The U.S. Senate is expected to approve plans for a national ID card on Tuesday amid concerns over security and privacy.
May 9, 2005
The U.S. Senate is expected to approve plans for a national ID card Tuesday, despite concerns by security experts that the system could raise the potential for identity theft and electronic tracking of individuals.
As part of an Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill, designed to supply U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, senators will consider the REAL ID Act of 2005. The legislation sets up nine requirements for state driver’s licenses to meet a new federal identification standard.
Most of the nine points are already incorporated into driver’s licenses. For example, most states already require the individual’s picture and signature.
The one new requirement would be what the bill defines as “a common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.” Security experts have railed against this requirement, saying that it makes the cards susceptible to ID theft and electronic tracking.
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The government is likely to incorporate radio-frequency identification (RFID) into the new ID card, according to Bruce Schneier, a security expert and the CTO of Counterpane. The U.S. State Department has been pushing this technology for use in passports. An established government standard could easily be translated into the new ID cards.
RFID has several limitations, security experts point out. With some basic equipment, almost anyone can surreptitiously read all the ID Cards in an area, or track an individual as he or she moves throughout the day. The technology makes downloading someone’s personal data easy. “Once you have a machine-readable ID, it will be read by machines,” said Mr. Schneier. And some of those machines will belong to people you don’t want to read your data.
But it’s not just hackers, identity criminals, and government surveillance that have Mr. Schneier worried. “There’ll be a reader in the bar that you have to swipe to let you drink,” he said. The reader could collect demographic and personally identifiable information each time it is swiped. The information could then be sold to data-marketing companies that, in turn, could sell it to others.
Data companies have recently come under scrutiny thanks to several high-profile information leaks (see The Choicepoint Incident). Security experts argue that the national identification specifications will make it easier for companies to collect and profit from personal information. “You will be giving this data up and you’ll lose control of it,” said Mr. Schneier.
The provisions of the REAL ID Act have seen only limited discussion in Congress. Several of the provisions of REAL ID were considered as part of the 9/11 Recommendations Implementations Act, but few made it into the final bill that passed in December.
One proponent of the REAL ID specifications has been Wisconsin Republican Jim Sensenbrenner, who cited the need for a national identification program to limit the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States, and to protect against terrorists.
“Giving state drivers’ licenses to anyone, regardless of whether they are here legally or illegally, is an open invitation for terrorists and criminals to exploit,” he said.
http://www.redherring.com/Article.a...D+Card+Plan§or=Regions&subsector=Americas
May 9, 2005
The U.S. Senate is expected to approve plans for a national ID card Tuesday, despite concerns by security experts that the system could raise the potential for identity theft and electronic tracking of individuals.
As part of an Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill, designed to supply U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, senators will consider the REAL ID Act of 2005. The legislation sets up nine requirements for state driver’s licenses to meet a new federal identification standard.
Most of the nine points are already incorporated into driver’s licenses. For example, most states already require the individual’s picture and signature.
The one new requirement would be what the bill defines as “a common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.” Security experts have railed against this requirement, saying that it makes the cards susceptible to ID theft and electronic tracking.
- ADVERTISEMENT -
The government is likely to incorporate radio-frequency identification (RFID) into the new ID card, according to Bruce Schneier, a security expert and the CTO of Counterpane. The U.S. State Department has been pushing this technology for use in passports. An established government standard could easily be translated into the new ID cards.
RFID has several limitations, security experts point out. With some basic equipment, almost anyone can surreptitiously read all the ID Cards in an area, or track an individual as he or she moves throughout the day. The technology makes downloading someone’s personal data easy. “Once you have a machine-readable ID, it will be read by machines,” said Mr. Schneier. And some of those machines will belong to people you don’t want to read your data.
But it’s not just hackers, identity criminals, and government surveillance that have Mr. Schneier worried. “There’ll be a reader in the bar that you have to swipe to let you drink,” he said. The reader could collect demographic and personally identifiable information each time it is swiped. The information could then be sold to data-marketing companies that, in turn, could sell it to others.
Data companies have recently come under scrutiny thanks to several high-profile information leaks (see The Choicepoint Incident). Security experts argue that the national identification specifications will make it easier for companies to collect and profit from personal information. “You will be giving this data up and you’ll lose control of it,” said Mr. Schneier.
The provisions of the REAL ID Act have seen only limited discussion in Congress. Several of the provisions of REAL ID were considered as part of the 9/11 Recommendations Implementations Act, but few made it into the final bill that passed in December.
One proponent of the REAL ID specifications has been Wisconsin Republican Jim Sensenbrenner, who cited the need for a national identification program to limit the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States, and to protect against terrorists.
“Giving state drivers’ licenses to anyone, regardless of whether they are here legally or illegally, is an open invitation for terrorists and criminals to exploit,” he said.
http://www.redherring.com/Article.a...D+Card+Plan§or=Regions&subsector=Americas