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[4] National Identification Plan Announced
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On January 11, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff released the agency’s final regulations for REAL ID, the
national identification system. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism
from state governments, members of Congress, civil liberties advocates,
and security experts. The law was passed in 2005 and will require
significant changes to the state driver’s license if such ID cards are
to be use for “federal purposes.”
REAL ID was appended to a bill providing tsunami relief and military
appropriations, and passed with little debate and no hearings. The REAL
ID Act repealed provisions in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004, which contained “carefully crafted language —
bipartisan language — to establish standards for States issuing
driver’s licenses,” according to Sen. Richard Durbin.
In the final regulations, Secretary Chertoff scaled back some of the
requirements, reduced the cost, and extended the deadline for state
compliance. As part of the cost-saving effort, Homeland Security has
decided not to encrypt the data that will be stored on the card, leaving
the data open for download by third parties, such as clubs and bars. The
agency said that it would make $360 million available to the states to
implement REAL ID — $80 million in dedicated funding and the agency
will allow the states can use up to $280 million in homeland security
grant funding. States argue that those grants are apportioned to first
responder training, port security, and other homeland security programs,
and that funds should not be diverted away from these programs to pay
for the national identification system.
Homeland Security says that states must apply to the agency for an
extension and promise to implement the REAL ID national identification
system or else the states’ driver’s licenses and ID cards will not be
“accepted for federal purposes” beginning on May 11, 2008. Currently,
“federal purposes” is defined as entering federal buildings, boarding
commercial flights, and entering nuclear facilities. However, Secretary
Chertoff also indicated that the REAL ID card would be used for a wide
variety of purposes, unrelated to the law that authorized the system,
including employment verification and immigration determination. He also
indicated that the agency would not prevent the use of the card by
private parties for non-government purposes.
The states are rebelling against the national ID scheme. On January 18,
Montana governor Brian Schweitzer wrote to the governors of 17 states
asking them to join him in rejecting the REAL ID system. Montana is one
of 17 that has passed legislation against REAL ID. “Today, I am asking
you to join with me in resisting the DHS coercion to comply with the
provisions of REAL ID,” Gov. Schweitzer wrote. “I would like us to speak
with one, unified voice and demand the Congress step in and fix this
mess.”
Congress is considering legislation to repeal REAL ID. Sen. Patrick
Leahy, who co-sponsored legislation to replace REAL ID with the
negotiated rulemaking process originally enacted in the 2004
Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act, criticized the final
regulations. “The Bush administration’s REAL ID program will not only
lead to long lines at every DMV across the country, it will impose a
massive unfunded mandate on state governments while offering absolutely
no federal privacy protections to our citizens,” Sen. Leahy said. “It is
unfortunate that instead of addressing the fundamental problems this law
poses for the states, the Administration appears content merely to
prolong a contentious and unproductive battle to force the states to
comply.”
The Department of Homeland Security has also been criticized for its own
poor security practices. In May 2007, a Homeland Security office lost
the personal data of 100,000 employees. According to security expert
Bruce Schneier, “Measures like REAL ID have limited security benefit.
Identification systems are complex, and the unforgability of the plastic
card is only a small part of the security equation. Issuance
procedures, verification procedures, and the back-end database are far
more vulnerable to abuse, and — perversely — a harder-to-forge card
makes subverting the system even more valuable. Good security doesn’t
try to divine intentionality from identification, but instead provides
for broad defenses regardless of identification.”
Department of Homeland Security’s Page on REAL ID (including links to
Final Rule and final Privacy Impact Assessment):
http://www.dhs.gov/xprevprot/programs/gc_1200062053842.shtm
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Press Release about REAL ID Final Regulations (Jan.
11, 2008):
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200801/011108a.html
Letter From Montana Governor to 17 States (Jan. 18, 2008) (pdf):
http://governor.mt.gov/brian/RealID_080118.pdf
Stop REAL ID Campaign:
http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid/
EPIC’s Press Release: Homeland Security Department Announces Deeply
Flawed Regulations For National ID System (Jan. 11, 2008):
http://epic.org/press/011108.html
EPIC’s Page on National ID Cards and REAL ID Act (includes links to
states’ anti-REAL ID legislation):
http://epic.org/privacy/id-cards/
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We just don’t need this bunch of boobs!
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Reinke Faces Life 