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Are You Guys Ready For Your National ID Cards?

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The Real ID Act, which is a law signed by President Bush in May 2005, and, if it is accepted by and carried out by the states, would turn state drivers licenses into a genuine national identity card and impose numerous new burdens on taxpayers, citizens, immigrants, and state governments.

Real ID would force the states to standardize drivers licenses cards across the nation into a single national identity card and database. It does this by stipulating that state drivers licenses and state ID cards will not be accepted for federal purposes including boarding an aircraft or entering a federal facility unless they meet all of the laws numerous conditions, which include:

Standardized data elements and security features on the IDs.

A machine readable zone that will allow for the easy capture of all the data on the ID by stores or anyone else with a reader.

The construction of a 50-state, interlinked database making all the information in each persons file available to all the other states and to the federal government.

A requirement that states verify the issuance, validity and completeness of every document presented at motor vehicles agencies (usually called DMVs) as part of an application for a Real ID card.
 
Whats Wrong With Real ID


Its a national identity system. The standardized national drivers licenses created by Real ID would become a key part of a system of identity papers, databases, status and identity checks and access control points an internal passport that will increasingly be used to track and control individuals movements and activities.

Will not be effective against terrorism. The fact is, identity-based security is not an effective way to stop terrorism. ID documents do not reveal anything about evil intent and even if they did, determined terrorists will always be able to obtain fraudulent documents (either counterfeit or real documents bought from corrupt officials).

Will be a nightmare for state governments. Real ID requires state governments to remake their drivers licenses, restructure many of their computer databases and other systems, create an extensive new document-storage system, and perhaps most difficult of all verify the issuance, validity and completeness of every document presented at DMVs. See Real Burdens.

Will mean higher fees, long lines, and bureaucratic nightmares for individuals. Because Congress ordered but did not pay for these mandates, which will cost states billions of dollars, fees on individuals applying for drivers licenses will inevitably rise, perhaps steeply. Individuals are also likely to confront slower service, longer lines, and frequent bureaucratic snafus in obtaining these ID cards. Many unlucky individuals will find themselves caught in a bureaucratic nightmare as they run up against the complexities of this law.

Increased security and ID-theft risks. The creation of a single interlinked database as well as the requirement that each DMV store copies of every birth certificate and other documents presented to it will create a one-stop shop for identity thieves.

Will be exploited by the private sector to invade privacy. Real ID would make it easy for anybody in private industry to snap up the data on these IDs. Already, bars often swipe licenses to collect personal data on customers but that will prove to be just the tip of the iceberg as every convenience store learns to grab that data and sell it to data companies for a dime.

Will expand over time. The Real ID database will inevitably, over time, become the repository for more and more data on individuals, and will be drawn on for an ever-wider set of purposes. Its standardized machine-readable interface will drive its integration into an ever-growing network of identity checks and access control points each of which will create new data trails that will in turn be linked to that central database or its private-sector shadow equivalent.
 
The Real ID Act has been passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. But its acceptance in the states is far from assured. And the states have just three years until 2008 after enactment to come into compliance, or their citizens drivers licenses will no longer be accepted for federal purposes. But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must first complete work creating regulations that spell out in more detail exactly what the states must do to make compliant IDs. Those regulations are not expected until the summer of 2006 at the earliest leaving the states even less time to complete the complex and gargantuan overhauls the legislation requires.

The Act was not passed through a true democratic process. It was slipped through Congress in May 2005 in a must-pass Iraq War/Tsunami relief supplemental bill, as part of a deal reached between the powerful Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R, Wis.) and the Congressional leadership. There was no time for sufficient consideration of the Act and its sweeping implications; in the Senate, there was not even a single hearing held on the Act. The result is that Real ID lacks the legitimacy that comes from having been studied, debated, considered, and directly voted upon by Americans elected representatives.

The game is not over, it has just moved into the states. Although the Act was passed by Congress, Real ID cannot go into effect without a multitude of actions in the states. State legislatures must appropriate money and, in most cases, change state laws. State executives must remake or build anew all the administrative machinery required to comply with the Acts numerous mandates. And a lot of people at the state level do not like what they see.

