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Driver's Licenses with Digital Watermarks
ForceQuit writes "MIT Technology Review reports that Minnesota will begin issuing a unique driver's license designed to combat counterfeiting. It includes a reflective image (of a loon) that appears to float above and below the card when the license is tilted. It also includes an invisible, digital watermark capable of carrying security data such as date of birth. The information would be readable only through a computerized scanner, which law enforcement officers could carry."
I just happened across this the other day. Filling out an accident claim I saw this page on the MN Dept. of Public Safety site which has a picture of the new liscense. My first impression was not terribly positive. To me it looks pretty ugly, but whatever.
How is this news?
Missouri has been issuing drivers licenses with a digital water mark of the state capitol for a number of years.
I know one of the local pubs put in a scanner that supposedly can read all of the various mag-stripe licenses. He said saving the cost/headaches of fines for serving to minors more than covers the cost (approx US$2K).
Don't know how many of the forgers hack up the mag-stripe data as well, but it's probably not a lot.
Actually, I was thinking of the Canadian one dollar coin. Nicknaming the new driver's license the loonie would fit here as well.
For the first time I actually have something to contribute. As an attorney in Minneapolis who works with mostly undocumented immigrants (illegal immigrants) I think i should add a couple of details to this.
1) Minneapolis has an ordinace preventing police from asking about a persons immigration status, unless that status is a part of another crime. (so this means at a traffic stop they can _not_ ask you about your status) There are two reasons behind this law. One reason the city passed this law is to encourage immigrants to feel safe and comfortable with city police, to report crimes, call for help, not leave the scene ect. However the primary reason for the law is that federal law gives sole jurisdiction over immigration matters to federal law enforcement. That means that even without the Minneapolis ordinace the local police can't enforce immigration law. Just like the Immigration officers can't arrest you for speeding or running a red light.
In Minnesota you can not get a license if you are an undocumented (illegal) immigrant. And an estimated 60,000 undocumented immigrants live here. Right now they either have no IDs or occasionly an ID from their home country - and these are often difficult to validate or even read if not in english.
A few of the main reasons people push to give undocumented immigrants license are 1) becuase that way they will have ID and police/banks/hospitals/ect will know who they are 2) they will have to pass the drivers test if they want to get an ID and that will encourage many (not all) to learn the traffic rules 3) once they get a drivers license they will be able to get car insurance 4) terrorists have enough resources and money to get IDs other places, so this law has little impact on well organized terrorists.
Alberta (Canada) came out with a new driver's licence a few years ago. It was quite a step forward from the traditional print-it-off-on-paper-then-laminate-it licence. Check it out:
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a tures_f lash.html
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/gs/driverslicence/
"An original. Just like you." Glad my taxes went towards picking that. Probably had a committee set up and daily meetings for 3 months to come up with it.
Security features used on the card:
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/gs/driverslicence/se
Picture of the card:
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/gs/driverslicence/fe
It's a simple boolean "and", right? Immigrants and visa holders are indeed subject to the jurisdiction of the US while they're here, but they're not born or naturalized in the US, so they're not considered US citizens.
This is nothing new. We have had the loon (state bird) on them many years ago. Now, we have the word "Minnesota" instead, same kind of thing. The loon looks better and will be harder to fake than a word (ever see a loon?)
For a long time there as been a 2D barcode
I think the state bird should have been the moskeeto; that is the thing people remember and see a lot of in MN.
Link to photo of new license
I think you're mistaken on this. In fact there was a recent Supreme Court of the United States case which considered the issue of whether a police officer could even demand your name, much less a state-issued identification. It was narrowly held that a name could be demanded if state law provided such. Anything more, it suggests, is probably unconstitutional.
The case was Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada.
This post is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied on as such.
Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
I am involved in a project to install new ID systems in the Sec. of State offices here, and I have personally scanned my licence into a text editor and looked at the information on there. It's something like 45 characters or so.
If you are worried about someone getting all that iformation, it would be much more effective and much easier to have a cheap camera installed at teh point of sale (cashier register, self checkout lane, in the black light of the door bouncer types of bars) and grab medium resolution 5 fps video of everything that goes by. All that info that you are paranoid about giving up through an electronic reader is actually on the front of your license.
As someone who is on the downhill stretch of dealing with the INS (permanent resident with 10yr green card now), I can tell you that yes, it is already illegal if you do keep the INS informed of your current address within about 2 weeks after you move (I think it's 10 days, but I could be wrong). Those laws were pre 9/11 too.
If it was tied in with drivers license... bleh, okay.. I ALREADY have to carry my green-card with me everywhere I go, so that's no big deal to me. The only thing different is that my green card does not have my address on, my drivers license does. So that would be additional pressure to get the drivers license renewed.
The only time that MAY be a problem is if you move somewhere temporarily, like I recently did. I called the INS and sent in the form both times, but I only changed my drivers license once we were in our house, i.e. not the temporary apartment. So if it were law that you'd have to change your drivers license both times, that would SUCK since it costs money to do so. Mailing a form and a toll-free cost nothing but time.
Delphis