North Carolina Residents: Real ID Guinea Pigs
North Carolina Residents: Real ID Guinea Pigs
By Jim Palmer
August 8, 2007
A couple of Days ago, I received a phone call from an aide from the office of Representative Jim Guest of Missouri. Jim Guest had recently been to North Carolina, to make more people aware of the Real ID and its negative impact.
Their mission of teaching soon turned into a shocking discovery. While in Raleigh, Representative Guest held up his driver's license to demonstrate what information the current driver's licenses have on them and how much information can be held in a one-dimensional bar code, compared to a two-dimensional bar code. He pointed out that a one-dimensional bar code can hold the information that is on the front of the license. This includes your name, address, license number, etc. A two-dimensional bar code holds enough information to fill a set of encyclopedias.
Before Representative Guest could finish his talking points, a man stood up and said, "My license doesn't have any of that", referring to the one-dimensional bar code. Jim's aide asked him when he obtained his license and he informed the aide it was very recent. The aide looked it over and said that it had the two-dimensional bar code and even more interestingly, it had a hologram with the headlights of a car and an outline of North America. Holograms are often used as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip.
The danger of RFID technology is that anyone with a scanner can walk by a person with the license and gather their information. That information could include their name, address, date of birth, fingerprints, digital image, social security number and any other information put on the RFID chip.
I was not able to reach anyone by phone at the NC Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), who would or could confirm that driver's licenses are now being issued with a RFID. In fact, no one at the DMV (at least those that I spoke with on the telephone) seemed to know what an RFID chip is.
However, I did reach an examiner in a Wake County Drivers License Office who said North Carolina does use RFID Technology and that she thought it had been in use since November of 2006. I spoke with another DMV employee in Raleigh who informed me that I would need to contact Marge Howell in the communications office. I have tried several times to reach Ms. Howell and only get voicemail. I will post an update after I speak with her.
In a blog posted March 01, 2007 by Jay Ovittore of Greensboro, he describes his run in with the DMV. "I went and got my new NC drivers license today at the local DMV. I had to get my address changed. Come to find out the new issue NCDL has a RFID chip in it. Not only can RFID technology be used to track a location of what it is in, but it can store information as well. It is easily hackable, if you can even call something so easy a hack, with a RFID scanner, which for a price is available to the general public. So I had some questions. I asked the DMV officer if they had any literature for what is going to be stored on the RFID chip, you know like my social security #. I was told, 'What is being stored on the RFID chip's is not going to be public information'. I raised a little hell and then left before I got myself arrested by the Gestapo like officials. "
In the Charlotte City-Data forum one user posted their experience with the New North Carolina Driver's License.
"It was a sad day for me today as I called the local DMV. My cousin showed me her Renewed drivers licenses yesterday, and to my surprise there on the back was a new type of hologram. However as I came to find out today thru DMV sources it's not just a hologram it in fact is a new trackable chip. They said in fact it was a new homeland security project for this state. The officer also said that the cards which are trackable is just the first step in the new project, she also stated that other states had their own projects but that eventually all states would in fact be merged into the same system. This news shocked me to say the least but she also added that they were in fact doing facial recognitions as well to go into the database. However, before answering my questions she had a couple of her own such as, why do you want to know? Have you been involved with fake ID's etc. etc. I laughed and assured her that in fact I was just a concerned citizen, and that I found it ironic how we are not the terrorists but that we have to submit to being treated as such. She however didn't seem amused. What as a nation have we allowed? Well as for me my drivers licenses don't expire until 2010, and until I move to a state that doesn't have such a policy or the policy itself is rescinded I'll stick with the ones I have!"
Looking at these posts and getting the information from Representative Jim Guest makes me wonder if the people of North Carolina are being used as Guinea Pigs for the Department of Homeland Security and their implementation of the Real ID.
I wonder how many North Carolinians are aware that they are broadcasting their private information, without even knowing it. How many of them know that an electronic stalker could track their every move? They may not even know that their information will be placed into a database accessible not only by law enforcement and all other DMV's in the United States but by the governments of Mexico and Canada.
