Posted on 05/01/2002 7:07:57 AM PDT by boston_liberty
WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Legislation to standardize state-issued driver's licenses across the United States, and to mandate that those licenses carry a computer chip and incorporate some kind of unique identifier such as a fingerprint, will be introduced in Congress on Wednesday.
The Driver's License Modernization Act of 2002, sponsored by Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Tom Davis, R-Va., also directs that the chip be capable of accepting software for other applications, including those of private companies.
The objective of the legislation is to prevent identity fraud and enhance national security by making driver's licenses a better way to establish identity. The use of a fingerprint, for example, would make it harder for someone to steal and use the card.
The bill would also mandate the establishment of standards for documents accepted by states to better establish the identity of the person applying for a driver's license or non-driver ID card.
"The intent of this legislation is to correct flaws in the driver's license standard that states currently have," Moran's spokesman, Dan Drummond, told United Press International.
"Right now there are inconsistent requirements between the states for initial identity verification. There's also insufficient verification of identity documents that people present when they go to get a license."
The bill would also earmark $315 million in federal funds to help pay for the transition to the new licenses and to set up links between state computer systems. Linking the computers is necessary, proponents say, so that states can check if the person applying for a driver's license was denied a license in another state.
These provisions in the bill track closely with a proposal by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, which has long supported standardized licenses and has been pushing to set criteria for "breeder" documents like birth certificates and to link state computer systems.
The total cost of the links and other enhancements could be substantial. In 1997 the Social Security Administration published a report saying that the cost to issue an enhanced Social Security card, an idea similar in many ways to the enhanced driver's licenses, would range from $3.8 million to $9.2 billion, depending on the type of card.
Issuing a Social Security card with a computer chip and a biometric identifier to 277 million people was estimated to cost $7.3 billion, a figure deemed "reasonable" by the General Accounting Office in 1998.
The AAMVA proposal would cover some 250 million people, including Canadians, in the system.
One aspect of the new bill that may not mesh well with AAMVA's vision, however, is the use of the driver's license for other than driver identification.
Jay Maxwell, AAMVA executive director, told UPI at a mid-April conference, that dual-use cards can create a problem with who owns the license and its use for driving enforcement.
What would happen, said Maxwell if a policeman had to take your driver's license and it was also your ATM and credit card?
Such a problem would only impact the worst drivers, stressed Shane Ham, a senior policy analyst at the Washington-based Progressive Policy Institute, who said that this was a very small number of users. He added that there might be other ways around the problem.
"In theory the cards could also be structured in such a way that revoking your driving privileges is just a change that is downloaded onto the chip itself without actually yanking the card back," said Ham.
He also stressed that use of the enhanced driver's license for private-sector services is strictly voluntary.
"It would be completely optional if the card holder wanted to put something else on their driver's license," said Ham. "As far as anyone's concerned, you could pretend that the chip was not there."
"If the purpose of this card is domestic security or it is national security or it is to screen terrorists, then there is no reason for it to be designed from the beginning to be interoperable with private sector entities," pointed out Lee Tien, senior staff attorney with the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.
"The real thrust of the private-sector interoperability is so that the ID card or driver's license will be even more useful to commercial entities in terms of tracking consumers, doing consumer profiling, telemarketing -- all those kinds of things that people currently consider to be an invasion of privacy," Tien said.
The density of information on the cards makes them a target, a "honey pot" for people trying to steal data, said Ari Schwartz, associate director at the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology. Supposedly secure chips on smart cards have already been hacked, said Schwartz.
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These provisions in the bill track closely with a proposal by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, which has long supported standardized licenses and has been pushing to set criteria for "breeder" documents like birth certificates and to link state computer systems.
I will post the text of the bill when it becomes available. In the meantime, in this post you'll find the AAMVA details.
Congress eyeing uniform driver's license standards - NATL Database of drivers and Biometrics
"..you won't be ABLE to BUY or SELL Without the number......"
