Earlier this month, the Bush administration issued its final rules for implementing the Real ID Act, a controversial provision of an emergency spending bill that Congress passed three years ago. Real ID required states to develop a new generation of driver's license with anti-counterfeiting technology. The license could be issued only to citizens and legal residents with a birth certificate or some other verifiable proof of identity and address. The law also required the federal government to develop a system that states could use to prevent people from obtaining multiple licenses, or to prevent multiple people from obtaining licenses based on the same documents.

Source - L. A. Times

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Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, who is a long-standing opponent of Real ID, has written to a third of the nation's governors to join him in opposing the implementation of Real ID.

More - Columbus Telegram

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"We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'" Thus spake security consultant Ed Giorgio, in a widely-quoted New Yorker article on the US intelligence community's plans to vacuum up and sift through everything that flies across the wires. But Giorgio is wrong?catastrophically wrong. The story of Fidencio Estrada, a drug-runner who bribed Florida Customs agent Rafael Pacheco to (among other things) access multiple federal law enforcement databases on his behalf, suggests that when it comes to the government collecting data on innocent civilians for law enforcement puproses, privacy and security are essentially the same thing.

Source - Ars Technica

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Should banks cash checks from people who cannot prove who they are? Should parents hire babysitters they know nothing about? Should airlines let passengers on board without validating their identity?

For most Americans, these questions answer themselves. Our citizens depend on different forms of government-issued identification, such as driver's licenses, every day.

Other critics seem to think that it is a privacy violation simply to create secure identification.

But remember what I said about checks, babysitters and planes.

Source - Mercury News

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A major issue slowing progress on Real ID implementation is whether states should share copies of identification documents or only confirm information.

Until there is an answer to that question, developing back-end information technology systems to support the initiative will be difficult.

Privacy may hang in the balance. Some advocates believe the risks of identity theft and loss of personal privacy in Real ID may be lessened if states use a pointer system to verify critical personal information from birth certificates and other documents held in other states. States would query one another to confirm information without sharing the documents themselves.

"A pointer system is acceptable," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program for the American Civil Liberties Union. "We have said we have no objections to a pointer system."

Source - Washington Technology

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A new Bush administration plan to create national standards for driver's licenses drew heavy criticism yesterday from civil liberties groups, some Republican and Democratic lawmakers, governors, and the travel industry.

The critics said the new licenses anticipated under the plan, which is aimed at screening out potential terrorists and uncovering illegal immigrants, could still be forged. They also complained that the program, known as Real ID, would be costly for states to implement, potentially restrict summer travel, and allow private companies access to the personal data of most U.S. citizens.

Source - Washington Post

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