Broad interest-group opposition. Opponents range from privacy and civil liberties organizations like the ACLU to conservative groups to immigration groups.

Its a bad Act. Most fundamentally, the Real ID Act has sparked opposition because it would not be good for our country.

The opposition to Real ID is broad and deep, and despite its passage by Congress, there remains an excellent chance that it will be reversed in part or in whole.
 
Simply put, Real ID would offer significant costs and disadvantages without any corresponding advantages:

By definitively turning drivers licenses into a form of national identity documents, Real ID would have a tremendously destructive impact on privacy.

The Act would impose significant administrative burdens and expenses on state governments, and would mean higher fees, longer lines, repeat visits to the DMV, and bureaucratic nightmares for individuals.

Yet, it would not be effective at increasing security against terrorism or bring any other benefits which would justify those costs.
 
Real ID would significantly strain state governments. Among the most significant burdens:

It would require the states to remake their driver's licenses, restructure many of their computer databases and other systems, create an extensive new document-storage system, and considerably expanded their security measures.

It would require the states to set up an interstate data-sharing network, which would also require complex administrative, technical, and security measures.

It includes a devilishly difficult mandate that states verify the issuance, validity and completeness of every birth certificate, immigration document, utility bill, and any other document presented at DMVs as part of an application for a Real ID card.

Yet, it leaves the DMVs with no way to compel utility companies or other document issuers to cooperate with that verification.

It would require states to expand their DMV payrolls, initiate or expand employee training in such areas as security, document verification, and immigration law, and initiate or expand security clearance procedures for their workers.

Many in state government are saying that it would be simply impossible to comply with Real ID by the Act's deadline in 2008.
 
Real ID would mean higher fees, inconveniences, and bureaucratic nightmares for individuals.

Higher fees. Because the Act's mandates would cost states billions of dollars that Congress is not paying for, fees on individuals applying for driver's licenses would inevitably rise, perhaps steeply. State taxes might also go up.

Worse service. Because of the new document requirements for individuals, the labor-intensive complexities involved in verifying those documents, and the need for DMVs to reprocess the bulk of the population that already has driver's licenses, individuals would be likely to confront slower service, longer lines, and the need for repeat visits to the DMV.

Bureaucratic problems. The complicated yet often ambiguous maze of requirements created by the Act would throw many unlucky individuals into a bureaucratic quagmire as they try to overcome inflexible verification requirements, bureaucratic errors or mismatches, lost documents, unique circumstances, or other problems. Some individuals, inevitably, would find themselves unable to obtain these new identity papers.

These kinds of problems would be significant for anyone. In addition, for many low-income workers for whom taking off time from work is difficult or expensive, the need for repeated trips to the DMV (and to other agencies such as registrar's offices in search of birth certificates) would be an even greater burden.
 
Millions of Americans do not have driver's licenses. Out of a population of 290 million residents, there are only 194 million licensed drivers. In addition to millions of children and teenagers, the elderly are particularly likely to lack licenses. An estimated 36 percent of Georgia residents over age 74, for example, lack driver's licenses.

By creating strict new identity requirements for federal identification and, inevitably, expanding them over time to cover a growing list of purposes, Real ID would force the people in this population to figure out a way to jump through the bureaucratic hoops required to get compliant identity documents and leave DMVs struggling with how to process them.

In some cases, individuals would not be able to obtain birth certificates, or the documents they have in hand upon arriving at the DMV would not be able to be verified.

Over the decades, records are lost through fires, floods, and disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Documents can be rendered suspect due to fraud or malfeasance. In 2004, for example, thousands of Hudson County, NJ residents received word that their birth certificates had been declared invalid because of an ongoing fraud investigation at the County Clerks office.

Over 30 million people in the U.S. are foreign-born, and many of them were born in remote undeveloped nations or other places where no birth records are kept, or in places (such as what is now North Korea) where any records might be difficult or impossible to obtain.

Some people are not sure when or even where they were born.
 
It is far from clear what would happen to such people. Real ID is silent on how such individuals should be handled, so DMVs would need to figure out if they would simply be denied identity papers, or if their applications could be processed in some other way consistent with the Act.
 
