Children are getting their fingerprints scanned every day at school—to make the lunch line move faster. It’s more efficient than debit cards, ID cards, or cash. State Senator Karen Johnson of Arizona is trying to do something about this, as well as other measures that enable intrusive government monitoring of citizens in the name of efficiency or safety (Andrea Natekar, East Valley Tribune 1/8/08). Soon, all Americans might have to prove their identity constantly, with a REAL ID card—to board an airplane, to enter a federal building, or even to prove employment eligibility, open a bank account, or buy a cold remedy.
Concerns are mounting as May 2008 approaches, the deadline set for state compliance in the REAL ID Act of 2005. The program has been delayed because 29 states passed or introduced laws refusing to comply, citing enormous costs and a bureaucratic nightmare, but a showdown is approaching.
The rules would require all current identification holders under the age of 50 to reapply with certified birth and marriage certificates. States would also have to interlink their Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) data bases.
Proposed regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last March brought an astounding 21,000 public comments. Final regulations issued 9 months later address only 11 percent of the problems that were identified, according to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union. The analysis was based on a list of 56 problems noted by privacy activists, domestic violence victims, conservatives, religious leaders, and DMV administrators.
Montana governor Brian Schweitzer has declared independence from federal identification rules and called on 17 other states to join him in facing down the federal government. After May 11, citizens presenting a Montana driver’s license will have to undergo a pat-down search and have their carry-on bag hand-screened before boarding an airplane.
States have until May 11 to request extensions out to 2014 for compliance, but they must promise to start work on necessary changes. These are expected to cost billions, with only a pittance in federal funding to help offset the cost. Schweitzer pledges that he will not ask for an extension. In a letter to other states, he says that “if we stand together either DHS will blink or Congress will have to act to avoid havoc at our nation’s airports and federal courthouses.”
DHS spokeswoman Laura Keehner says DHS has no intention of blinking, not even if Georgia also fails to apply for an extension, resulting in massive delays at the nation’s busiest airport. She thinks citizens will turn their wrath on their state government, not Washington (Privacy Digest 1/18/08).
Computer errors and identity theft are already causing frightening snafus involving the DMV and DHS. Schoolteacher Debbie Williams Arthur was called a convicted felon and a fugitive when she tried to get her vehicle decals online. Her identification had been connected, through DHS, with that of a Debra K. Williams, who apparently is a fugitive. Had Arthur been stopped for a traffic violation, she could have been arrested.
After much stress, she eventually got her identity back. Lacey Putney, her representative in the Virginia House of Delegates, told her of a glitch in the Virginia computer system: One in 30 Virginians are either keyed in incorrectly, or there is some flaw in the system.
The former student who accompanied Arthur to the DMV to get a duplicate license, hers having been stolen, was misidentified as a 40-year-old male Hispanic when her Social Security number was entered (OurValley.org 1/15/08).
Not having the proper ID could also result in loss of benefits. When Don Lorenz was prematurely declared dead by the Social Security Administration, he had to take his birth certificate, driver’s license, and Social Security card to the Social Security Office to prove that he was still alive. He also had to get his supplemental policy reinstated. Someone had apparently mis-entered the SSN of a deceased individual (Sun Cities Independent 8/22-28/2001).
A mother who wants to opt out of the fingerprint scanning for school lunches fears that hackers could get into the program. When her child grows up older and tries to buy a house, what if his identity has been stolen by someone who has had a foreclosure? (Natekar, op. cit.).
While the controversial radio frequency identification technology (RFID) microchip isn’t required by REAL ID at this time, it could come later. Combined with pervasive and top-secret high-tech surveillance being employed by government even now, it has chilling Orwellian potential (Freedom’s Phoenix 1/18/08).
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