CNET: National ID cards on the way?

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Mon, 14 Feb 2005 11:34:51 -0600

 

 

 

CNET: National ID Cards On The Way?

CNET: National ID cards on the way?

 

By Declan McCullagh

 

 

 

http://news.com.com/National+ID+cards+on+the+way/2100-1028_3-5573414.html

 

Story last modified Mon Feb 14 04:00:00 PST 2005

 

http://news.com.com/2102-1028_3-5573414.html?tag=st.util.print

 

 

A recent vote in Congress endorsing standardized, electronically

readable driver's licenses has raised fears about whether the proposal

would usher in what amounts to a national ID card.

 

In a vote that largely divided along party lines, the U.S. House of

Representatives approved a Republican-backed measure that would compel

states to design their driver's licenses by 2008 to comply with

federal antiterrorist standards. Federal employees would reject

licenses or identity cards that don't comply, which could curb

Americans' access to everything from airplanes to national parks and

some courthouses.

 

The congressional maneuvering takes place as governments are growing

more interested in implanting technology in ID cards to make them

smarter and more secure. The U.S. State Department soon will begin

issuing passports with radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips

embedded in them, and Virginia may become the first state to glue RFID

tags into all its driver's licenses.

News.context

 

What's new:

A recent vote in Congress endorsing standardized, electronically

readable driver's licenses has raised fears about whether the proposal

would usher in what amounts to a national ID card.

 

Bottom line:

Proponents of the Real ID Act say it's needed to frustrate both

terrorists and illegal immigrants. Critics say it imposes more

requirements for identity documents on states, and gives the

Department of Homeland Security carte blanche to do nearly anything

else " to protect the national security interests of the United States. "

 

More stories on privacy and national security

 

" Supporters claim it is not a national ID because it is voluntary, "

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, one of the eight Republicans to object to the

measure, said during the floor debate this week. " However, any state

that opts out will automatically make nonpersons out of its citizens.

They will not be able to fly or to take a train. "

 

Paul warned that the legislation, called the Real ID Act, gives

unfettered authority to the Department of Homeland Security to design

state ID cards and driver's licenses. Among the possibilities:

biometric information such as retinal scans, fingerprints, DNA data

and RFID tracking technology.

 

Proponents of the Real ID Act say it adheres to the recommendations of

the 9/11 Commission and is needed to frustrate both terrorists and

illegal immigrants. Only a portion of the legislation regulates ID

cards; the rest deals with immigration law and asylum requests.

" American citizens have the right to know who is in their country,

that people are who they say they are, and that the name on the

driver's license is the real holder's name, not some alias, " F. James

Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., said last week.

 

" If these commonsense reforms had been in place in 2001, they would

have hindered the efforts of the 9/11 terrorists, and they will go a

long way toward helping us prevent another tragedy like 9/11, " said

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

 

Now the Real ID Act heads to the Senate, where its future is less

certain. Senate rules make it easier for politicians to derail

legislation, and an aide said Friday that Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top

Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, was concerned about portions of

the bill.

 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on a terrorism

subcommittee, said " I basically support the thrust of the bill " in an

e-mail to CNET News.com on Friday. " The federal government should have

the ability to issue standards that all driver's licenses and

identification documents should meet. "

 

" Spy-D " cards?

National ID cards are nothing new, of course. Many European, Asian and

South American countries require their citizens to carry such

documents at all times, with legal punishments in place for people

caught without them. Other nations that share the English common law

tradition, including Australia and New Zealand, have rejected such

schemes.

 

A host of political, cultural and even religious concerns has

prevented a national ID from being adopted in the United States, even

during the tumultuous days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that

ushered in the Patriot Act.

 

Conservatives and libertarians typically argue that a national ID card

will increase the power of the government, and they fear the

dehumanizing effects of laws enacted as a result. Civil liberties

groups tend to worry about the administrative problems, the

opportunities for criminal mischief, and the potential irreversibility

of such a system.

 

Some evangelical Christians have likened such a proposal to language

in the Bible warning " that no man might buy or sell, save he that had

the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. " That

mark is the sign of the " end times, " according to evangelical

thinking, which predicts that anyone who accepts the mark will be

doomed to eternal torment.

