Posted on 05/15/2010 9:51:35 AM PDT by CodeToad
The US State Department now issues a Passport Card as well as the Passport Book, which every one is familiar.
Here are some interesting comments about it from the U.S. Department of State web site:
"We began production of the U.S. Passport Card on July 14, 2008. As of March 2010, more than 2,700,000 Passport Cards have been issued to U.S. citizens."
"The passport card is the wallet-size travel document that can only be used to re-enter the United States at land border-crossings and sea ports-of-entry from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. The card provides a less expensive, smaller, and convenient alternative to the passport book for those who travel frequently to these destinations by land or by sea. "
"Yes, the passport card has a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip."
"There is no personal information written on the electronic chip itself. The chip contains a unique number which identifies a stored record within secure government databases. "
U.S. Department of State: Passport Card web page.
Passport Card:
Passport Book:
Seems the Passport Card is used for land travel only, not air travel, and only for primarily Canada and Mexico. For air travel the usual Passport Book is required.
“In other words, it’s better than a driver’s license in terms of proof of identity and keeping my personal information secure.”
Never thought of it that way, but you might be right. State databases usually carry too much information that can be leaked.
“I have no problem with a national ID card”
The problem is that with that ID the federal govenrment can control you very easily. They only need to mandate it for use to buy gas (because it involves federal taxes), to rent an apartment or buy a home (because they involve federal agencies involved with mortgages), to travel (interstate regulations), and they can deny your rights to do so. Total control over your purchases and movements. It has been used in the Soviet Union and other Marxist places, and don’t forget, Obama is a Marxist by his own admission and so is half the Congress. They want that type of control and have said so very clearly over the years.
However, I've made an error. I've just looked at the pp, and what appears on page 3 is NOT my driver's license, but looks like it, sans address. Rather spookily, the typefaces are the same (very curious) on the pp and my dl. Sorry to have misinformed you.
No worries, here. I still have my passport and love to use it since you cannot find out anything about me other than my name, age, and nationality! A great, 100% accepted proof of identification that tells others nothing except I am who I say I am...:)
Exactly. I have never found a place that will refuse to use my passport for ID; many express surprise but all will use it. And I have no reason to give my driver’s license number nor my address to anyone.
Good to know,do the books have the chip as well?
Hard to tell but suspect they do.
In some cases it also tells where you have been and how long you were there.
During WWII, we had no ID card, yet food, fuel, & housing rentals were regulated by the Feds.
The Feds already know who we are, our age & sex, our income & occupation, where we live & work, our home value, & many other things. I’d say they have all the info they need to enslave us.
The only solution to tyranny is revolution. Forget petty battles over proper ID. Our current lack of an ID card has not stopped the tyranny we experience today. We need a good, secure ID to protect against identity theft & to help identify enemies & illegals w/i our midst. If it facilitates tyranny, then get rid of the tyrants, not the ID card.
“we had no ID card”
There were ration cards, though. ID cards give immediate ability to control. Without them, they have one less significant tool.
No it’s not a step towards anything. It’s nothing more than a quicker cheaper limited usage passport. Anybody that’s only driving/ walking to Mexico or Canada can get it and save $60. Doesn’t really accomplish much, other than end some of the whining when we finally started requiring passports for crossing the Mexican and Canadian borders.
For general ID purposes anything government issues should be good. But if the flight was going to be crossing borders they were right, the card is exclusively for land re-entry into the US.
“Just last week someone with whom I was traveling who uses a pp card had a hell of a time with the idiots at Jet Blue who didn’t want to let him on the plane because they said the card wasn’t valid ID !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
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Did that happen on a domestic flight?
Just curious.
Thanks. I actually have one, and would like to know how useful it is (or is not).
It’s sort of cool actually.
I do keep it shielded though. Not that the personal identification number on the rfid is that big a thing. But just on general principle.
I thought the Real ID Act of 2005 was the basis for a National ID. It’s still hasn’t been implement and there are some efforts trying to have it eliminated. But it was a national effort to standardize IDs for use on the national and state level.
The gov’t can already shut off your credit cards, seize your home, car, property, bank accounts, & children with a simple court order. They can invade your home, shoot your dogs, terrorize your family, & arrest everyone, all on the word of an “informant”; & they don't ask for ID until much later. They can arrest or detain you in public at any time they choose, ID or not.
Refusing a purchase based on an ID card is exactly the same as a refused credit or debit card, & just as immediate. Nothing could be more immediate than a padlock on your home & your car towed away. But not to worry, they wont call you & ask for ID before they do it, because they already know who you are.
I understand your concern, but those powers you don't want the gov’t to have, they already have. Your anonymity in society ended at birth. In a complex, electronic society, it is to your advantage to be able to ID yourself immediately & reliably. It makes life easier - see credit & debit cards, a form of ID.
My wife audits company credit card purchases. For virtually every purchase, she has the date, time, store name, location, & an itemized list of everything purchased. Strip clubs, Victoria's Secret, liquor stores, sex shops. In stunning detail. Bra sizes, car tag numbers, rented x-rated movie titles , taxi trip details. It's all there. And she can shut down those cards immediately with one phone call.
The gov’t has this same capability now thru subpoena & court order. So, our lives are neither private nor anonimous, & are subject now to immediate control, without a national ID. That tells me the National ID is irrelevant to my freedom and privacy.
This may horrify you, but I see personal ID & communications being embedded into the human body in the near future. For the ID, it makes it more secure. One could think the password for a transaction, or think the whole transaction. No need for a cashier. For the communications, it would be instant, private, & super convenient. An Ipad or laptop in your brain, very small of course, but with a screen size limited only by your mind.
Yes, from NYC to Buffalo NY — can’t get more domestic — no een crossing a state line.
NYC to Buffalo NY — can’t get more domestic — not even crossing a state line.
We were flying from NYC to Buffalo NY — can’t get more domestic — no even crossing a state line.
Might just be too new and the people didn’t recognize it. I knew they existed but this is the first time I’ve seen one.
it’s clearly issued by the Federal gov’t and has been in use for at least 2 years. Hundreds of people fly Jet Blue daily. It’s not like he was trying to use it as ID in a barbecue joint in some remote rural area.
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