Thread: Big Improvement ... Or Big Brother?

Noboby tals about this

Posted by Carter Yang
CBS News
The government calls it "Real ID", but critics say it would be a real big step towards "big brother."

The Department of Homeland Security wants to make it a lot tougher for terrorists -- and you -- to get a driver's license, arguing that a driver's license is much more than just a license to drive. It's also used to prove your identity when you're checking in at an airport, renting a car, opening a bank account, or passing a government checkpoint.

New proposed guidelines, issued today, would require every state to include a digital photo, signature, and a bar code on every license. And before getting that license, an applicant would have to show a birth certificate or passport so his/her name could be verified and checked against a government database to ensure the applicant was in the country legally.

The push to tighten security rules for driver's licenses came from the 9/11 Commission, which noted that 13 of the 9/11 hijackers had legal licenses. And in 2005 Congress passed a REAL ID act requiring the federal government to draft uniform licensing rules for the states to follow.

But, privacy advocates say the more personal information that's on your drivers license, the greater your risk of being victimized by identity theft. And they say Real ID could open the door to Orwellian government tracking and profiling of American citizens.

There's even a bigger flap over money. The new licensing programs could take $100 million or more per state to put in place and state governments, not surprisingly, don't want to pay for it. They warn it would mean higher fees and longer lines at your local Department of Motor Vehicles and some state legislatures have already voted not to implement Real ID in their states.

In an effort to quiet howls of protest from the states, DHS now is extending the original May, 2008 deadline for compliance. Those states who can make a case for an extension will have until the end of 2009 to comply. As an added incentive, the federal government is offering to kick in 100 million dollars towards the cost. That won't go very far since the program is expected to cost more than 10 billion dollars before it's completely phased in over the next five to six years.

But, we better get used to the idea of REAL ID. In a post 9/11 world, the government feels it has the high ground in demanding more secure rules for something as common as that piece of plastic you carry in your wallet.

You mean not every state already did this?

Noboby talks about this

Yeah we do, I made another thread about this a few days ago but it was a lot further past this common detail about RealID. It was a post about how the deadline to be set for issuance had been moved back to 2009.

There was a thread yesterday about RealID for all kids 5 and up in Florida.

You should inform yourselves of this massive mistake being made by our government. This idea is so shady that they appended this to the ass-end of a tsunami relief bill just to get it through with no second glance.

Maine repealed and refused RealID due to cost. It would cost Maine taxpayers an extra 185 million and for what? Less privacy and security, no thanks.

Also, within the Patriot Act there is a law that states no new forms of identification may be constructed as a form of security in the war on terror. Yet after the suspiciously appended bill makes it through, all attention turned to RealID by legistlature.

RealID puts ever piece of information at risk to hackers, theives, and clandestine operations by centralizing it on one card in tranferable image format.

Resist at all costs. CCard strip IDs are enough and sufficient means of identification.

More information on RealID:

EPIC - National ID and REAL ID Act
real_id_act.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Inform yourselves because this is a decision that will effect us all.