Whether or not they obtain second class licenses, those who cannot get Real ID-compliant identity documents could in theory be left unable to fly on commercial aircraft, enter federal facilities such as courthouses or office buildings, or even possibly get a job legally.

Furthermore, the list of activities for which these IDs are required is sure to expand, if the current mindless trend of seeking security through identity papers is not reversed. In fact, the Real ID Act explicitly says that Real IDs shall be required not only for activities like boarding aircraft, but also for any other purposes that the Secretary [of Homeland Security] shall determine."

The legislation that was rammed into law provided no money to pay the states costs to comply, so those costs would ultimately be borne by the residents of each state if not in the form of higher fees at the DMV, then in the form of higher taxes.

That is why Real ID is for all intents and purposes a hidden tax increase. If Congressional leaders want to impose a multi-billion-dollar security tax on the American citizens, they must do so only through well-established mechanisms and after a proper period of open debate and exploratory hearings that examine the costs and benefits of such a measure. Congressional leaders must not impose an enormously expensive (and dubiously effective) security scheme while trying to weasel out of paying for such a scheme by sneaking its costs along to taxpayers through higher license fees and/or state tax increases.
 
Real ID would become a key infrastructure for, and dramatically accelerate, the surveillance society that is already being constructed in the United States. Once put in place, it would be used more and more for the routine tracking, monitoring, and regulation of individuals movements and activities, it would be exploited by the private sector, and it would expose individuals to greater risk of identity theft and other security risks. Its centralized database would inevitably, over time, become the repository for more and more data on individuals, and would be drawn on for an ever-wider set of purposes.

The creation of a single interlinked database (as well as the requirement that each DMV store copies of all the birth certificates and other documents presented to it) would create a one-stop shop for identity thieves. Nearly 10 million people, or 5 percent of U.S. adults, were victims of identity theft in one year (2002) alone, according to a U.S. Federal Trade Commission study. The security problems with creating concentrated databases have been repeatedly demonstrated over the years most recently in the rash of cases where information held by commercial database companies has fallen into the hands of identity thieves or others. The governments record at information security is little better. And DMV employees around the country have repeatedly been caught in corruption schemes such as selling fraudulent licenses or data to identity thieves.

The new identity system created by Real ID would accelerate a larger American trend toward a the construction of a public-private Security-Industrial Complex. Data aggregators like ChoicePoint, Acxiom, Lexis-Nexis and others make up an enormous, multi-billion-dollar industry that builds dossiers on individuals using a wide array of sources. And the government is increasingly turning to such companies for help with security functions. The FBI, for example, pays millions to ChoicePoint, and the TSA wants to use private-sector firms in performing identity checks on airline passengers.

The common machine-readable technology on Real IDs would allow for easy, computerized transfer of the data on the cards not only to the government at checkpoints like airports, but also to private parties. Already, many bars already collect all their customers information (including such details as height and weight) by swiping drivers licenses handed over to prove legal drinking age. That might prove to be just the tip of the iceberg as every big-box retailer, convenience store, and liquor mart learns to grab that data and sell it to Choicepoint for a dime. The result would be that, even if the states and federal government do successfully protect the data, it would be harvested by private companies, which would then build up a parallel, for-profit database on Americans, free from even the limited privacy rules in effect for the government.
 
Although individual states drivers licenses may continue to exhibit cosmetic differences, under Real ID they would contain a standardized set of information collected by all 50 states, in standard format, encoded on a standardized machine-readable zone. And although individual states would still maintain their own databases, by requiring them to be interlinked, Real ID would bring into being what is, for all practical purposes, a single distributed database. In short, underneath each states pretty designs they are really a single standardized national card. Local DMV offices may continue to appear to be state offices, but under Real ID they would become agents acting on behalf of the federal government, charged with administering what amounts to an internal passport without which no one will be able to function in America.

There will also be a construction of a larger network of identity papers, databases, status and identity checks and access control points in short, what has been called an internal passport. If the old drivers license represented a license to drive the governments very specific permission to operate a vehicle on the public roadways the fear is that the new documents will become tantamount to a license to leave your house.

