May 28, 2006 - 02:08:24 CDT
North Dakota’s driver’s licenses have gotten more than a facelift.A new vertical format for drivers under 21 will help clerks and bartenders spot minors.
And a host of other features on all new licenses discourage forgery.
But all these improvements may not be enough when the federal government issues guidelines for its “Real ID” program, according to a Monday Associated Press story.
Under legislation signed last year, the Department of Homeland Security must approve each state’s driver’s license format to allow it to be used for “official purposes,” a yet-to-be-defined phrase that could include access to federal buildings like courthouses or post offices or boarding a commercial airplane.
The photos, words and images printed on the license aren’t really the issue. Designs, obviously, would need to combat fraud and forgery.
It’s not even, really, the other information that might be included in a bar code or magnetic strip similar to those on a credit card, which would allow the card to be used more efficiently.
It’s the chip, a radio frequency identification chip, that’s the problem.
It’s possible, the state fears and AP reported, that federal requirements will call for a radio chip to be embedded in each driver’s license.
State officials believe a barcode like we have now on licenses can contain all the information a driver’s license needs, the AP reported. They worry, too, about the cost associated with a chip.
An RFID chip can store loads more personal data, and with the right equipment can be read from a distance (a magnetic strip holds more information than a barcode, but must be swiped to be read).
A radio chip — crammed with personal data, carried everywhere in wallets and purses, and readable from a distance — sounds like an invitation to identity theft.
A misplaced disk, an inadvertant e-mail or a lost laptop can compromise the security of tens of thousands of people’s vital information.
It happens. Just ask Veteran Affairs, which recently had data on 26.5 million veterans stolen.
Perhaps less likely but even more unnerving is the Orwellian aspect of having this chip follow you through life.
There’s no mention made that the radio chip might be used, or even have the capability, to track individuals.
But it’s a natural question, particularly in view of the National Security Administration’s recently revealed program of monitoring citizens’ phone calls and the constant struggle to find the balance between freedom and security.
The “Real ID” program is law. It will be implemented. Let’s hope, though, that it doesn’t include a radio chip in our back pocket.
John wrote on Jun 7, 2006 6:43 PM:
Ed wrote on May 28, 2006 9:23 PM:
Big Jim wrote on May 28, 2006 7:34 PM:
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