Homeland Security will be in charge of this massive data mine. However, they have yet to protect their own computers from being hacked more than 800 times in the past two years! Why would anyone in their right mind hand over all of their sensitive data to an arm of the government that cannot even manage its own systems?
One final note, I can understand the correlation between having a pair of car headlights on your driver's license (even if it is just a clever way to mask the RFID chip), but why the outline of North America? Is this new driver's license going to be the North American ID that will replace the passport to enter Mexico or Canada? Perhaps this system is in place to help forge the way for the North American Union, which the mainstream media outlets are trying hard to ignore away into that black hole, which swallows up important information in favor of reporting the drunken misdeeds of the latest celebrity. Either way, this form of identification that has been proven to be fallible should not be used. The people of North Carolina need to demand that this stop immediately. The people of the United States of America ought to stand with them.
Take Action before you have to renew your license Contact You Legislators at
NC Senators: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/m ... ber=Senate
NC House:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/m ... mber=House
Your federal Legislators both House and Senate can be located at
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-b ... c&state=nc
Support Representative Jim Guest and Learn more about the Real ID at:
http://www.legislatorsagainstrealid.com
L-1 Identity Solutions Receives Contract Extensions Totaling
L-1 Identity Solutions Receives Contract Extensions Totaling Nearly $20 Million from the States of Illinois and North Carolina to Produce Secure Digital Driver's Licenses
L-1 Identity Solutions will continue to provide production and face recognition systems to assist states' efforts in ensuring secure driver's license issuance and reducing identity fraud
STAMFORD, Conn., Jul 16, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:ID), a leading provider of identity solutions and services, received contract extensions totaling nearly $20 million from Illinois and North Carolina to produce secure digital driver's licenses. The contracts are extensions of existing agreements between the states and Viisage, the Secure Credentialing Division of L-1 Identity Solutions.
"We strive to form long-term partnerships with our customers to provide them with the best solutions and services that scale to fit their needs and that ensure they solve all of their identity-related challenges," said Robert V. LaPenta, Chairman, President and CEO of L-1 Identity Solutions. "We are proud to partner with such forward-thinking states as Illinois and North Carolina and play a vital role in helping them produce a more secure license for their citizens."
The Illinois contract is valued at over $16 million and will provide a digital driver's license issuance system and associated technologies. The state expects to produce more than 3.6 million cards annually using advanced credentialing and facial biometric technology from L-1 Identity Solutions.
The contract is a three-year extension of an existing agreement signed ten years ago between the Illinois office of the Secretary of State and Viisage. In it, L-1 Identity Solutions provides for the enrollment of applicant information, printing and personalization of driver's licenses, facial recognition capabilities and associated hardware, software and printing consumables, as well as a secure inventory management system for the state.
The Secure Credentialing Division of L-1 Identity Solutions originally began work with the state of Illinois in 1997, implementing the first face recognition solution to be used by any US state in driver's license production and in law enforcement. As an innovator for the U.S. driver's license market beginning in the early 1990's, L-1 Identity Solutions' companies laid the foundation for the use of face recognition technology in the production of state IDs and licenses. Providing end-to-end solutions for state driver's licenses issuance operations, the Company has a track record of successfully implementing a wide range of solutions on time and within budget across 20 states today.
The contract with the state of North Carolina is a twelve-month extension of an existing agreement signed ten years ago between the state and Viisage. In it, the Secure Credentialing Division of L-1 Identity Solutions will provide for the ongoing enrollment of applicant information, printing and personalization of driver's licenses, facial recognition capabilities and associated hardware, software and printing consumables, as well as a secure inventory management system for the state. The state estimates the production of 2.4 million driver's licenses and state identification cards per year for a contract value estimated at over $3.6 million.
L-1 Identity Solutions assisted North Carolina in becoming the first state in the nation to increase the security of its driver's licenses by incorporating the high security OVD (optical variable device) into its driver's license card in 2006.