National IDs would violate privacy by helping to consolidate data. There is an enormous and ever-increasing amount of data being collected about Americans today. Ones grocery store, for example, might use a loyalty card to keep detailed records of what you buy, while Amazon keeps records of what you read, the airlines keep track of where you fly, and so on. This can be an invasion of privacy, but our privacy has actually been protected by the fact that all this information still remains scattered across many different databases. But once the government, landlords, employers, or other powerful forces gain the ability to draw together all this information, our privacy will really be destroyed. And that is exactly what a national identity system would facilitate.

A national ID like Real ID would also facilitate tracking. When a police officer or security guard scans your ID card with his pocket bar-code reader, for example, it will likely create a permanent record of that check, including the time and your location. How long before office buildings, doctors offices, gas stations, highway tolls, subways and buses incorporate the ID card into their security or payment systems for greater efficiency? The end result could be a situation where citizens movements inside their own country are monitored and recorded through these internal passports."
 
State legislators, interested citizens, and other individuals can join with the many governors and interest groups who oppose this legislation and force Congress to repeal and/or rework it. In addition, if only a few states refuse to make Real ID-compliant drivers licenses for their citizens (an entirely lawful option), the system envisioned by its sponsors will be thrown into crisis, further pressuring Congress to revisit the issue, this time with proper democratic consideration and debate. If this does not happen, this legislation will in however a chaotic and delayed fashion go into effect and reshape the power structure of this nation in the most basic ways.

This law federalizes and standardizes state drivers licenses for all 50 states, and it will result in something that has been resisted in this country for a long time -- a de facto national identity card.

The Real ID Act was pushed through Congress in 2005 with little meaningful debate. It imposes sweeping changes on state drivers licenses that will result in significant new fees and hassles for everyone who needs a license or ID not to mention posing a new threat to Americans privacy. And, our experience suggests that if Real ID becomes the standard for drivers licenses, it will worsen the problem of identity theft.

Unfortunately, we all know that these IDs will be counterfeited within hours of release and if they are perceived as super-reliable, they will be all the more valuable and attractive as a target for crooks. Crooks have always proven to be very clever and able to make IDs look realistic, and we have no reason to doubt this will be any different. They will figure it out very quickly or simply bribe a DMV official somewhere in the country to provide a genuine (but fraudulent) card. A number of cases of bribery at DMVs have come to light in recent years. And merchants and government clerks simply are not experts in determining whether an ID they're looking at is the real thing.
 
Real ID will also create new opportunities for ID thieves to commit their crime. The law requires DMVs to store scanned copies of birth certificates, Social Security cards, and any other documents that individuals present when they apply for a license. It creates a national linked database allowing millions of employees at all levels of government around the nation to access personal data. And it mandates a nationally standardized machine-readable zone that will let bars, merchants and other private parties scan personal data off licenses with greater ease than ever before, putting all that information into even greater circulation.

Real ID is the subject of an ongoing battle in the state legislatures, many of which are moving toward rejecting participation. Consumers concerned about privacy and identity theft might want to make their voices heard by contacting their state or federal legislators.

Real ID is a big step toward a national ID card, and it will open the door to government invasions of privacy and to identity theft.

The Real ID Act imposes tremendous costs on state governments, yet any state that opts out will automatically make nonpersons out of its citizens.

The citizens of that state will be unable to have any dealings with the federal government because their ID will not be accepted. They will not be able to fly or to take a train. In essence, in the eyes of the federal government, they will cease to exist.

The Real ID Act turns state driver's licenses into de facto national ID cards, thus facilitating the massive invasion of an American's privacy, facilitating the growth of the surveillance state, and turning America into the type of country where citizens must always have their 'papers in order.'"
 
The Real ID Act creates a federal identity document that every American will need in order to fly on commercial airlines, enter government buildings, open a bank account, and more.

It creates huge administrative burdens for state governments, while providing no federal funds for implementing its onerous requirements. At the same time, it does nothing to combat terrorism, and puts us at greater risk for invasions of privacy and identity theft.

