Real ID Act

[SoulTorn]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050509-4886.html?32982

So...ummm...yeah. Creepy.

-Chris
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"Drama is like a varm sveater that hugs you on a cold vinter's day." - Nevrek

[Brokyn]

Yep. Welcome to America.

--William
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Haelrahv Wiki!
++Brown Nosing Points

[HR-Beau]

I've been reading about that for several days. Its very creepy. Will I get locked up for voicing that opinion?
_________________
If there is one thing in the world that I know, love conquers all, it trancends time and space, defies all odds, and can bring you back from the darkness, it is the guiding light that helps bring you in from the rough stormy seas of life, and it remains even after you have gone.
~ Adam ~

www.angeluserratus.net

[HR-Trevor]

For those unaware of the full scope of the situation:

1. The ID is a national ID card that will trump your normal state ID. It will contain more information than your state ID, most likely. It will be required for travel, opening a bank account, and so on.

2. The "Real ID" will contain features that allows it to be read by "common machine readable technology". Many businesses will want to see your Real ID to allow transactions. These same businesses could easily collect databases of all information on your ID and sell it to marketing companies.

3. Even if no malicious intent exists, companies could accidentally allow databases of such information to fall in the hands of identity thieves.

4. The Real ID will likely include, among other things, your social security number. It will definitely include your name, address, gender, date of birth, a picture, and probably other bio data such as height, weight, and so on. It could also include driving record information, credit record related information, and so on.

5. The Dept. of Homeland Security can require any additional information it wants on the ID, States must comply per law.

6. The ID may also include your fingerprint and/or a retinal scan, to be determined.

7. That ID will likely include RFID technology which allows the information to be read by readers without direct contact. The gov't says this is safe because the chip in the card must be within centimeters of the reader. However, tests have shown the signal from the chip can be read as far away as 20 meters.

Essentially, anyone in a crowd could scoop up all the details on the ID card whether they are gov't employees or criminals. This also means you could be targeted by stalkers and easily located by your signal. For all purposes, you will have a beacon you transmit constantly that identifies you and provides personal details to anyone who wants it. Technology will only improve, and that 20 meters distance limit will almost certainly expand over time.

In addition, it will be harder to get ID. You'll need a birth certificate, a social security card, proof of residence, and other information.

This ID will not stop terrorists or even hinder them much, if at all. Many of the 9/11 hijackers had legit ID. Those who didn't had very convincing fakes.

ID as a whole is a poor means of crime and terrorism deterrent. You can buy ID for all 50 states over the internet -- convincing fakes. Recently a man in NYC was busted buying tons of counterfeit badges such as FBI, NYPD, DEA, US Rangers, etc badges. According to the FBI, 90% of the ID's would fool almost anyone, even law enforcement. The only reason he was caught is because the ID's were found by customs as they arrived from Taiwan. Had they not been spotted or had the manufacturer been in the US, these ID's would very possibly be in the hands of criminals and usable right now.

In addition, use of ID to deter crime doesn't work. What the government is doing is building a profile of each of us. This profile includes information such as how your credit is, how long you've lived in the country, how often you travel, how your criminal and driving record stands, and so on. The idea is that most criminals will have been in the country a short time, and/or have bad credit, and/or have poor driving records or criminal histories, and/or travel rarely and one-way if they have ill intent.

However, not only does this profile not fit all criminals, it gives them a set of rules to play by to fool the system. They know the criteria the government is using to determine who is probably safe, and who is a risk, and how much risk they are.

Additionally, some legit people will be flagged as a risk simply because they have poor credit, are a poor driver, or just recently moved to a new state, and so on.

All in all, it's a horrible idea to rely so much on ID, and beyond that, it's even more horrible to create a system that makes it even easier for someone to steal -your- ID.

You might wonder why this passed congress, and beyond the fact we do not have an evenly divided congress, there's another reason. The legislation for Real ID was tucked into a war spending bill. Essentially, Senators had a choice: Pass Real ID or deny soldiers food, ammunition and armor. This is, unfortunately, how our political system works.

Here's a good source to read if you want more info or to see where I got some of my own sources:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/05/real_id.html
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy

[Brokyn]

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/pizzacall

This flash was commissioned by the ACLU a couple of years ago, but I think it's pretty relevent.

But really, all this ID is going to amount to is a universal Winn-Dixie card. Or Food Lion. Or any other shoppers' cards. They already track your buying habits. I know the old Food Lion (that was bought by Harvey's; both are grocery chains, for those that don't know) near my house knew that certain foods sold better on certain days thanks to their "MVP Card", so they would put more prominent displays out on those days to try and entice more buying.

Not that I'm promoting the government having access to such information, but it's not like it's some new thing that we have to huddle under our desks about.

