1. THE GROWING N A T I O N A L ID TRAP
T O M D E W EES E
i^pechnology can be a wonderful thing. From our ical records, to financial and employment histories, to rescind Section 656 and effectively kill the National
I garage door opening automatically on a rainy day, school records, buying habits at the super market, and ID.
I to being able to find a lost pet, or quickly paying for the government building data banks on farm animals. All of that effort was lost on September 11, 2001.
an item by slapping a card over a "Pay Pass" reader, Our cars have little black boxes, which record data on Since then, the government has been energized to ac-
technology can make our lives better, more organized, our driving habits. In addition, the uses of video cam- tion. Not since Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" have
and safer. eras, computer chips, and biometric screening to mon- the forces of Big Brother been so determined to build
There is no question that it would be a marvelous itor our activities are growing rapidly. the size and power of government.
use of technology to be able to carry a copy of all your Step by step, using a wide variety of good excuses, First came the new Homeland Security Department
medical records, in case you fall ill or get hurt. The hos- Americans are allowing themselves to be fingerprinted, with 170,000 employees from 22 combined depart-
pital will then know about your health condition includ- their eyes scanned, computer chips inserted under their ments, including the U.S. Border Patrol, Coast Guard,
ing allergies, surgeries, dental problems, and skin, providing DNA, and more. Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management
medications. The most important question one must ask before Agency, Transportation Security Administration, Immi-
It would be a matter of comfort for parents to know relying completely on available technology is "Who's in gration and Naturalization Service, Customs Service.
that, if their child was kidnapped or wandered off, a control of it?" We can create technology to do literally Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Federal
chip could be activated to pinpoint where they were. anything. However, should we? The question is impor- Protective Service, FBI's National Domestic Prepared-
The same could be true in locating a lost pet. tant because some of the same technology that will ness Office, Office of Domestic Preparedness, Federal
It would be very helpful for police and fire depart- make our lives better can, in the wrong hands, make Computer Incident Response Center, plus several lesser
ments to have instant access to fingerprints and other our lives a living hell. agencies of the same type. All of these agencies come
personal identifying features of every single American. under the control of one manager, the Secretary of
Then they really could solve cases in about an hour, just A short history Homeland Security.
like on CSI. Those are the wonderful visions promoters In 1996, Congress passed three major bills; The Welfare Under the rashly conceived Patriot Act, it states that
of the technology are using to sell their wares. Reform Act, The Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re- one Cabinet Secretary has the power to send federal
The reality may well create a world of Big-Brother sponsibility Act and The Medical Care Reform Act. Un- law enforcement into private homes without a search
controls on our ability to move about and live our lives known to most in Congress, each of these bills carried warrant. Records and materials may be taken from pri-
in a free manner. For that reason, today, in the age of certain identical language called Section 656, which vate homes, computer records searched, phones
such marvelous technology, Americans must be more laid the foundation for the creation of a National ID. The tapped, and e-mails monitored, without the knowledge
vigilant and protective of their freedom than any time in laws set a deadline of October 2000. of the suspect.
our history. In 1998, privacy advocates, including The American As part of the Homeland Security effort, but not part
As technology develops, data banks of personal in- Policy Center, began to sound the alarm. In 1999, Sen- of the Patriot Act, is a new Pentagon program called the
formation are being collected on everything from med- ator Richard Shelby (R-AL) quietly introduced legislation Information Awareness Office. This office may use mil-
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2. Although issued by the states, through the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Real ID is a national identification
card system. States must comply with federal guidelines by May 2008. If states fail to meet that deadline, then
driver's licenses from non-complying states will not qualify as official identification and cannot be used to get
on airplanes or obtain services from the federal government, including medical care.
itary intelligence to spy on domestic citizens. This pro- ditional requirements, including biometric scans such will keep us safe from terrorists. They are saying fin-
gram seeks to combine government and business data as finger printing, retinal scans, or facial scans. Home- gerprints and biometric scans will make it impossible to
banks. They will be able to monitor American's cash land Security has expressed a strong desire to require counterfeit.
withdrawals from banks, airline ticket purchasing, Radio Frequency Identification chips (RFID).
rental car transactions and purchase of firearms. In Eventually, through the use of smart chips, the dri- Not so. Here are the facts:
addition, it monitors credit card purchases, books pur- ver's license will be transformed to include not only The Frauhofer Research Institute in Darmstadt, Ger-
chased, every movie rented or bought; almost ever ac- identification information, but employment, medical, fi- many, set out to see whether it could fool fingerprint,
tion undertaken by private American citizens. nancial, and school records. It will serve as an ATM facial recognition, and retinal scan security technology.
