Lawmakers Consider 'Smart' Driver's License

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http://www.infowars.net/Pages/Oct_04/071004_smart_drivers_licenses.html

 

 

WorldNetDaily | Oct 7 2004

 

Law Makers Consider ‘Smart’ Driver's Licenses

 

Computer chip's signals allow data to be read from a

distance

 

 

IA controversial technology already planned for

tracking consumer products could be used to create

" smart " driver's licenses that emit signals readable

from a distance, according to federal and state

government officials contemplating ways to fight

identity fraud.

Radio frequency identification, or RFID, could help

thwart terrorists who use falsified documents to get

around, say Virginia lawmakers who will hear testimony

on the technology's uses, reports Wired.com.

As WorldNetDaily reported, a Johnson & Johnson

executive recently told industry leaders that in the

future, the RFID chips will be " on everything from

diapers to surgical instruments. "

On the driver's licenses, the computer chips would

emit a radio signal bearing the holder's unique,

personal information. Virginia is considering adding

biometric data such as fingerprints and retinal scans

to the RFID tags.

But privacy advocates fear government could use the

technology to spy on citizens and believe it could

make identity theft even more complicated.

Government agents could, for example, easily identify

large numbers of protesters in a march, and crooks

could mine personal information from the wallets of

passersby on a street corner, Wired.com said.

A government also could track the movement of its

citizens by coupling global positioning data related

to satellites with information from card readers that

translate the signals.

Advocates of the technology insist, however, the fears

are exaggerated.

" Putting a chip or biometric data on a driver's

license doesn't change one iota the rules under which

that information can be used, " said Robert D.

Atkinson, vice president at the Progressive Policy

Institute, according to Wired.

But Virginia lawmakers say they need to be convinced

the technology cannot be easily abused.

" I can't see us using RFID until we're comfortable we

can without encroaching on individual privacy, and

ensure it won't be used as a Big Brother technology by

the government, " Joe May, chairman of the Virginia

General Assembly's House Science and Technology

Committee, told Wired.

Some privacy advocates worry about the capability of

reader devices to sense signals from a distance. Tests

have demonstrated broadcast ranges of up to 30 feet.

Opponents also point out federal legislators could

require states to conform with uniform " smart card "

standards, effectively turning the licenses into a

national ID that could be read anywhere in the

country.

But costs will be a factor as states face the burden

of complying with the federal standards.

" It could easily become yet another unfunded federal

mandate, of which we already have $60 billion worth, "

said Cheye Calvo, director of the transportation

committee at the National Conference of State

Legislatures, according to Wired.