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Main Page Legislation Sets Stage for Uniform Driver's Licenses
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Posted by: stm4710

Updated: 03:38 PM EST
Legislation Sets Stage for Uniform Driver's Licenses

By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The anti-terrorism bill to be signed by President Bush on Friday opens the door for people across the nation to have similar driver's licenses, a plan that is fueling a debate over whether security concerns will lead to what amounts to a national identification card.

AP
Officials say the plan would reduce counterfeiting. Shown here are fake New Jersey ID cards.

The bill, which largely is aimed at improving the nation's intelligence-gathering operations, instructs the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation to meet with the nation's governors and state motor vehicle administrators to set uniform security standards for driver's licenses within 18 months.

Such measures could include difficult-to-duplicate holograms, encrypted magnetic strips and other embedded security features. A few states have begun including such features on licenses; Minnesota unveiled a license this month that includes a digital "watermark" and fine lines that are visible only under ultraviolet light.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a Virginia-based group that represents administrators in all 50 states, has long called for standardization of licenses, in part because of the ease with which criminals, illegal immigrants, alcohol-seeking teenagers and others have been able to produce and obtain fake licenses.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks made licensing a national security issue by putting a spotlight on how foreigners seeking to harm the United States could fraudulently obtain licenses. Several of the suicide hijackers got driver's licenses legally, but scrutiny of the hijackers' activities showed, among other things, that they knew licenses could be obtained with little documentation.

Civil liberties groups and other critics say the move by Congress to standardize information on driver's licenses and force states to adopt tough anti-fraud measures is the first step toward a system that could encroach on privacy rights.

AP

Related:
· Inside the Intelligence Bill

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The American Civil Liberties Union says that such licenses could give the government a way to have citizens carry cards that eventually could be used to reveal a range of private information, including where people go and what they do.

"It's just a matter of time and (the government's) own discretion about what kind of data that could be contained on that ID card," says Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America, another group critical of national licenses. "How much of a fish bowl will the average American be living in?"

Pratt's organization joined with the ACLU in buying a newspaper ad opposing the measure before it was passed by Congress this month. He says he worries that the government might link databases of gun ownership to driver's licenses.

Although Congress' chief intent is to prevent fraud, its bill sets up a structure for a national ID card, ACLU attorney Marv Johnson says.

He worries that advances in technology would allow the U.S. government to install radio frequency chips in driver's licenses that would allow information on the licenses to be accessed by readers several feet away.

Initial legislation in the U.S. House would have linked federal databases to driver's licenses, Johnson says. "Now you've made it easier to keep track of people," he says. "It's a fairly frightening scenario. We've never been a country in which you've had to show your papers."

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators in Arlington, Va., has promoted national standards for years to try to help states prevent document fraud and fake IDs, spokesman Jason King says.

"We don't want someone shopping around for a state with the weakest driver's license practices," King said. "All this means is that we're building a more credible ID. The bottom line is, the sky is not falling."

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The 9/11 Commission, the independent panel that made recommendations to Congress on ways to prevent future terrorist attacks, urged the government to take steps to halt ID fraud, says Leslie Phillips, spokeswoman for Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who co-authored the original bill.

"In no way is (the bill) intended (to create) a national ID," Phillips says. "This applies only to drivers. The point is to ensure the identity of the person using the identification card. ... We are trying to balance the rights of the citizens and the need for the country to crack down on terrorists."

She notes that the bill would not have prevented the 9/11 terrorists from getting driver's licenses. The terrorists obtained licenses legally, using valid documents, Phillips says. She says Congress hopes the bill will deter terrorists from making fake IDs or using aliases.

© Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted by: stm4710

For once I agree with the ACLU. In in no way support and I will not suppot a canadate that supports the use of any "national" id or RFID chip.

Posted by: kttref

See...I don't know how I feel about that. I fully disagree with "chips" (think Left Behind....). But national ID's I don't think I mind so much.

In the end, will it work? Probably not...how many fake licenses are there our there? There are always going to be people trying to rip them off and recreate them.

Posted by: FiXXXer024

It really is a double edged sword...

on the one hand you have state-to-state ID's which, while making it hard for someone to make an ID that isn't suspicious anywhere, do pose an issue of people using fakes of them in adjacent states. Someone wants to start some shit up in rhode island, its a well known fact that a fake MA/CT/NY ID is the way to go cause most of the boneheads in bars and other less credible establishments have no clue how to spot a well made fake.

now on the other hand you've got a possible national ID which (for a time) may be hard to duplicate, but once it IS duplicated (and rest assured, it will be) troublemakers are gonna have free reign to take this thing everywhere.

I rather prefer the idea that when a meathead walks into someplace in NY with a MA ID, he gets a little closer look then someone who walks in with a NY ID... and people with fake ID's trying to use them in the state they're made for are also suspect cause they'll be more easily spotted... all in all, state-to-state IDs are always going to be a better idea then a national one even if just for the simplest of reasons.

Posted by: SOT

Translation, there will be a national database of drivers licenses, which at some point some of that information will be sold to Insurance companies, which will suck for some people.

How about this, how about a national LTC program whereby you get a LTC to carry in one state it's good in all states, now that would be something.

Posted by: JoninNH

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOT_II

Translation, there will be a national database of drivers licenses, which at some point some of that information will be sold to Insurance companies, which will suck for some people. How about this, how about a national LTC program whereby you get a LTC to carry in one state it's good in all states, now that would be something.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of insurance companies gathering too much information either. As for the national LTC... I like the idea in concept, but where I see a problem is where it might lead. If my NH LTC became good in all 50 states, wonderful! My NH LTC cost me $10 and a 2 week wait. But if we instituted a national LTC and the process for obtaining one was as restrictive as MA (or god forbid, NY or NYC) then I would defniately be against it.

Posted by: Wolfman

There already is a "national" database of DL's - or more specifically a "shared" database among all the states. Also, your insurance company knows all about your driving habits both in and out of state.

All license plates have more or less the same dimensions, I wouldn't think there would be a problem for uniformity in the production and layout of a driver license. How many of us know exactly what a South Dakota license looks like? Ever try to read a DOB from a CT license with a red dome light? Fakes would be easier to spot if everyone was on the same sheet of music. Sure, it can be duplicated but if it's brought to you by the same people who came up with the new $20 bills you won't see the college kids churning them out on their inkjets.

I disagree with RFID however; this would be an invasion in the sense that your info could be read without your knowledge - while your license was still in your wallet for instance. It's one thing to present a license on demand, it's another to just harvest this information without someone's knowledge or consent. ACLU gripes aside, imagine a well funded criminal organization sitting by the side of the road during a police funeral, gathering all the officers (and plainclothes) data as they march by.

You know where a good spot for RFID chips would be? In a license plate and in the car it belongs to. When you register the car, the plate is synchronized with the vehicle, so if it winds up attached to another vehicle or stolen you get a hit. If the registration is revoked it's flagged so you get a hit. If the car is reported stolen you get a hit. Mount a receiver in a cruiser and wait for the beep. Since the license plate is required to be displayed anyhow and there is no expectation of privacy in running plates during patrol, it is more palatable than RFID in a license. This is all information you could gather by following the vehicle and using a laptop or calling in a listing - only less intrusive.

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