--William
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Haelrahv Wiki!
++Brown Nosing Points

[soundless]

i still don't see what the big deal is.

i'd prefer having one be-all-end-all-id than a driver's id, ss card, insurance card, credit card... etc etc etc.

then again i can see how disasterous it would be to lose it, too.
_________________
A bright-eyed Thekko Ku Kalla dressed in a dapper sailor suit takes to flight and careers through the air toward the Modan Kucho and slams into him!
With a high-pitched cry, The Modan Kucho collapses in death.

[SoulTorn]

[Tylen]

Funny stuff.
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** The phrase "break a leg" just wasn't ambitious enough for Mellie Knight. [8:31 pm]
** Mellie Knight was soundly defeated by Aesal Anari-Idia in the Zgedhi Gkenrzeg Rav! [8:31 pm]

[HR-Hunter]

Exactly Chris, everyone else is missing the point. Who cared if your ID is state or federal issued. Eventually state issued IDs would have all the same info and still be connected to a universal database, they'll all have the reader chips on them, it just might take longer if the states are in charge of it.

The real concern is that the checks and balances installed in the goverment from it's inception to keep congress from going completely wacked was just removed by congress.
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~Hunter~

[soundless]

so the ID is cool, but the way it was brought about sucks, and the fact that something bad was snuck in the thing that was snuck in another thing also sucks.

...right?
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A bright-eyed Thekko Ku Kalla dressed in a dapper sailor suit takes to flight and careers through the air toward the Modan Kucho and slams into him!
With a high-pitched cry, The Modan Kucho collapses in death.

[Tao]

Beware, they exist! Will you be next?
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Lick or Be Licked

[Tylen]

[HR-Beau]

To be perfectly honest, the conception of such a card scares the shit out of me. I'm not paranoid by any means, but I do prefer to exercise my implied right to privacy. When I give out personal information, I like to choose to give it out and in what form, and how much. If nothing else, it makes it easier for people to send me junk mail. I'm doing good right now, I may only get mail at my residence 1-3 days a week. And when I do, the majority of it is something I want. But that's not the big issue here, the big issue is the government's assumption that they need all this data. Its like microsoft's assumption that they own your computer and can best protect you from threat's by deciding what software you can or cannot install. Anyone remember the ill-fated Palladium concept they had?

I don't know. I value my privacy, and this is too much of an invasion. Shitty things always get tacked onto the end of other bills as in this case. If its something truly GOOD, it would have been put forth as a bill all on its own, and more likely than not would have been shot down. But voting against money for the military is about the same as trying to tackle social security reform...a good way to see that you never get re-elected. Something stinks here. But at least, for today, I can excercise my right to freedom of speech. But how long before my ID card gets flagged that I like to speak out, and the police officer who pulls me over and was going to give me a warning sees that I'm a "hot head" and arrests me instead?

Go read George Orwell's 1984.
Go read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.
More importantly, go read Ayn Rand's Anthem. It can be read as an iBook and is a free download here: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1249

The idea here is to think for yourself, and not let someone else do that for you. Is it such a far fetched idea that one's identity and personal information should be yours to give out? That you should choose who gets what information? Do not ever ever ever let someone tell you what to think, make your own decisions. But make them informed.

To quote J. Michael Straczynski's Ambassador G'kaar from Babylon 5: "No dictator, no invador can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments, and tyrants, and armies cannot stand."

I'm going to supply some links that Declan McCullagh shared in his Politech mailing list. If you're interested in reading about politics and technology , check out http://www.politechbot.com

http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5702505.html

CNN.com's coverage:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/10/war.funds/index.html

Slashdot discussion:
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/05/11/0119205.shtml

Text of the soon-to-be law:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.01268:

FAQ:
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5697111.html

Speech by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, who doesn't like the Real ID Act but felt compelled to vote for it:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/id-cards/durbin_senate_4_20_05.html

Reminiscent of the Senate's 98-1 vote for the Patriot Act:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HR03162:@@@L&summ2=m&

So go, think for yourself...and if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

~ Beau ~
_________________
If there is one thing in the world that I know, love conquers all, it trancends time and space, defies all odds, and can bring you back from the darkness, it is the guiding light that helps bring you in from the rough stormy seas of life, and it remains even after you have gone.
~ Adam ~

www.angeluserratus.net

[maddie]

I personally am not gonna worry til somebody decides the info should be on a chip inserted under the skin.

[HR-Trevor]

The three things that bother me most are:

1. The ID won't deter crime or terrorism.

2. The ID will help identity thieves get your personal information more easily and it will help commercial interests sell your personal info.

3. The ID will likely use a RFID chip which will be like holding a sign over your head that displays your name, address, date of birth, gender, social security number and other information everywhere you go for up to 20 meters (and counting).
_________________
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy