Thread: III part series on REAL ID from Assistant Sec. for Policy

Why are you duplicating a post that you just posted several posts up, JP?

DHS: REAL ID protects your privacy, we promise
By Michael Hampton
Posted: March 22, 2007 4:23 am
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The forthcoming REAL ID Act isn’t a privacy nightmare, says a Department of Homeland Security official. In fact, it will improve your privacy and protect the security of your personal information.

Stewart Baker, assistant secretary for policy, made these bold claims to the Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee at its public meeting this week.

This isn’t the first time Homeland Security officials have made the perverse claim that REAL ID would protect Americans’ security. Secretary Michael Chertoff said the same thing March 1 while announcing the regulations states will have to follow in order to make their driver licenses and ID cards compliant with the act.

“Our standards actually promote personal privacy,â€

"REAL ID Act Will NOT Create A National ID Card

There is absolutely nothing in H.R. 418 (REAL ID Act) that would create a national ID card.

H.R. 418 establishes minimum standards (including proof of legal presence) that must be met before states issue licenses or ID cards to residents IF and only if the states want their licenses and IDs to be accepted by Federal agencies as proof of identity. In other words, the states do not have to do anything at all if they are not concerned whether the Federal agencies will accept their documents as proof of ID to receive federally-funded welfare; board airplanes; enter federal buildings, etc. And, if the states do choose to comply, they will still set their own procedures for issuing licenses -- except for the minimum, common-sense standards set out in federal law – and, they will still issue their own licenses.

Opponents of the bill have latched onto this provision and are seriously distorting it because, theoretically, at some unknown point in the future, it might be possible for Congress to decide to take over the issuance of licenses and make the driver's license into a national ID card. While this scenario is not impossible, it is reasonable to say with confidence that these groups are fighting the wrong bill. If Congress were to consider a bill that would actually turn licenses into national ID cards – that bill would be the one to fight.

Additionally, enactment of the driver's license standards included in H.R. 418 will, in fact, make it LESS likely that Congress will see a need for a national ID card, so civil libertarians should be lined up in support of this bill. The simple fact is that a national ID card is only needed when other forms of identification documents are found to be unreliable – whether it is because they can be easily counterfeited or because they are issued to people who shouldn't get them, like illegal aliens. The standards in H.R. 418 specifically address this point by requiring the implementation and use of security features on licenses and by requiring applicants to prove they are here in the U.S. legally and, finally, by requiring state officials to verify all of the documents presented by an applicant as proof of eligibility for a license. If driver's licenses become secure, there will be no legitimate need for a national ID card."

http://www.numbersusa.com/hottopic/realidact021505.html

Real ID Does create a National ID Card. All information is shared by all 50 States MW Knows this. He also knows that all information gores to a Central Database controlled by DHS all ready proven by DHS documents. IF DHS has control; of the data in any way, it makes it a national ID Card.

Mw, seems to be afraid of the truth. When I post articles about the Real ID they are opinion pieces, but when he posts them they are facts. A person cannot have it both ways.

So now I will post it again.

[quote="jp_48504"]Yes, they say one thing while doing another. Gee there's a surprise. Just what they do with Immigration enforcement and fence building.


[quote]
Page 7
[b]A primary privacy concern has been whether the REAL ID will result in a national identity system, including a centralized database of PII regarding all drivers. Although DHS cannot control how private sector third parties will use REAL ID cards, it can address the concern regarding the development of a centralized database. DHS states the following in the [b]preamble to the final rule: “DHS does not intend that a REAL ID document become a de facto national ID based on the actions of others outside of DHS to limit their acceptance of an identity document to a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card.â€

JP wrote:

Mw, seems to be afraid of the truth. When I post articles about the Real ID they are opinion pieces, but when he posts them they are facts. A person cannot have it both ways.

I'm not the only one that disagrees with you, JP. Hmmm..........why do you have to be correct and all those folks that support the Real ID Act of 2005 have to be incorrect in their assessments?

JP wrote:

Real ID Does create a National ID Card. All information is shared by all 50 States MW Knows this.

I know no such thing. It's true that a state can link to another states DMV records when necessary, however, that still doesn't make the "secure" driver's license and/or "secure" ID a National ID Card. Are you actually suggesting that local law enforcement shouldn't be able to do a background check in another state when a suspicious driver is pulled over? Personally, I'm sick and tired of criminals being released back on the streets when a state-wide check produces nothing. I, and many others, welcome the potential Real ID offers.

Let me recap some of the material I've provided thus far in this thread that disputes your claim of Real ID being a national card:

[quote][b]Critics of REAL ID often misrepresent what it is and what it is not. Probably the most egregious myth is the claim that the law creates a national ID that Americans will be required to carry.

Wrong. REAL ID is simple. The regulation requires that states meet minimum security standards when they issue driver’s licenses and identification cards necessary for “official purposes,â€

DHS own document proves this is a national ID Card. DHS claims it is not a national ID System to the public and in their own documents admit that it is a National ID System. I've been working with computers too long and what they are creating is a centralized database controlled by the feds.


The states will input the information and update it for the feds paid for by the taxpayers. The feds have a supersystem in place which can handle massive amounts of traffic from all DMV's. The DMV's have no control of what the Feds do with the data once it is sent out.

[quote]
Page 7
[b]A primary privacy concern has been whether the REAL ID will result in a national identity system, including a centralized database of PII regarding all drivers. Although DHS cannot control how private sector third parties will use REAL ID cards, it can address the concern regarding the development of a centralized database. DHS states the following in the [b]preamble to the final rule: “DHS does not intend that a REAL ID document become a de facto national ID based on the actions of others outside of DHS to limit their acceptance of an identity document to a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card.â€

BTT