Thread: Support H.R.220 - Common Sense About Identity Theft & RE

Senate leader cancels Washington trip after minor car crash
The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has canceled a policy visit to Capitol Hill after he was involved in a minor car accident over the weekend, his spokeswoman said Monday.

Perata, D-Oakland, was rear-ended while driving alone on Interstate 880 Friday afternoon, spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. She said Perata was not seriously injured, but added that his shoulders and neck were "very sore" and he did not feel up to the trip.

Perata, who turned 62 on Monday, was supposed to lead a 15-member Senate delegation on a four-day trip to the nation's capital. The group began leaving Sunday without him, with some senators scheduled to fly out on Monday.

The trip would have been the second for Perata to the nation's capital this year. In February, he testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee about California's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He also met with members of the state's congressional delegation.

On this trip, senators have policy meetings scheduled with the state's delegation regarding greenhouse gas emissions, homeland and port security, funding for children's heath insurance, reauthorization of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program and implementation of the Real ID Act. The 2005 Real ID law sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to comply by May 2008.

The trip is expected to cost about $2,000 per person. Perata was planning to pay for about half of the delegation's meals from his campaign account.

Published: Monday, April 30, 2007 20:34 PDT

http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA ... 696C.shtml

Interesting because this senator is opposed to the real id. A little back pain shouldnt ahve kept him away from such an important issue.

Library coalition comes down hard on National Security Letters
By Ryan Paul | Published: May 03, 2007 - 09:51AM CT

A coalition of library organizations which includes the American Library Association (ALA) sponsored a gathering this week in Washington DC to promote awareness and advocacy on a broad assortment of political issues that impact libraries. The ALA's priorities for the National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) include advocating net neutrality, promoting copyright reform, and voicing concerns about the Real ID Act and the Patriot Act.

The ALA also called for "ongoing investigations" into FBI use (and abuse) of National Security Letters (NSLs) and asked legislators to "incorporate judicial review and remove gag orders from NSLs." NSLs, a special kind of subpoena that can be issued without probable cause or judicial oversight, prohibit recipients from disclosing information about NSLs to the extent that recipients can't even publicly admit receiving one. Although the basic concept of NSLs has existed in American law since the late 70s, the Patriot Act expanded the potential for abuse by making it possible for federal law enforcement agents to use NSLs to investigate citizens who are not suspects in any criminal investigations.

Lack of judicial oversight in NSL issuance and implementation is particularly disturbing in light of revelations regarding systematic abuses of Patriot Act powers (particularly NSLs) and investigatory misconduct that are apparently pervasive within the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Initially, the Patriot Act allowed law enforcement agents to get full access to any library records that they sought for formal investigations. The standards were changed during the reauthorization process and now require that law enforcement agents have "reasonable grounds" to believe that such records are "relevant" to an investigation. As the ALA points out, the new standard still leaves open the possibility of wide search order requests because it still doesn't require the FBI to demonstrate that targeted individuals are themselves suspects.

The ALA also encourages supporters and NLLD participants to support network neutrality by promoting the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, which aims to prevent Internet service providers from leveraging network control in predatory ways that could potentially limit free speech on the Internet. The ALA supports copyright reform as well and wants additional exceptions added to the DMCA to protect fair use rights.

The ALA's political agenda reflects the organization's extensive understanding of the present legislative climate and the consequences that sweeping laws like that Patriot Act have on libraries and library patrons. In addition to promoting advocacy, the ALA and other sponsors of the NLLD are also looking to improve awareness. At a series of briefings that were part of the event, policy experts presented information on topics like privacy and telecommunications and advocacy experts gave tips on how concerned citizens can make their message heard. The ALA is one of many organizations calling for reform as more evidence of systematic Patriot Act abuses continues to emerge.

http://link.toolbot.com/arstechnica.com/79523

National ID could cost taxpayers millions
Federal driver's licenses not needed, says DMV
By EDWIN GARCIA/MediaNews Sacramento Bureau
Article Created: 05/02/2007 11:11:14 AM PDT

DAVIS - The director of the DMV complained to a federal panel Tuesday that forcing California to comply with a national standard for driver's licenses will be burdensome and cost taxpayers at least a half-billion dollars.
Proposed regulations of the so-called REAL ID Act, scheduled to take effect in about a year, would force every driver in the country to obtain a new license - a requirement that will eventually require all 23 million California motorists to make a trip to the DMV line.
The regulations "could create a very onerous process for the Department of Motor Vehicles and Californians in general," DMV Director George Valverde told the U.S. Department of Homeland Security panel gathered at the University of California-Davis.
Valverde was among dozens of Californians and out-of-state residents who expressed concerns with the law at a "town hall" style forum - the federal government's sole hearing to collect testimony during the 60-day comment period before proposed regulations can be written into law.
States must begin to issue compliant licenses and identification cards by May 11, 2008, and fully implement the program by May 10, 2013.
Backed by the 9-11 Commission, adopted by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2005, REAL ID intends to prevent terrorism by strengthening the security of licenses and state-issued identification cards. The law, among other things, requires applicants to submit specific documents to prove their identity, and compels all states to print their licenses on similar paper.
The law also allows for states to issue driving-only licenses to illegal immigrants that couldn't be used to board planes.
More than 150 people attended the meeting, and of the dozens who took to the microphone, the vast majority opposed the law or portions of it.
Some worried that REAL ID could lead to a national database and loss of privacy. Advocates for women's safety argued stalking victims would be at risk because licenses will have to show a street address instead of a post office box. Transgendered people said they're concerned that the government will dictate to them how they must identify their gender.
"We are very concerned these proposals will jeopardize privacy," said Richard Holober, executive director of the San Mateo-based Consumer Federation of California. "That very act of aggregating records creates new opportunities for identity theft, and this proposal will create a potential one-stop-shop for identity thieves."
Richard Barth, assistant secretary for policy development with Homeland Security, assured Holober that "there's nothing in the proposed rule that calls for a federal database."
Geraldine Hill, a Sacramento DMV worker who took the day off to attend the four-hour meeting, questioned how California could afford REAL ID implementation, which director Valverde estimated would cost "upwards of $500 million to $700 million" over a five-year period.
"I'm extremely concerned about the lack of funding when we have a federal program saying 'you will do this but you will also pay for it,'" Hill said.
Barth said grants can help defray the costs and that driver's license applicants would be expected to pay about $20 more to help fund the implementation.
Beth McGovern, legislative director for the California Commission on the Status of Women, said some of the confidentiality programs enacted by the state to protect women from being assaulted and stalked could be at risk if women are forced to place their home addresses in databases that could be hacked.
"I think we missed stalking in our proposal," responded Jonathan Frankel, a member of the Homeland Security Panel, "and that's something we're certainly going to take into consideration" before the final rules are written.
A REAL ID supporter from New York reminded the audience that some hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, had obtained driver's licenses fraudulently.
"It's very important that we look at REAL ID for what it is trying to do, and not for the hysterical things that have been attributed to it," said James Staudenraus of Shelter Island Heights, N.Y. "The driver's license is an essential terrorist tool and it has to be made secure," he said to scattered applause.

Comments aired at the meeting and letters submitted on the topic before Tuesday will become part of the federal docket on the proposed regulations. Comments also can be made at http://www.regulations.gov .
http://dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_5801309

Who wants a national ID?
By Michael Hampton
Posted: May 2, 2007 6:31 pm


The majority of Americans, it seems, support the idea of a national ID, as long as it doesn’t contain biometric information, according to a recent UPI/Zogby poll. But a large coalition of groups from every part of the political spectrum has gotten together to oppose the REAL ID Act as a threat to Americans’ security.

According to the poll of 5,932 adults, conducted from April 13-16, 2007, 70 percent of Americans support the REAL ID Act, which would require states to issue driver licenses and identification cards that conform to federal standards in order to have those cards recognized by the federal government. Only 24 percent were opposed to the act. But 52 percent said they would oppose a national ID that contained biometric information, such as fingerprints.

The poll has a margin of error of 1.3 percent.

Over 50 organizations have joined together, from gun owners to gay rights groups, to urge people to oppose REAL ID. The groups include Downsize DC, Gun Owners of America, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Young Democrats of America, and many more.

“Make no mistake, this is a national identification system that will affect your everyday life,” said Melissa Ngo, Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Identification and Surveillance Project. “Critics of the REAL ID scheme are called anti-security, but it is not anti-security to reject a national identification system that will harm our national security and make it easier for criminals to pretend to be law-abiding Americans.”

On Tuesday, Homeland Security held a combined online/real world town hall meeting where it heard from opponents of REAL ID for several hours.

Throughout the four hours of questions and criticism, three Homeland Security officials kept their cool and stuck to the script that driver’s licenses needed to be upgraded and that identification in the hands of a terrorist is a weapon.

Assistant Secretary Richard Barth, flanked by Jonathan Frankel and Darrell Williams, denied they were building a national identification card, and tried to emphasize that the proposed requirements were intended to keep terrorists off airplanes.

But afterwards, Frankel told Wired News that applicants for Real ID licenses won’t be compared against the government’s centralized terrorist watchlist unless states choose to do so, a policy choice made to prevent people from feeling a heavy hand from the government. — Threat Level

Isn’t that nice of them?

You have until May 8 to submit comments to the Department of Homeland Security, which you can do through the EFF’s secure portal. You can also send a message to Congress urging them to repeal REAL ID through Downsize DC.

Finally, Jim Babka at Downsize DC asks that people ask the media to give more coverage to the growing revolt against REAL ID. “Congress may not always care what citizens think, until they’re forced to, but Congress always cares what the media thinks,” he says. “We need to get the media to cover the nationwide revolt against the REAL ID Act.”

Downsize DC has chosen MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Fox News’ Your World with Neil Cavuto, and CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer as the first people to receive your requests that attention be paid to the growing REAL ID revolt. You can send them messages at Downsize DC’s web site as well.

http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/05 ... tional-id/

Got your ID right here

By Dennis Myers
dennism@newsreview.com
more stories by this author
While state legislators in Nevada have been reluctant to directly challenge the federal government's requirement for a national identification card, other state legislatures are less timid.

Washington and Montana's legislatures have enacted measures to forbid their state agencies from complying with the federal law, daring the Bush administration to do something about it. The Washington measure endorses actions by the state attorney general to fight the issue in court.

In signing the Montana measure, Gov. Brian Schweitzer issued a statement: "Montanans don't want the federal agents listening to their phone conversations, rifling through their papers, checking on what books they read and monitoring where they go and when."

The federal law mandates specific features in state driver licenses and identification cards, including machine readable technology and "defined data elements," whatever that means.

Democrats in Congress say they were manipulated into voting for Real ID when Republicans two years ago attached the measure to a troop funding bill. But since taking the majority, Democrats have done nothing to repeal the measure.

http://www.newsreview.com/reno/Content?oid=318779

Perspective: National ID card a disaster in the making
Security experts Richard Forno and Bruce Schneier say Homeland Security is committing a blunder of historic proportion.
By Richard Forno and Bruce Schneier

Published: May 3, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT
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perspective Six years into the "new normal" of terror alerts, identification checks, electronic surveillance, and increasing levels of secrecy-based security, the prospect of a national identification card needs serious public debate.

In March, the Department of Homeland Security released its long-awaited guidance document regarding national implementation of the Real ID program, as part of its post-9/11 national security initiatives. It is perhaps quite telling that despite bipartisan opposition, Real ID was buried in a 2005 "must-pass" military spending bill and enacted into law without public debate or congressional hearings.

DHS has maintained that the Real ID concept is not a national identification database. While it's true that the system is not a single database per se, this is a semantic dodge; according to the DHS document, Real ID will be a collaborative data-interchange environment built from a series of interlinking systems operated and administered by the states. In other words, to the Department of Homeland Security, it's not a single database because it's not a single system. But the functionality of a single database remains intact under the guise of a federated data-interchange environment.

The DHS document notes the "primary benefit of Real ID is to improve the security and lessen the vulnerability of federal buildings, nuclear facilities, and aircraft to terrorist attack." We know now that vulnerable cockpit doors were the primary security weakness contributing to 9/11, and reinforcing them was a long-overdue protective measure to prevent hijackings. But this still raises an interesting question: Are there really so many members of the American public just "dropping by" to visit a nuclear facility that it's become a primary reason for creating a national identification system? Are such visitors actually admitted?

They will become stigmatized, branded, marked, ostracized, segregated. DHS proposes guidelines for proving one's identity and residence when applying for a Real ID card. Yet while the department concedes it's a monumental task to prove one's domicile or residence, it leaves it up to the states to determine what documents would be adequate proof of residence--and even suggests that a utility bill or bank statement might be appropriate documentation. If so, a person could easily generate multiple proof-of-residence documents. Basing Real ID on such easy-to-forge documents obviates a large portion of what Real ID is supposed to accomplish.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for Americans, the very last paragraph of the 160-page Real ID document deserves special attention. In a nod to states' rights advocates, DHS declares that states are free not to participate in the Real ID system if they choose--but any identification card issued by a state that does not meet Real ID criteria is to be clearly labeled as such, to include "bold lettering" or a "unique design" similar to how many states design driver's licenses for those under 21 years of age.

In its own guidance document, the department has proposed branding citizens not possessing a Real ID card in a manner that lets all who see their official state-issued identification know that they're "different," and perhaps potentially dangerous, according to standards established by the federal government. They would become stigmatized, branded, marked, ostracized, segregated. All in the name of protecting the homeland; no wonder this provision appears at the very end of the document.