About L-1 Identity Solutions
L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: ID), together with its portfolio of companies, offers a comprehensive set of products and solutions for protecting and securing personal identities and assets. Leveraging the industry's most advanced multi-modal biometric platform for finger, face and iris recognition, our solutions provide a circle of trust around all aspects of an identity and the credentials assigned to it -- including proofing, enrollment, issuance and usage. With the trust and confidence in individual identities provided by L-1 Identity Solutions, government entities, law enforcement and border management agencies, and commercial enterprises can better guard the public against global terrorism, crime and identity theft fostered by fraudulent identity. L-1 Identity Solutions is headquartered in Stamford, CT. For more information, visit www.L1ID.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release and those made from time to time by L-1 Identity Solutions through its senior management are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current views based on management's beliefs and assumptions and information currently available. Forward-looking statements concerning future plans or results are necessarily only estimates, and actual results could differ materially from expectations. Certain factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, among other things, the availability of government funding for L-1's products and solutions, the size and timing of contract awards, performance on existing and future contracts, general economic and political conditions and other factors affecting spending by customers, and the unpredictable nature of working with government agencies. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in the Securities and Exchange Commission filings of the L-1 Identity Solutions, including the Company's Form10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. L-1 Identity Solutions expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
ID-L
SOURCE: L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc.
L-1 Identity Solutions
Doni Fordyce, 203-504-1109
dfordyce@L1ID.com
Copyright Business Wire 2007
News Provided by COMTEX
http://ir.l1id.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=254343
Jack Blood denied passage on Delta to attend Bowman Event in
Jack Blood denied passage on Delta to attend Bowman Event in Atlanta
9/11 Blogger
Thursday, August 9, 2007
I often wish that I was born 100 yrs earlier. In fact I have had the nagging feeling that I was birthed into the wrong time channel most of my life. Back in 1999 a disciple of Edgar Cayce wrote a book about reincarnation, in which she contemplates if I was a 19th century French Poet. Possibly Charles Baudelaire. I never took much stock in it and never had the proof I needed to be sold on reincarnation. I shrugged it off. Still I couldn't feel more out of place in the Brave New World of 2007.
Today I tried to catch a flight from Austin TX to Atlanta GA and was denied by a chubby Chinese Delta airlines supervisor (I will call him Harry Fong) because I didnt have a "Government issued ID" . I have flown many times in the past without ID, but never on Delta who for whatever reason have a non negotiable policy on flying without ID. Fong seemed a bit too happy about the outcome, and his eyes lit up a little to much when saying "Government Issued ID."
I assume that since having an ID is a matter of choice and it is technically unconstitutional to force someone to have one, that Delta caved to federal pressure to enforce the rule or policy. Delta has been in bankruptcy for years and counts on Federal subsidiaries (welfare) to stay in business. Years ago I heard that the Rockefeller family owned 60+ % of all airlines. They are the railroads of the modern era. A basic search for stockholders yielded nothing.
There is a legal precedent for this of course in Gilmore v. Ashcroft -- FAA ID Challenge
This case evolved into Gilmore v. Gonzalez with a "No decision" being the outcome. Gilmore contended that there is no law, or rather there is a "secret" law requiring ID to fly on commercial airlines, and that this non law or secret law violated his 4th amendment right to privacy. Because of profiling and data basing I might have argued that this non law violated his 5th amendment right to self incrimination as well.
Here is a section of the suit:
"...in regards to the right to travel issue which
counsel argues they should not be liable for, again, this goes
right back to the secret law issue, as to whether or not they
have the right to demand id or not. we do not know what that
law is because it's not been published. the government has
stated, as we mentioned in our addendum that the airlines are
not mandated to demand, merely request it."
So it seems that the Non Decision due to jurisdiction is an admission that there is indeed NO LAW requiring us to show ID. So it is a matter of 'policy' constitutional or otherwise for the airlines to 'require' ID. I have learned this because I have successfully traveled on other airlines without ID, as I have successfully navigated TSA without ID, although I did get a virtual anal probe by gleeful TSA agents.