The Real ID Act was slipped through Congress in an Iraq War/Tsunami relief supplemental bill in May 2005. Cutting off a "negotiated rulemaking" that had included the ACLU and other key stakeholders from Homeland Security to state officials as part of a process to update the nation's driver's licenses, Real ID imposes a clumsy and burdensome set of requirements on states as part of its aim to definitively turn Americans' driver's licenses into a true national idenity card system.

This Act is a giant unfunded federal mandate that will create enormous initial and ongoing administrative burdens and costs for states. It will also create burdens for individual citizens including a higher cost and longer wait for licensing. And it is far from clear that these extraordinary costs will bring any benefits in preventing terrorism. Before states spend the substantial resources Real ID will require, they owe it to their citizens to seriously question the necessity and efficacy of implementing the Real ID Act.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been charged by Congress with issuing regulations spelling out the details of these and other requirements. In some cases, the administrative burdens faced by the states will depend greatly on exactly what requirements DHS decides to impose. Nevertheless, the outlines of the burdens it will impose are clear from the statute itself.
 
The Real ID Act requires that states ensure the physical and electronic security of identification materials. The act does not set standards for that security, but instead puts millions of individuals' sensitive personal information - a goldmine for identity thieves - right out into the open.

The results of 2005 survey of state motor vehicles agencies conducted by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) reveal that those officials have deep concerns over the Real ID Act, and believe it will require extensive changes to existing practices at motor vehicles departments, will be extremely difficult to implement by the act's deadline, and will be very expensive to carry out. The survey makes clearer than ever that the Real ID Act would be a disaster for states, drivers, taxpayers, and citizens.

The Real ID Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in May 2005. It would federalize state driver's license and identity cards by imposing a broad array of regulations on how they are designed, issued, and verified - turning them into what are, for all practical purposes, America's first-ever national identity cards.

Because the Act was rammed through Congress without proper hearings, debate, expert input, or an up-or-down vote, it fails to reflect the realities and complexities of real-world motor vehicle agencies in the 50 states. This is starkly revealed by the survey, in which officials in those agencies (called "DMV's" in many states) describe their concerns about the task of complying with this sprawling federal mandate. In written responses that are often scathing, plaintive, befuddled, or anxious, DMV officials from 50 U.S. jurisdictions collectively paint a picture of a gargantuan overhaul of the nation's diverse driver's license and identity bureaucracies.

The survey, which was first reported by the Associated Press, makes two things very clear. First, the DMVs are beginning to understand just what a tangled mess they are facing in having to try to comply with Real ID. And second, those effects will soon be felt by individual drivers and residents. In addition to worrying about the ominous privacy implications of creating a system of federal identity papers, Americans under Real ID are looking at a future of longer lines and worsening service at the DMV, more complicated document requirements, higher fees and/or taxes, bureaucratic dead-ends, and, for many, an outright denial of IDs - even as those IDs are made more indispensable for living a normal life. (Further analysis of the burdens Real ID poses for the states is available in the document "Real Burdens.")
 
Unfortunately, although it is motor vehicle departments that are beginning to feel the heat now, it will ultimately be individuals - as drivers, taxpayers, and citizens who will pay the price for this misguided legislation.

Real ID will mean Longer waits at the DMV. Many states predict increases in "customer wait times." Arizona, for example, reports that Real ID will bring increased "customer traffic flow and customer wait/visit time in all field offices" and New Jersey that it will have a "significant influence on customer service."

With Real ID, there will be no more same-day licenses. Real ID "could largely prevent 'instant' or 'over the counter' (OTC) issuance of some or all of our DLs and IDs" in Illinois, and "will probably move Indiana from relatively instant issuance to having to mail documents to them." Nevada predicts that "the process for issuing a driver's license or identification card could range from 2 to 6 weeks pending approval of verified documents."

"There will also be fewer offices with Real ID. "Initial cost estimates indicate that . . .WI may have to close some itinerant field stations, especially if there are no federal funds available." (Wisconsin)

There will be no more Internet or mail transactions. In Illinois Real ID would reduce or end mail and Internet address changes and renewals; likewise Virginia warns starkly that "Renewal through alternative methods will be eliminated."