The simple fact is that there is no legitimate need for a database. In those cases where there is a legitimate need for identification, it's trivial to set up a digital-signature system that will verify that an ID document is genuine without reference to any external database.
At most, there are legitimate cases for lists that are limited in scope (e.g. people with criminal records who have forfeited the right to vote, people under outstanding arrest or surveillance warrants) or in time (e.g. people who have already cast a vote in today's election).
(It occurs to me that the easiest way to get Big Brother ideas killed would be to flood them with amendments requiring that the new system be used against vote fraud. The DemocRats would run away like Billzebub confronted with a paternity suit.)
Ain't hindsight wonderful!
WHO ARE THEY???
Were it not for Republicans we would not have lost the freedoms we have lost. (The Democrats are of course slightly worse, but only slightly)Most do not see any way out of the ring of influence of these two parties. Pascal Fervor too, like you, offers no solution. It seems to me, however, that he describes the problem better with an easy to grasp metaphorical phrase: The Ideological Corral. As this link is bit long winded for your purposes now, here is an extract that appears germaine to your point.
However -- and I bet you suspect this , as do I -- the prevailing forces have been effectively disrupting all opposition and potential opposition for a very long time.
They have vastly more experience at disrupting opposition than we do at overcoming it. Be it in media or be it at the grass roots, I am certain the machines of disruption never sleep. Only when our fellows feel threatened enough will we headway.
And I'm afraid too many of our fellows are cowards and would resign themselves to a very bleak fate as long as they aren't forced to look at it. Thus, it seems to me that the sheeple are more apt to get angry with us (for alerting to the danger) than they are to turn and fight those who are prepared to butcher them.
I would love to hear any number of solutions that would prepare us to overcome those machines of disruption. Got any?
Av
Easy to say, impossible to do. Unless we're going to put the entire world in our databases, along with foolproof mindreading equipment.
Our government isn't ours, it's theirs. If it were really OUR government, my taxes and government would be smaller. My idea of government keeps our borders safe, free from illegals, a strong military, and President who won't sell us out to foreign nations for campaign funds. My government allows me to pursue my goals, and dreams without any interference. My government doesn't penalize me for being married by cheating me on my taxes. My government doesn't throw money to third world despots, and help them arm to fight our citizens. My government doesn't allow unelected bodies, or pseudo intellectuals dictate how the people of my country live. My government doesn't reward those who come into my country illegally with free money, medicine and educations. My government doesn't tax my people to the point to where one parent can't be home to raise the children of this country. My government doesn't lie to me, or stage events in order to take more and more of my tax money and freedoms away. My government doesn't meddle in the affairs of other countries, or make unconstitutional alliances with other un-American legislative bodies, that infringe on the constitutional rights of our citizens. My Government doesn't abridge my rights to speak, gather, assemble, Bear Arms, travel freely, be secure in my person, possessions, cars, and homes. My government doesn't make examples of people so that my people are more easily kept in line. My government doesn't have an IRS that steals from people. My government only spends what it needs, and never demands more from it's people than what they are willing to give.
That's what my government is about. Unfortunately I don't live in my own little world. I honestly wish I did sometimes.
This whole counterfeit proof ID ( National ID Card) is a crock and it will not stop dedicated terrorists. Did those Pentegon surveillance cameras stop that jetliner ? Of course not. Three things you should consider about any new "law" that will "protect you".
1. The letter of the law.
2. The spirit of the law.
3. The unitntended consequences of the law.
You can be "safe" living in a police state except from the police of course, think about it!
There is no such thing as a counterfeit proof ID to a sophisticated criminal. Does "gun control" stop criminals ? Of course not ! Tattooing a serial number on you may offer you some "safety" but do you want to go there ?
This is a very, very bad idea with severe consequences. I've already called my congresscritters today and fired the first volley for freedom. I would suggest others do the same.
Will the world permit us to fingerprint every person entering into the country? Only our citizens will be in our computers.
Fingerprint databases exist to link prints at a crime scene with criminals.
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