card, credit card, voter ID card, and in the coming cash- Starting with facial recognition, they could fool it by
Creation of the National ID less society, access to your bank accounts. holding up a photo of the authorized person. Further,
In 2005, Congress passed the Real ID Act, a "counter- Such information can combine a wide variety of data since the system must store the photos of authorized
terrorism" measure recommended by the 9/11 Com- banks now being created, both government and private, persons in a database, hackers can break into the com-
mission. The act sets national standards for driver's into one central identifying number. In anticipation of puter and steal them. Some systems are more sophis-
licenses. The bill requires states to link databases con- such an eventuality, the federal government, through ticated and watch to see if the person moves before
taining sensitive personal information such as Social the Pentagon is developing technology called "LifeLog.™ allowing access. To beat it, simply put a video in front
Security numbers. State databases must contain a dig- This would twist all of the information in public and pri- of the scanner.
ital image, a paper copy of each birth certificate, and vate databanks into "narrative threads" giving govern- Fingerprints are even easier to foil. When you put
other identifying documents. ment a chance to watch events of your life develop. your finger on the reader, you actually leave your fin-
Although issued by the states, through the Depart- Once this is accomplished, consider the conse- gerprint. Investigators found that often they could sim-
ment of Motor Vehicles, the Real ID is a national iden- quences. You're driving in your car, and suddenly you ply cup their hands around the reader and breathe on
tification card system. States must comply with federal are pulled over for a broken taillight. The officer asks the old print, whereupon it would show up and let them
guidelines by May 2008. If states fail to meet that for your driver's license and you comply; he takes the in. As for retinal scans; simply a high-resolution picture
deadline, then driver's licenses from non-complying card back to his cruiser, which has an onboard com- did the trick.
states will not qualify as official identification and can- puter with access to the central data bank. Americans are now being fingerprinted at work,
not be used to get on airplanes or obtain services from Suddenly, he gets out of the cruiser, pulls his gun school, and even Disney World on a routine basis. They
the federal government, including medical care. and, hiding behind his car door, he demands that you go into a database. Nearly every single super market
Without authorized federal identification, access to step out of your car with your hands up. What in the now issues a discount card where shoppers can get in-
voting booths may be denied. Many states now use world could be wrong? In terror, you comply. He steps credible discounts off their bill, just by using the card.
computerized voting machines. In those states, a up to you, holding the gun to your head and demands However, to do so, it establishes a data bank of your
voter's name is now issued a bar code and permanent you lie on the ground as he puts on the cuffs and takes buying habits. Every credit card tracks where you pur-
identification numbers on registration lists. Unless you into custody. chase and establishes a database. Every bank profiles
everything matches up, one can't be allowed in the vot- At the station, you learn that there is an arrest war- your finances and establishes a database. Should you
ing booth. rant on your personal databank. It's not you. How do acquire a sudden spike in your usual banking routine,
As the Real ID Act is fully implemented, the driver's you prove it7 The data bank contains your picture, your the banks are required to notify the federal government,
license will be essential for one to be a full participant fingerprints, your DNA. The official record says it's you. because you have broken your profile.
in American society. Failure to have it will literally shut You now have lost access to your bank accounts. You Manufactures are now implanting radio frequency
you out from opening a bank account, getting a loan, have lost access to your identification, indeed your identification tags (RFID) into everything from clothing
gaining employment, a marriage license, medical care, identity. to razor blades before shipping to stores. They can now
and purchasing of firearms. What happened7 Perhaps an over-worked, under- track where each item is after it's sold and in your
Yet, the government continues to deny that the Real paid data entry person put the wrong information into home. They can even track the items as you travel.
ID Act is a National ID. Proponents argue that no na- the system. Where is that person? Whom do you see A National ID will not protect us from anything. It
tional data bank will be established, that it will only use to fix it7 Government is a massive place. Little depart- will, however, erode our individual freedom and increase
the records created by the state Departments of Motor ments are scattered everywhere. Imagine what it takes government power. It will not prevent future terrorist
Vehicles. At a minimum, states must include on their now to get a mistake taken off your credit report, and attacks. The 9/11 terrorists were not using a false ID.
new driver's license- name, birth date, sex, ID number, then imagine it 1,000 times worse. A little mistake? Osama bin Laden will not be stopped by "paperwork."
a digital photo, and employ "machine readable tech- Oh well. American freedom, however, will die. &
nology," Therein lies the danger. The backers of such a system tell us that it will
Under the Act, Homeland Security can mandate ad- never be abused. It will exist solely to protect us. It
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