One likely outcome of this DHS-proposed social segregation is that people presenting non-Real ID identification automatically will be presumed suspicious and perhaps subject to additional screening or surveillance to confirm their innocence at a bar, office building, airport or routine traffic stop. Such a situation would establish a new form of social segregation--an attempt to separate "us" from "them" in the age of counterterrorism and the new normal, where one is presumed suspicious until proven more suspicious.

It's time to rethink some of the security decisions made during the emotional aftermath of 9/11. Two other big-picture concerns about Real ID come to mind: Looking at the overall concept of a national identification database, and given existing data security controls in large distributed systems, one wonders how vulnerable this system-of-systems will be to data loss or identity theft resulting from unscrupulous employees, flawed technologies, external compromises or human error--even under the best of security conditions. And second, there is no clear guidance on the limits of how the Real ID database would be used. Other homeland security initiatives, such as the Patriot Act, have been used and applied--some say abused--for purposes far removed from anything related to homeland security. How can we ensure the same will not happen with Real ID?

As currently proposed, Real ID will fail for several reasons. From a technical and implementation perspective, there are serious questions about its operational abilities both to protect citizen information and resist attempts at circumvention by adversaries. Financially, the initial unfunded $11 billion cost, forced onto the states by the federal government, is excessive. And from a sociological perspective, Real ID will increase the potential for expanded personal surveillance and lay the foundation for a new form of class segregation in the name of protecting the homeland.

It's time to rethink some of the security decisions made during the emotional aftermath of 9/11 and determine whether they're still a good idea for homeland security and America. After all, if Real ID was such a well-conceived plan, Maine and 22 other states wouldn't be challenging it in their legislatures or rejecting the Real ID concept for any number of reasons. But they are.

And we as citizens should, too. Let the debate begin.


Biography
Richard Forno is a principal consultant at KRvW Associates, a Washington-area security consultancy. Bruce Schneier is the chief technology officer of BT Counterpane, a Mountain View, Calif., security services company.

http://news.com.com/National+ID+card+a+ ... 80835.html

Rural Kansans petition against Real ID Act
Moran argues for driver's licenses to be renewed at county level
By James Carlson
The Capital-Journal
Published Saturday, May 05, 2007
Rep. Jerry Moran said Friday that he expects the state's rural county treasurers to retain their authority to renew driver's licenses when the Department of Homeland Security approves a final draft of rules to implement the Real ID Act of 2005.

At a Statehouse news conference, 37 county treasurers joined Moran, who accepted petitions with more than 81,000 signatures from Kansans opposed to a change in the driver's license system.

"Many people up in Washington don't understand," said Moran, R-Kan. "This highlights for me how rural a state we are."

The Real ID Act of 2005 passed Congress as part of the Iraq war appropriations and tsunami relief bill. The act laid out plans for identification card standards across the country.

Moran, who represents the 1st Congressional District, worried that Department of Homeland Security officials would give the sole power of driver's license renewal to state-run offices. In some rural counties, the nearest state-run office is hours away. The congressman wrote a letter in October to DHS explaining how any change "would be a significant and needless hardship to the people of my state."

A tentative version of the rules released in March allows treasurers to renew licenses. That was much to the pleasure of Cheri Remington, country treasurer in Gove County, where 60 percent of the county's 3,000 citizens signed the petition.

Remington said some of those 3,000 would have had to drive 60 miles one way to get to a state-run driver's license office. Often, those offices have waits that last hours, she said.

"You'd have to take the day off from work just to get your license renewed," she said.

Public comment on the proposed changes ends Tuesday, according to Moran, at which point DHS will finalize the rules. Moran expects county treasurers will be allowed to renew licenses.

Haskell County Treasurer Nancy Weeks said a lot of elderly people live in her area and don't drive much more than a few miles to the grocery store.

"This would have been a burden for those people," Weeks said.

Many treasurers said they understand the DHS wants to ensure security by putting the information process, including background checks for the Real ID Act, in the hands of state employees.

But the counties don't deal with the background checks, said Eileen King, president of the Kansas County Treasurers Association. Counties only take the renewal application, which is then sent to a nearby state-run bureau where all of the background checks are completed.

There are 73 county treasurers who now offer renewal services, and only 37 counties have a full-service, state office.

James Carlson can be reached at (785) 233-7470 or james.carlson@cjonline.com.

http://cjonline.com/stories/050507/sta_167774140.shtml

Real I.D. Act: An Orwellian future?


