New York Issues RFID-Encoded Drivers Licenses

JagsLive passes along the intelligence that New York has become the second state to issue drivers licenses with RFID tags (Washington was the first). The new "enhanced drivers licenses" cost $30 more than the old ones. They can be used instead of a passport for entry into the US by land or sea (not air) from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Authorities say no personal information will be stored or transmitted by the chip, only an ID number that will be meaningless to anyone but DHS. Citizens of New York who prefer not to carry an identifying RFID chip can still get an old-style license.

Comments

optional for how long?

[ruggerboy]

Reminds me of how several years ago blackberries used to be "optional" for associates at my law firm, and there was even a waitlist. That is until partners realized just how effective they were at keeping tabs on exactly where we were and what we were doing at all hours. Now they come standard issue with your welcome packet. Expect the same for new drivers pretty soon.

Re:optional for how long?

[morgan_greywolf]

In Soviet Russia, RFID chips come standard with YOU!!!!

remove the chip?

[jgarra23]

What are the legalities of defacing the ID by removing the chip?

Re:remove the chip?

[ypctx]

You get to pick from lifelong vacation on Guantanamo and having the chip implanted (early adopter, you then have to tell people you did that volutarily). They also take all your amero money and prevent you from leaving the North American Union. I assume since you dare to ask such questions on internet, you already are on the no-fly list, so they just add you to the no-boat and no-train lists. On the contrary, if you choose the implant, you get a free foreclosed home (left by someone who had chosen the Guantanamo) and bunch of empty credit cards, so you can start a new life without such mistakes. Happy days!

Not by air?

[Creepy Crawler]

What a waste then.

Why not just get a regular drivers license and a passport as two different pieces of identity.

Re:Not by air?

[nine-times]

I don't know... I'm tempted to question why a driver's license is used as ID in the first place. It's a license to drive a car, but people treat it like it's a universal ID and everyone is supposed to have one.

Why not your license to own a pet? Or... I don't know, your license to be a lifeguard? Your license to carry a gun?

Like why should having a license to drive be taken as proof of identity and authorization to leave/enter the country?

Re:Not by air?

[swimin]

Because its a convenient and commonplace ID, that is usually issued by every state in a form that also allows nondrivers to get one too.

Re:Not by air?

[Rob the Bold]

I don't know... I'm tempted to question why a driver's license is used as ID in the first place. It's a license to drive a car, but people treat it like it's a universal ID and everyone is supposed to have one.

Cause it's America. How did you get wherever you are to show your ID if not by car? But you do have a good point, and next time I buy beer I'm gonna pull out the dog license. Then again, the gun license might get free beer and an opportunity to witness my tax dollars at work.

Meaningless?

[einer]

Meaningless to anyone but DHS until some nitwit with an unencrypted drive on their laptop leaves it in an airport lounge.

This is just monumentally stupid. Seriously. A monument is required to commemorate this epically stupid idea. I'm thinking a huge statue of a DHS lacky shrugging their shoulders. Preferably with an Alfred E. Neumann "What Me Worried?" look on their mug.

Meaningless?

[McGregorMortis]

A Social Security number is "meaningless". It's just an identifier. But it's a number that uniquely identifies you, and if other people get their hands on it, or are able to spoof it, then than meaningless number can have adverse effects on your life.

How is this "meaningless" identifier any different?

A constant ID# is NOT meaningless...

[nweaver]

All someone needs to do is correlate your ID# with you (easy enough to do on many occasions). Once you have that, its no longer a meaningless ID number, but a unique personal tracking number.

Re:Residents, not citizens

[plague3106]

Actually they are; they yield only a portion of their sovereignty to the Federal government to keep the British at bay.

Sure, you can refuse, but.....

[Stanislav_J]

Citizens of New York who prefer not to carry an identifying RFID chip can still get an old-style license.

And those who refuse will go right on the master list under "troublemaker/refusnik/something to hide/potential terrorist."

Hold on..

[aero2600-5]

"Citizens of New York who prefer not to carry an identifying RFID chip can still get an old-style license."

Wait a second here.. the RFID licenses are $30 more expensive than regular licenses, yet the residents have the option to get the cheaper RFID-free license? Who's going to choose to willingly pay more to be tracked more effectively?

Let me guess. The state isn't telling them that they can choose to get the cheaper older style of license? Brilliant!

Aero

Re:Hold on..

[DerekLyons]

Does the tinfoil go shiny side in or shiny side out? You sound like an expert and I can never remember...

Re:Hold on..

[Attila Dimedici]

"Citizens of New York who prefer not to carry an identifying RFID chip can still get an old-style license."

Wait a second here.. the RFID licenses are $30 more expensive than regular licenses, yet the residents have the option to get the cheaper RFID-free license? Who's going to choose to willingly pay more to be tracked more effectively? Aero

I don't know, maybe people who travel to and from Canada on a frequent basis who don't want to have to remember their passport?

