as a way to combat fraud, but civil libertarians have concerns.
The state Legislature is considering Senate Bill 423, under which a person's finger would be scanned. The scan will identify up to 40 unique points on the finger, said David Beatty, project director of the Department of Public Safety program.
Beatty called the it ``touch signature,'' but the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma wonders who will have access to that information.
``It is a privacy issue, and we would have great concerns about what it would lead to,'' said Joann Bell, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma.
``There's a possibility under homeland security that the driver's license could become part of a national ID.''
Beatty disagreed, but said the driver's license has become accepted identification nationwide.
``The importance of the person holding the license and the person pictured on the license being the same is paramount. Society has dictated that,'' Beatty said.
The finger scan program would ensure the person who passes a driving test is the same person who goes to the tag agent to get a license, he said.
It also will ensure the person who goes to a tag agent to replace a lost driver's license is legitimate, Beatty said.
With the proposed new system, tag agents will be able to electronically check the license with the Public Safety Department to ensure the appropriate person receives the license.
Oklahoma issues four-year driver's licenses so it would take four years for all licenses in the state to be issued using a finger scan.
As of Dec. 31, 2.3 million people had driver's licenses and another 230,000 who don't drive had ID cards, Beatty said.
Senate Bill 423 is before the Senate and likely will be considered next week, said Sen. Robert M. Kerr, D-Altus, its author.
If the legislation becomes law, Oklahoma would join eight other states with a finger-imaging system: Colorado, Mississippi, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.
Looking at my NCDL, it was last renewed in 3/02.
Last year, I got a duplicate by ordering it online... which obviously did not require my fingerprint.
Is this something new?
If so, I've got a particular finger in mind for them to scan. :)
Whew!
I seem to recall that he went to A&T from an earlier FR thread some time ago.
What's wrong with this picture?
See my #5... I think it's wrong too. I believe I would have heard of this if we had it.
"Dispel Mark of Beast Phobia", replace cards with biometrics, 100 million users, pilot launched
NY Supreme Court Decision-Denial of Benefits For Refusal To Participate in biometric fingerprinting
Ron Paul, MD
Repeat after me...if it can be read...it can be copied. (where it == fingerprints, DNA, retinal scans, anything...)
What the sheeple do when faced with chipping is another matter entirely. (I predict they will simply bend over...'if you have nothing to hide, what's wrong with being chipped?' 'Only chipped people are absolutely free (from suspicion)')
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