Friday, May 4, 2007 11:47 PM PDT


In 2005, Congress sneaked through attached to an emergency appropriation bill for the “War on Terror” and tsunami relief without debate or public notice, the “Real I.D. Act.” This bill required that every person have a national I.D. card. It imposes a federal standard for state driver’s licenses and I.D. cards and creates a national database network. It repeals a previously created state-federal cooperative process and mandates that federal agencies accept no other means of identification after May 11, 2008.

In addition to being a most serious invasion of our privacy, this law will do nothing to defeat terrorism but add more bureaucracy and an estimated $9 to $12 billion dollars in cost to state governments. This will be passed down to us at an estimated $100 per individual in fees. All of us who currently have driver’s licenses will have to do it all over again. We will have to go through the whole frustrating procedure, submit original birth certificates and Social Security cards. Think of all the additional people whose paperwork will have to be processed — children, the disabled and elders who do not need driver’s licenses.

Momentous side effects: Hackers will have the opportunity to get into a national database with our identities all laid out and private companies will be able to collect all kinds of information about us when we swipe our cards through their machines.

Shades of “1984!” What good purpose will this serve? There are already many means of proving our identity when necessary. We need to speak up to repeal this law and to defeat this encroachment on our privacy.

For more information, check out http://www.realnightmare.org.

Joan Marie Rita


Yucca Valley

EDITOR’S NOTE — To clarify, the Department of Homeland Security has said that by May 2008, people will have to provide extensive documentation to prove identity and legal residency to receive or renew state-issued licenses, but the federal government will not be issuing its own I.D.s or licenses.

Yes, but if all states are sharing the information, it is a national id. Give me a break!

http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/20 ... inion3.txt

Counties still have license option

By Chris Green

Harris News Service




cgreen@dailynews.net

TOPEKA - County treasurers won't lose their ability to process driver's license renewals because of a federal homeland security law, Congressman Jerry Moran announced Friday.


Speaking at a news conference in the Statehouse, Moran said proposed federal regulations governing the 2005 REAL ID Act would permit the state's county treasurers to offer the service.

Some state and county officials feared implementation of the law would strip counties of the power to handle licenses. That would have forced rural residents, particularly those in western Kansas, to drive long distances to sites staffed by state employees.

However, a public outcry might have persuaded federal officials to not make that change. Moran said he's received assurances from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that the rules won't force Kansas to change its system.

"Kansans will not lose access to services at their county courthouses," Moran said.

Designed to keep driver's licenses out of the hands of the terrorists or illegal immigrants, the REAL ID Act sets uniform security features for licenses and requires state to verify the identities of applicants. State aren't bound to the rules but could lose federal aid if they don't comply.

The law is scheduled to take effect in May 2008, although federal officials have granted states an extra 19 months to comply with the law. The Homeland Security Department released its draft requirements for the law in March, which outline how it will be enforced.

Carmen Alldritt, director of vehicles at the state Department of Revenue, said state officials don't see anything in the regulations that would prohibit county treasurers from offering license services.

In addition, state lawmakers passed legislation this session that clearly authorizes county treasurers to act as agents of the state in accepting and processing driver's license applications and renewals.

In Kansas, more than 70 counties offer driver's licenses services, while just 37 counties have state-served sites, Alldritt said. Five counties have both state and county offices while two counties have no services at all.

Alldritt said the county sites are important for ensuring everyone in the state has convenient access to a place to renew their driver's license.

"This is a huge win-win for everybody in the state," Allrditt said of being able to keep the county offices open.

'Big difference'

Moran said state and county officials were initially concerned that the federal government wouldn't tailor their rules to account for the unique circumstances affecting rural residents.

A significant portion of the state's population is elderly, particularly in sparsely populated rural areas, where residents must drive great distances for everything from groceries to medical care.

"The perspective of what goes on in small-town America and rural communities is something that is very hard to communicate and convey in Washington, D.C.," Moran said.

To make sure federal officials understood the situation, Moran sent to a letter to them last October opposing changes that would prevent counties from offering license services. Also, county treasurers launched a petition drive.

The public outcry that resulted may have helped convince the federal government to allow the county offices to remain open, Smith County Treasurer Mark Schemm said.

"It made a very big difference," Schemm said.

On Friday, the Kansas County Treasurer's Association presented Moran with 81,000 signatures from Kansans who opposed the removal of license services from county offices. In Gove County, 68 percent of residents signed the petition, the organization's president, Eileen King, said.

Moran said he had never seen this many signatures collected in a petition in a petition to Congress since taking office.

Schemm said the ultimate impact of the change would be better security, since small county treasurers frequently know the people coming into their offices.

"We want to keep a small portion of homeland security at home," Schemm said.


05/05/2007; 02:28:09 AM
http://www.hutchnews.com/news/regional/ ... 0507.shtml

BTT