 

Those long-standing concerns have become more pointed recently, thanks

to the opportunity for greater tracking--as well as potentially

greater security for ID documents--that technologies such as RFID

provide. Though the Real ID act does not specify RFID or biometric

technology, it requires that the Department of Homeland Security adopt

" machine-readable technology " standards and provides broad discretion

in how to do it.

 

An ad hoc alliance of privacy groups and technologists recently has

been fighting proposals from the International Civil Aviation

Organization to require that passports and other travel documents be

outfitted with biometrics and remotely readable RFID-type

" contact-less integrated circuits. "

 

The ICAO, a United Nations organization, argues the measures are

necessary to reduce fraud, combat terrorism and improve airline

security. But its critics have raised questions about how the

technology could be misused by identity thieves with RFID readers, and

they say it would " promote irresponsible national behavior. "

 

In the United States, the federal government is planning to embed RFID

chips in all U.S. passports and some foreign visitor's documents. The

U.S. State Department is now evaluating so-called e-passport

technology from eight different companies. The agency plans to select

a supplier and issue the first e-passports this spring, starting in

Los Angeles, and predicts that all U.S. passport agencies will be

issuing them within a year.

 

The high-tech passports are supposed to deter theft and forgeries, as

well as accelerating immigration checks at airports and borders.

They'll contain within their covers a miniscule microchip that stores

basic data, including the passport holder's name, date of birth and

place of birth. The chip, which can transmit information through a

tiny included antenna, also has enough room to store biometric data

such as digitized fingerprints, photographs and iris scans.

 

Border officials can compare the information on the chip to that on

the rest of the passport and to the person actually carrying it.

Discrepancies could signal foul play.

 

In a separate program, the Department of Homeland Security plans to

issue RFID devices to foreign visitors that enter the country at the

Mexican and Canadian borders. The agency plans to start a yearlong

test of the technology in July at checkpoints in Arizona, New York and

Washington state.

 

The idea is to aid immigration officials in tracking visitors'

arrivals and departures and snare those who overstay their visas.

Similar to e-passports, the new system should speed up inspection

procedures. It's part of the US-VISIT program, a federal initiative

designed to capture and share data such as fingerprints and

photographs of foreign visitors.

 

A " Trojan horse "

The legislation approved by the House last Thursday follows a related

measure President Bush signed into law in December. That law gives the

Transportation Department two years to devise standard rules for state

licenses, requires information to be stored in " machine-readable "

format, and says noncompliant ID cards won't be accepted by federal

agencies.

 

But critics fret that the new bill goes even further. It shifts

authority to the Department of Homeland Security, imposes more

requirements for identity documents on states, and gives the

department carte blanche to do nearly anything else " to protect the

national security interests of the United States. "

 

" In reality, this bill is a Trojan horse, " said Paul, the Republican

congressman. " It pretends to offer desperately needed border control

in order to stampede Americans into sacrificing what is uniquely

American: our constitutionally protected liberty. "

 

Unlike last year's measure, the Real ID Act " doesn't even mention the

word 'privacy,' " said Marv Johnson, a lobbyist for the American Civil

Liberties Union.

 

" What I think the House is planning on doing is attaching this bill to

tsunami relief or money to the troops, " Johnson says. " When they send

it to the Senate, the Senate will have to either fish or cut bait.

They can approve it or ask for a conference committee, at which point

the House can say 'they're playing games with national security.' "

 

In response to a question about a national ID card, White House

spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters on Friday that " the president

supports the legislation that just passed the House. " McClellan

pointed to a statement from the White House earlier in the week that

endorsed it.

 

Another section of the Real ID Act that has raised alarms is the

linking of state Department of Motor Vehicles databases, which was not

part of last year's law. Among the information that must be shared:

" All data fields printed on drivers' licenses and identification

cards " and complete drivers' histories, including motor vehicle

violations, suspensions and points on licenses.

 

Some senators have indicated they may rewrite part of the measure once

they begin deliberations.

 

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., chairman of a terrorism subcommittee, is

readying his own bill that will be introduced within a few weeks,

spokesman Andrew Wilder said on Friday. " He has been at work on his

own version of things, " Wilder said. " Senator Kyl does support

biometric identifiers. "

 

CNET News.com's Alorie Gilbert contributed to this report.

 

 

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