Passport Card

[Rob the Bold]

I applied for a new passport this Summer, and it sounds like the new New York DL just includes a "Passport Card" in it. They're both for surface entry of the US from North American and Caribbean countries. The additional DL fee is $30, but a new Passport Card is $45, $20 if you already have a passport book. As such, privacy concerns would be exactly the same as with a new Passport or Passport Card.

You'd be Wrong

[mpapet]

1. All the talk about "tracking" is nonsense. An RFID anything has a range measured in inches normally. Stuff it in your wallet sandwiched in between more cards and it pretty much won't work.

2. $30 is about right after all is said and done. No one is getting rich making these cards. There's secure printing, personalization, etc.

3. What's the application though? If it is just border crossings, then do border crossings have the infrastructure to process a contactless card?

4. Accidentally leaving the card inside a microwave oven while you are warming coffee would harm the chip, so don't ever do that.

Re:You'd be Wrong

[Frigga's Ring]

An RFID anything has a range measured in inches normally.

I don't think you need to look further than Defcon to see the fun things you can do with RFID tags. In fact, if I recall correctly, at Defcon 13, they read an RFID token from at least 69 feet away.

Re:You'd be Wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

An RFID chip Normally has a ranged of Inches
that is limited by the stock reader that is designed to normally work with it
Enter High gain receivers antennas , digital signal processing and a function called integration
with that, the data stream is No longer limited to inches.
With such a setup in minutes , It can read RFID chips very far away even miles away
We must think beyond normal and think about what the military, governments and bad ass terrorists can do.
An RFID reader is a radio transponder is normally very insensitive. However, with a good antenna and a well designed receiver and integrator it can be received very far away.

Re:You'd be Wrong

[Cajun Hell]

And what exactly will they discover? Some long string of bytes that's all.

A unique string of bytes. It's different for every person, but it's the same every time you read the same person, so you just need to tie it to identifying info once. Walk past a reader, buy something with debit card, and upload the tuple to a server. Now when you walk by a different reader, doubleclick knows who you are.

It's a cookie.

You watch too many movies where these bytes lead to some impossible story progression.

That would be Minority Report.

Re:You'd be Wrong

[tomz16]

And why does it have to be contactless for ANY of the proposed applications?

Am I the only one who fails to see the push for RFID in identifying cards? I've use my mastercard with RFID chip at the local supermarket. It's really NO more convenient than the magstripe... but it DOES open up the possibility that someone could clone my card from a few feet away!!! Furthermore, I don't see how this benefits the CC company. I've never had a magstripe on a credit card wear out before the bank sent me a new one (and I use my credit card at least once or twice a day)...

If you really are JUST storing an identifier on the drivers license, wouldn't a barcode or magstripe accomplish the same thing, AND be MUCH more secure? My current NYS drivers license has one of those fancy 2D looking barcodes. Isn't that sufficient for storing an ID number? If it isn't, then what about just printing another one of those. There's plenty of space! Not only would that be cheaper (hardware is currently in place), but it would also be impossible to probe from dozens of feet away!

Re:You'd be Wrong

[dotancohen]

In fact, if I recall correctly, at Defcon 13, they read an RFID token from at least 69 feet away.

That was only reported in the hope that there would be some sex-related joke to come out of Defcon. The real story is that they couldn't get more than 67' 4" out of it.

Re:You'd be Wrong

[omnipresentbob]

Now when you walk by a different reader, doubleclick knows who you are.

Oh no. You mean there will be targeted ads for stuff we might buy? The world will turn into a real life Amazon.com or Netflix, "Hello, Bob. You bought lingerie, hand cuffs and black duct tape last time. Similar buyers also bought whips."

Re:You'd be Wrong

[ben2umbc]

Now when you walk by a different reader, doubleclick knows who you are.

Oh no. You mean there will be targeted ads for stuff we might buy? The world will turn into a real life Amazon.com or Netflix, "Hello, Bob. You bought lingerie, hand cuffs and black duct tape last time. Similar buyers also bought whips."

Thats funny, but that will be possible in the future. A system is possible using:

• video cameras or other form of biometrics sensing technology
• RFID
• and your frequent shopper or credit card

to

• identify you when you walk into the store
• know your past purchases
• items you may have picked up and looked at but did not purchase
• and know whether you prefer regular or low fat

It may be possible already, if not, then soon.

Re:You'd be Wrong

[dave562]

I hate to undo moderation, but the obviousness of this seems necessary to comment on. We're moving toward a police state and the infrastructure needs to be in place to facilitate it. Magstripes need to be passed through a reader and you can only scan people one at a time. If everyone has an RFID chip, you can scan a whole area at a time. Think holding pens and you're getting close. Think crowds at stadiums or other public venues. It's already illegal (at least in California) to not carry a drivers license with you. I imagine within ten years the police will have scanners on their cars so that during traffic stops they can more easily determine the occupants of a vehicle that they pull over.