This of course all due to 911.
The fact is, this requirement does NOTHING to stop terrorism! Terrorists are perfectly capable of obtaining fake IDs and would have no problem getting on a plane if they so desired. "Four of the hijackers ... had valid Virginia driver's licenses. . . . They were not American citizens. They didn't even live in Virginia.
Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers obtained their visas in Saudi Arabia. Michael Springman, the former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah, has stated that since 1987 the CIA had been illicitly issuing visas to unqualified applicants from the Middle East and bringing them to the US for training in terrorism for the Afghan war in collaboration with Bin Laden (BBC, November 6 2001). It seems this operation continued after the Afghan war for other purposes. It is also reported that five of the hijackers received training at secure US military installations in the 1990s (Newsweek, September 15 2001).
Michael Springman, former head of American Visa Bureau in Jeddah:
In Saudi Arabia I was repeatedly ordered by high level State Department officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants. Theses were essentially people with no ties either to Saudi Arabia or to their home country. I complained bitterly at the time there, I returned to the US, I complained to the State Department here, to the General Accounting Office, to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and to the Inspector Generals Office. I was met with silence.
So what really is behind all of this? CONDITIONING!
The Federal Government wants to identify all Americans at all times. They want to make it such a hassle to move about and conduct business that we will give up and comply to their every wish. Hence the Real ID Act 2008. Hence the use of social security (control) numbers integrated into everything we do now. Hence massive personal data basing which is particularly rabid on travelers. Hence the Registered Travel Program or CAPPS 2. Hence lie detector kiosks at our airports Why are you REALLY traveling today? Do you belong to any terrorists groups? Do you love the constitution? Hence TSA to Screen for Terrorists by Reading Palms. Hence, Jack Kerouac turns in his grave.
Do Illegal Aliens need to show ID to travel by air? That I cannot tell you but my bet is that they either have a Matricula card from their home embassy, or they drive.
I fear that too many of us will give in and those of us who hold out will undergo a zealous raking as the heat continues to be elevated.
It's a beautiful day in Texas, and right about now I should be landing in Atlanta preparing to host a conference with Dr Bob Bowman. I will not be doing that now.
I would like to stage a call to action and will you the reader to protest by Boycotting Delta Air, and any other airline that requires ID. I would like to tell you that if enough of you would stand with me, and get others to stand with you, that we could put an end to this illegal practice before we are all chipped and tracked like dogs. But I know that most of you will not be inconvenienced, nor will you take the required steps to preserve privacy and freedom. Harsh words I know but I have become a realist.
Therefore I will erase my line in the sand. A line I have sacrificed for these past 8 years being battered like a keg cork on Oktoberfest. I give in. I will be getting my ID and will join the cattle careening across the wide open in stuffed aluminum tubes. I will because I cannot live like this anymore, alone, Mr. Gilmore and I.
This is of course a sign of our times, as we know. "everything changed after 911" and this is the price I must pay for not being a 19th century French Poet. My Bad.
Facts about DELTA relevant to my rant:
Delta was one of the airlines targeted in the failed Operation Bojinka plot: the conspirators planned to bomb a Delta MD-11 flying from Seoul to Bangkok via Taipei on January 21, 1995.
Delta is seeking approval for a daily flight from Atlanta to Shanghai starting March 25, 2008
On September 14, 2005, Delta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the first time in its 76-year history. The company cited high labor costs and record-breaking jet fuel prices as factors in its filing. At the time of the filing, Delta had $20.5 billion in debt, $10 billion of which accumulated since January 2001.
Delta and its financial advisor, the Blackstone Group, (The Blackstone Group has deep ties to the Carlyle Group. Deltas previous financial advisor was now defunct Arthur Anderson (Enron)
Prisoners of our passports
ID Card: Password to the Police State
Article Found at : http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/au ... _blood.htm
