Thread: Road to digital driver's licenses seen as chaotic

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Road to digital driver's licenses seen as chaotic
And it could be expensive for drivers, too


News Story by Alan Elsner

OCTOBER 10, 2005 (REUTERS) - The U.S. has embarked on a massive effort to create a secure digital driver's license system by early 2008, but some experts warn that the plan may be hugely expensive and lead to chaos.

Congress passed the Real ID Act last May and gave states three years to implement it. It laid out minimum national standards for licenses, which will have to include a digital photo, anticounterfeiting features and machine-readable technology.

States will have to verify all documents presented to support license applications, such as birth certificates, Social Security cards and utility bills, with the issuing agency, and will be required to link their license databases so they can all be accessed as a single network. States will also have to verify that a person seeking a license is in the country legally, though they can issue a separate credential to illegal aliens so they can still drive.

All but 11 states now require that driver's'licenses be issued only to citizens or legal residents, but many states don't verify applicants' identities.

"This law has the potential for huge bureaucratic and technical problems," said Cheye Calvo at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "This law was written by people who didn't take the time to understand how these things are done and didn't even hold any congressional hearings."

Some 227 million people hold driver's licenses or identity cards given out by U.S. states, which issue or renew about 70 million each year. Around 14% of U.S. residents move annually, requiring address updates or new applications.

Supporters say the act was necessary because several of the hijackers involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks used licenses they had obtained fraudulently to board planes. Beyond that, adherents say the driver's license, which has become the primary means of identification in the U.S. for travel and commerce, is fundamentally insecure and untrustworthy because of widespread identity theft.

"Today, anyone's identity can be easily compromised," said Bill Willis, a senior vice president at biometric company ImageWare Systems Inc. in San Diego. "Today's ability to ensure a single person has a single identity is broken."

Another Real ID Act requirement is that a person's license and Social Security card must bear the same name, which must be the real name -- not a nickname or shortened version.

But when Alabama recently tried to implement this provision, it had to suspend the effort when thousands of people jammed state offices. Many were also angry when they discovered the state was charging them $18 to make the change.

Nobody yet knows how much the Real ID Act will cost to implement or how much money Congress will provide for it. The state of Washington, which has done the most thorough cost analysis, pegged the price in that state alone at $97 million in the first two years -- and believes it will have to raise the price of a driver's license from $25 to $58.

On the other hand, a secure ID system could save millions in Medicare and Medicaid fraud and combat identity theft.

Right now, states are waiting for the Department of Homeland Security to issue regulations for implementing the law, which will include many details that the legislation itself left blank, including the type of biometric information each card must include.

But the regulations aren't expected to be finalized until next summer at the earliest, which will leave states with little time until the May 2008 implementation date.

"There is a concern that some states are not planning for the transformation and will find themselves having to move very hastily," said Brendan Peter, a senior director at Daon Inc., a Reston, Va.-based biometric company.

Calvo wondered whether the act can be implemented at all. "Whether states will be able to verify so many millions of documents at all, much less in a timely manner, is in question," he said.

Meanwhile, Hispanic groups, immigrant advocacy organizations, civil liberty and privacy groups still hope to derail the act, perhaps through litigation, or by creating a groundswell of opposition that will force Congress to modify or repeal part of the law.

"People are just now beginning to wake up and see what this act means. Every U.S. citizen is going to feel the impact very profoundly," said Michele Waslin of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest grass-roots Hispanic organization.

and when the system is complete, your ID will be sampled by computers when you walk through Malls and stores. Every law abiding American will now be tracked and monitored by computers through passive monitoring.

Everyone here understands how this will work right?

W

though they can issue a separate credential to illegal aliens so they can still drive.

Yes, Track US citizens while giving illegals our rights and our tax dollars. Repeal the Real ID. This is my next task after the FTAA