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Homeland Security Director Defends Real ID
An anonymous reader writes "Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff is defending the upcoming rollout of the national ID card as vital for the nation's security. Chertoff reminded reporters of the importance of the initiative after this week's uncovering of an ID-forging ring. The Real ID Act of May 2005 dictates the uses and requirements for the documentation, which by 2008 may be required for everything from travel to banking. Just the same, the HSD has yet to dictate how exactly the cards will work. " From the article: "The Homeland Security chief, who is nearing his two-year mark with the agency, was likely trying to quell rampant skepticism about the IDs voiced by some privacy advocates, immigrants and other groups. Some have said they fear that the IDs are a stepping stone to a veritable police state, complete with ready surveillance of individuals. Some have argued that the idea of creating more tamperproof IDs is only a marginally better way to screen out those intent on committing terrorist acts because ID cards don't even begin to tackle a core crime prevention challenge: determining a person's unspoken intentions. "
Can't remember the name of the book, but I know how this ends. Some guy who doesn't like me steals my ID card and/or replaces it with an invalid one, and I end up in jail because I can't prove who I really am. Federated identity is important; we can't have a single authoritative source for IDs or this sort of abuse will definitely happen.
mandelbr0t
"Please describe the scientific nature of the 'whammy'" - Agent Scully
I feel safer already.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Where does the federal government claim to derive the power to mandate federal IDs? Are they using the interstate commerce clause yet again? There's one part of the Constitution that has been seriously misused time and time again and is in dire need of fixing.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/23/researchers-hac k-rfid-credit-cards-big-surprise/
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Seeing as companies don't really care about a consumers privacy (they sell the data as fast as they can anyways) its no surprise that the government wants in on the action.
GET YOU NEW IDENTITY HERE! NO APPLICATION NEEDED!
The tinfoil hat idea may be passe, but the tinfoil wallet may be the wave of the future.
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61264,00
So long as the RFID signal is kept weak, atleast.
http://www.epic.org/privacy/dv/real_id.html
And of course it was added as a rider, and got through, as the REAL ID act was put into a "must pass" bill appropriating money for tsunami relief and defense. Pub. Law 109-13. REAL ID was added to this bill without any hearings.
Sometimes I -HATE- the fact that little bits of law can be added in as a rider and passed with otherwise "must pass" bills, even if the bits added in as a rider never would have passed on its own.
What if a system is implemented to validate that the person presenting the card is the person listed in the database? What if when the card is read, the system displays the picture on file for the holder of the card (for an example of this type of system, except on a much more privacy-reduced scale, I'd recommend reviewing the DNA ID system in Gattaca)?
A card in any form is far more easily forged than a secured database. Use the information on the card for trivial matters (such as establishing patronage at your local drinking establishment or cashing a check at your bank) and connect to the database when it really counts (any government matter)
And regarding RFID use (for anyone who really cares, and there are plenty of people who do), encrypt the data so that it is useless without actually seeing the card (multi-key encryption)
Right now, the only government assigned ID system (in the US) is the Social Security Card, which is just a number and a name (which is not enough to validate the true identity of the person). The state issued IDs are not actually mandatory, so it is entirely possible that a US citizen has NO photo ID.
I say we just tattoo everyone with a unique number using some kind of magnetic ink that can't be forged, like on the forehead or some place it wouldn't be easy to remove or forge somehow.
>> You already need an ID to do any number of day to day activities. Right, but if I'm walking down the street without a gun, I can't be arrested for not having a drivers license or concealed weapons permit.
Which is why it is believed that this initiative might help. If you're here legally, you'll have an ID.
Unless this Real ID thing is a giant glowing ball that hovers over our heads, this won't help jack shit. Look up how many drivers there are estimated to be on our roads without licenses (or even with revoked licenses). Just like those people, terrorists without a Real ID card are going to go about their daily lives without a single problem.
But we're going to be out how many billions of dollars paying committees and well-connected companies to study the issue, propose designs, assign some kind of identification and issue these cards?
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
suck it up.
What *I* mostly care about is this: Is it going to be as fast and easy as it is to obtain that fucking thing as it is to obtain legitimately a DL in Oregon?
In 2003, I moved there, got my apartment and had utility billing (showing proof of intent to reside there, not mooch or drift), and had my former CA DL (valid, non-expired) and auto insurance and my car smog-checked and in good condition, plus new tires and engine upkeep.