Document inconvenience. "We will have to significantly reduce the number and type of acceptable documents used." (Illinois)

No more mobile offices. Real ID "may significantly limit mobile unit use, perhaps make mobiles impractical." (Illinois)
 
Many of the respondents refer bitterly to the fact that Real ID will be enormously expensive, yet includes no funding from the federal government. Over and over again the state respondents ask, as Maine put it, "Who will pay the hundreds of millions or even billions which this currently unfunded federal mandate will cost in individual states and across the nation."

If Real ID goes forward, the DMVs will have to raise fees and turn to legislators to secure new funding so citizens aren't left without identity documents that permit them to fly, enter federal courthouses, or carry out other necessary activities that count as "federal purposes" (a list that is sure to expand). But beyond the DMVs' struggle for funds lies the undeniable fact that when all is said and done, it will be the residents of the states who pay - not only in hassle, delay, and inconvenience, but in higher fees and/or taxes. Real ID's supporters may have slid it through Congress without the proper democratic process, but that does not make it any less of a real nightmare, pure and simple.
 
yeah that deadline is coming close!Guess the govement better get on the ball.lmao!Imagine them bieng able to get all of us on the same page for this:rolleyes:I'd be more worried about the new passports.with the right reader I can scan ALL of you'r info from you'r passport within 20' of ya!!!This is no B.S people.I sugest you line you'r passport carrier with(pleae don't laugh as this does work)heavy baking tinfoil.It does block the portable scanners from reading you'r chiped passport.Please don't take my word on some forum go check it out.
 
A review of U.S. state laws on privacy and driver's licenses shows that there is an enormous variety in the statutes that are on the books in the various states. This has two important implications. First, it is clear that many states do not have adequate protections in place to combat the type of privacy invasions that Real ID will spur, such as the ability of private businesses to grab all your data off the new, standardized "machine readable zones" that Real IDs will be required to contain.

Second, for Real ID to take effect, a lot of states that do have privacy laws and other laws governing driver's licenses will have to scrap or revise those laws. That process will often be complicated, controversial, and time-consuming, and is another of the many practical obstacles that this most impractical Act must overcome.

The following is a chart that provides an overview of the relevant state laws that will require change as a result of Real ID. It was prepared by Min-Jae Lee, Lauren Gelman and Jennifer Granick of the Cyberlaw Clinic of Stanford Law School. It provides state-by-state information based on the following five criteria:

Any mention of liberty or privacy in the state constitution. Real ID is likely to conflict with these fundamental protections.

Any controls over what type of information can be included on a driver's license. That in turn may govern what information can be contained in cards with machine-readable zones, such as bar codes, RFID chips, or magnetic strips. Where they exist, such provisions may need to be harmonized with Real ID - and where they're absent, they could allow the machine-readable zone to expand to contain an ever-growing amount of information about the cardholder.

Any privacy protections that the state currently mandates for the technology employed in the driver's license, such as digital image capture or magnetic strips. For example, some states bar inclusion of social security numbers, or data not on the face of the card, from current magnetic strips to prevent them from expanding into all-encompassing digital dossiers.

Any controls over who has access to the information contained on the physical license or in the MRZ. With a standardized national machine-readable zone, it will become easier than ever for a wide variety of peopl - from police officers and security guards to store clerks to bartenders - to access whatever data is on that license.

Any controls over what data can be collected from driver's licenses, where and for how long that information may be stored, and who is authorized to access that information. Where restrictions are lacking, private-sector companies, for example, will be tempted to begin compiling license data they grab into valuable databases that will be sold or traded.

As the chart demonstrates, many of the statutes crafted by individual states to protect the safety of their roads and the privacy of their citizens will be swept under the rug in favor of an unfunded mandate poised to do little to protect the nation from terrorism. The laundry list of state laws that will need to be revised in the face of the federal statute represents not only an enormously daunting feat for legislators, but also an arrogant, big government rebuke of states' rights.

Overall, it is clear that the Real ID Act's attempt to impose a rigid uniformity upon state licensing practices will have a sweeping impact on state laws protecting citizen and consumer privacy.
 
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