It was either 12 or 22 here, and that was becuase I was late.Quote:
Originally Posted by diffusionx
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It was either 12 or 22 here, and that was becuase I was late.Quote:
Originally Posted by diffusionx
Bruce Schneier, a security expert, states in his weblog why this is a bad idea.
Bruce describes further why a national ID card is an awful idea in one of his Crypto-gram newsletters. If you have some free time, you should definitely take a look.Quote:
The REAL ID Act requires driver's licenses to include a "common machine-readable technology." This will, of course, make identity theft easier. Assume that this information will be collected by bars and other businesses, and that it will be resold to companies like ChoicePoint and Acxiom. It actually doesn't matter how well the states and federal government protect the data on driver's licenses, as there will be parallel commercial databases with the same information.
Even worse, the same specification for RFID chips embedded in passports includes details about embedding RFID chips in driver's licenses. I expect the federal government will require states to do this, with all of the associated security problems (e.g., surreptitious access).
REAL ID requires that driver's licenses contain actual addresses, and no post office boxes. There are no exceptions made for judges or police -- even undercover police officers. This seems like a major unnecessary security risk.
REAL ID also prohibits states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens. This makes no sense, and will only result in these illegal aliens driving without licenses -- which isn't going to help anyone's security. (This is an interesting insecurity, and is a direct result of trying to take a document that is a specific permission to drive an automobile, and turning it into a general identification device.)
REAL ID is expensive. It's an unfunded mandate: the federal government is forcing the states to spend their own money to comply with the act. I've seen estimates that the cost to the states of complying with REAL ID will be $120 million. That's $120 million that can't be spent on actual security.
And the wackiest thing is that none of this is required. In October 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 was signed into law. That law included stronger security measures for driver's licenses, the security measures recommended by the 9/11 Commission Report. That's already done. It's already law.
REAL ID goes way beyond that. It's a huge power-grab by the federal government over the states' systems for issuing driver's licenses.
REAL ID doesn't go into effect until three years after it becomes law, but I expect things to be much worse by then. One of my fears is that this new uniform driver's license will bring a new level of "show me your papers" checks by the government. Already you can't fly without an ID, even though no one has ever explained how that ID check makes airplane terrorism any harder. I have previously written about Secure Flight, another lousy security system that tries to match airline passengers against terrorist watch lists. I've already heard rumblings about requiring states to check identities against "government databases" before issuing driver's licenses. I'm sure Secure Flight will be used for cruise ships, trains, and possibly even subways. Combine REAL ID with Secure Flight and you have an unprecedented system for broad surveillance of the population.
Quote:
Originally Posted by g0zen
Every college in the US apparently does not know that.
"REAL ID also prohibits states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens. This makes no sense, and will only result in these illegal aliens driving without licenses -- which isn't going to help anyone's security"
This makes no sense to me. They would drive anyway.
Yea, I was about to say that, although the University of California assigns you a different number for your ID. Its really stupid to do, anyway, its not hard to write an algorithm that generates a unique ID from the SS#. Itd probably cost them a couple thousand in consulting fees from a mathematician. Worth it IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by IronPlant
That trend is slowly being discontinued. My college used my social security number as my college ID, but a year or two after I graduated, they stopped doing that. It's about goddamn time.Quote:
Originally Posted by IronPlant
Inspection is 5 bucks Mississippi.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scourge
When I got my drivers license I had the choice to use my ss# or get a new number on it. How many of you asked for a different number?
Both CA and NJ assign numbers, and Im sure its the same in every state... but Mississippi. Thats really weird, I never heard of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by IronPlant
Heh heh heh. All your info are belong to me now, punks! :pQuote:
Assume that this information will be collected by bars and other businesses, and that it will be resold to companies like ChoicePoint
Might as well just take one of those hot metal iron things and stamp each and everyone of us in the ass with our own unique code.