Closing in on the 30-day reside or leave law thing, I studied a few days for the test. I went to DMV by appointment (or, was it a drop-in? Yeh, by appointment since it was late when I first arrived). I sat before a computer. Answered maybe 20 questions. Passed.
Shocker? They told me to sit about 12 minutes and my ID would be ready. I thought I mis-heard the clerk. Huh? What?! 12 minutes? Hell, in California, I'd have to wait a month, maybe two (and mine have in CA been lost in the mail once or twice, when time was critical and having an ID for contract work was mandatory... not paper temporary vouchers...).
I concede that Oregon has a FRACTION of CA's population, but give me a BREAK! Are Oregon homeless or con artists any more crafty than those in California? CA is one of the most HIGH TECH states in the US, and if CA were a country, it'd have maybe the 3rd or 4th largest economy in the world (a good reason for CA to say FUCK DC and secede, heheheheh), so it ought to be EASIER and faster to obtain ID in CA. It should be possible to get the frackin' thing within 20 MINUTES of proving ones identity or passing ID and passing the DMV test.
The brouhaha over internal passport and threat to privacy and such may be well-intentioned, but as long as the ID has no wires, trace capability, or the like, then it's probably a GOOD thing that the ID information will be centralized. I am not speaking about "keeping out migrant workers". I'm talking about putting a crimp in the asses of those who legitimately obtain multiple IDs but who then go on to ABUSE the multiple IDs across state lines, defraud the IRS (I don't mind PAYING taxes; it's the LEVEL that I am bothered by at times), and evade paying bills, tickets, or child support. If you MAKE a kid, PAY FOR IT! Owe a debt, PAY for it, or stay in the loop until it's discharged or someone picks up the bill to give you a clean slate.
All this bitching about the ID is good and some of it is not. Another GOOD thing is that some back-jerkwater-ass hobo-run sheriff or PO-LEASE in parts of the US can't (hopefully can't) ding passers-through on D/L issues. (Broken turn or signal lamps can still cause you problems if they want to detain you or scrape a few dozen dollars out of your wallet before telling you to come back and visit our little town again....)
Hell, many countries, due to historical and formation pains, have had national IDs from their START. We, here in the USA, had it good for a while. The criminal types will still evade; the good types will comply; the cottage lawyers will bitch up a storm and get paid up the ass and smile for the make-work. Cops (good or bad) and bars and certain businesses will love it because they won't have to memorize, train others, or keep annual books on valid forms of acceptable ID.
(*** It *ought* to be a *win* for a lot of people. The cell phones and pagers, NIC cards, and roaming login accounts tell more about us than the damned RealID would. I am pretty sure a number of states are afraid of losing control not over states' rights, but over the cottage card-printing industry (like presidents' and governors' wives painting and selling junk art so DC and the states' frame-making industry can be artificially propped up....) ***)
Anyway, some states permit individuals to possess more than one state ID as long as there is no sign of fraud. Frakin' California would punch a HOLE through my Oregon ID but I had to rationalize with the clerk that I HAD to not have my Oregon ID SCREWED WITH by some arcane process that could be double-checked by a simple inter-ag
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
I never did.
Back in the day, when I used to regularly attend student protests, and take part in various other anti-government activities, I made it a point to never carry ID with me.
If you're in a batch arrest, and have ID, it's now on your record. If you don't, the cops would be more likely to just believe you are whatever name you make up.
Actually, come to think of it, they never really believed me when I gave them a fake name, but it was never worth their bother following through on it, either.
"Sure, officer, I'd be perfectly happy to show you my ID. It's at my house, you can just drop me off there after driving across town. Thanks." "Never mind, kid, you think you're so clever, now you have to figure out your own way home. Hah!" (Followed by me going to get on a bus, using the money in my shoe.)
Not so much the troublemaker any more these days, but I still don't bother to carry my ID with me every time I go out for a walk.
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
3,030 Americans died on 9-11.
16,000 Americans die to murder each year.
In spite of the impact it made, 9-11 had 1/5th the impact of a single year of murders in the USA. Somehow, for 200 years, we managed to uphold the constitution in spite of murder rates. 9-11 is a sorry excuse to change that now.
Therefore, it seems timely and appropriate to recommend that the administration and members of the department of "homeland security" read the constitution, and that THEY adjust to the CONSTITUTION, rather than the other way around.
9-11 already happened. Unless they intend to invent a time machine to stop 9-11, the DHS should just disband itself, b/c chiselling away at our rights hasn't done a damn bit of good for the country.
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." -Jesus Christ The Lord's Prayer