Privacy is so long gone it's frightening. The "if you don't have anything to hide" meme has been swallowed hook, line and sinker by enough of the population that whole sale loss of privacy is the way forward from here. Once the system is in place its only a matter of time until it gets dragged into everything. Lets say you get into an accident but can't find any witnesses. I'm sure lawyers will be clamoring for access to the databases to subpeona potential witnesses. Too close to a murder scene? You'll be talking to detectives shortly. Living next door to a drug dealer? Oops, you were within 100 meters so you're a possible drug user according to the latest "proximity to potential criminality" algorithms.

Fake IDs just became easier

[Manip]

Considering how easy RFIDs are to fake and how much they want to automate authentication the technology will be easier to bypass than the old fashioned 3D hologram was.

People assume that just because its new then no bad guy will be able to figure it out... And that worked on Police Radios for like ten years before all the bad guys had scanners.

Security though obscurity at its worst. My 2c.

You are already being tracked

[mpapet]

Worrying about the tracking boogeyman is ridiculous.

I'm not sure why you labor under the illusion that your activities aren't tracked now. Most of your activity is in one way or another and then packaged and sold to any willing buyer including Government entities.

Credit Score? Tracking
Medical Records? This is a murky area, but I'm sure the U.S. health insurance co's would love to trade patient health scores. No. HIPPAA didn't outlaw this.
Communication? Done. FISA, Telcos, NSA, Etc.
Debit transations? Tracking.
Other finance tracking? Done. It's called taxes.

There's lots of worthy things to contribute your personal energy to. This isn't one of them.

Re:Just an ID? There's a DB somewhere...

[Reziac]

And since when did Canada become the enemy?? it irks me no end that I, a birth-citizen of the United States, now need a passport (or equivalent, such as this ID) to go to and from a country that when I was a kid, you just walked or drove or flew across the border and the crossing guard (if any) would smile and wave and say have a nice day. Explain to me how ME and YOU waving around a trackable ID makes the U.S. any "safer"??

As to how it makes the U.S. boundaries more like the Iron Curtain, that needs no explaining. Komrade! Your papers please!!

Re:who will? plenty Re:Hold on..

[commodoresloat]

Loosing a driver's license is a pretty minor expense in comparison to loosing a passport - and driver's licenses are generally replaced quite quickly here in NY state.

It's true! Loose passports sink ships. Or something like that. So remember to tighten your passports, folks!

Re:Residents, not citizens

[morgan_greywolf]

I think you need to look up the meeting of the word "state."

I think you need to look up the meaning of the word "meeting". And possibly the meaning of the word "meaning." And possibly understand the difference in pronunciation between the letters 't' and 'n'.

Businesses WILL abuse it

[markdavis]

If the card can be read without my permission, it will be. They try it now, even though it has no RFID. All it takes is cross-referencing the number to be very dangerous.

I "accidentally" damaged the barcode on my licence AND one of two digits of the printed number on the front. And for this exact reason. I will give you one of MANY real-world (actually happened to me) examples why:

I tried to return a shirt to a store s: store m: me

s: We will be glad to offer you an exchange or refund. We need to see your ID.
m: Here is my driver's license to prove I am who I say I am.
s: (looks at license and IMMEDIATELY starts keying my number into the register)
s: Oh, your number is damaged, could you please tell me the missing digits.
m: Sorry, but you need to verify who I am. I didn't give you permission to record my number into a computer.
s: But we have to have it to prove we saw your ID.
m: Um, having the number doesn't really prove anything.
s: But we have to have the number.
m: No you don't- you have to know I am who I say I am, now you know. My name matches the receipt. You do not need to record my DRIVER'S LICENSE number to return a shirt at a retail store.
s: But the license is invalid.
m: No it isn't. You can see the picture. The watermark is intact. My name and address are on the card. It is not expired. I paid money for it. I passed the required tests. I assure you, it is authentic.
s: But what if you get pulled over by the police?
m: Then I will happily tell them the number. If I refused, it would be no different than if I didn't produce my license at all. If I lied (which I would not do), they would know immediately, also.
s: Well, it is our policy, so I can't offer you a refund or exchange without the number.

Get the idea? And what happens when your "ID" is used to get into a club? Or buy alcohol or whatever? They have need to verify my age, not record my identity in some computer that can then be searched, stolen, cross-referenced, whatever. With RFID, the problem is even worse- your info could be recorded into a database without even knowing it. You will have NO control over what is done with the information or how long it is retained.

The only way to protect your privacy is ACTIVELY, it cannot be done by trusting others will do the right thing. Privacy has nothing to do with "if you have nothing to hide" and everything to do with "what MIGHT you lose".