National ID card a dangerous idea
Published: 9/6/2007 12:02 AM
This is in reply to the Froma Harrop column on Aug. 27.

I think Harrop was spot on concerning the CIA's lack of response to terrorism pre-Sept. 11. But no matter how good it looks on paper, the REAL ID Act of 2005 is a bad idea!

What Harrop fails to realize is that once REAL ID goes live, efforts will begin by underground counterfeiters to produce undetectable fakes. REAL ID mostly increases the amount of documentation needed to get a driver's license and the biggest security feature is the "common-readable device" which many are saying will be an RFID chip.

The problem with the RFID chip is that they are easily hackable. All a hacker needs do is walk past you with a reader device and they immediately have the code embedded in your chip.

Harrop also fails to mention that with REAL ID, all of your vital information will not only be contained within this new type of driver's license, making it a "one-stop-shop" for identity theft, but that information will also be stored in a national database accessible by any DMV and the government at large.

That brings to mind all sorts of security issues, not the least of which is that large bureaucracies are increasingly difficult to manage, and so the likelihood of the Department of Homeland Security being able to keep our vital information secure is slim.

Harrop also failed to mention some other problems with REAL ID such as the fact that the federal government imposing regulations on the states is unconstitutional.

REAL ID creates what amounts to a national identification card, and history has shown such things are antithetical to freedom and liberty. No one has really mentioned, either, that other governments and even banking institutions have been lining up to obtain access to the national database.

Don't buy into the misdirection that REAL ID might keep us safe from terrorism. The federal government to do its job and keep our nation secure at our borders.

Anyone interesting in learning more could go to www.realnightmare.org.

Jarett Sanchez

East Dundee

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