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Quote:Homeland Security officials released long-delayed guidelines that turn state-issued identification cards into de facto internal passports Thursday, estimating the changes will cost states and individuals $23 billion over 10 years.

The move prompted a new round of protest from civil libertarians and security experts, who called on Congress to repeal the 2005 law known as the Real ID Act that mandates the changes.

Critics, such as American Civil Liberties Union attorney Tim Sparapani, charge that the bill increases government access to data on Americans and amplifies the risk of identity theft, without providing significant security benefits...

full article: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,7...n_index_19

An update on the REAL Id Act........

Quote:WASHINGTON - Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver's licenses in the next six years under ambitious post-9/11 security rules to be unveiled Friday by federal officials.

The Homeland Security Department has spent years crafting the final regulations for the REAL ID Act, a law designed to make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get government-issued identification. The effort once envisioned to take effect in 2008 has been pushed back in the hopes of winning over skeptical state officials.

Even with more time, more federal help and technical advances, REAL ID still faces stiff opposition from civil liberties groups.


To address some of those concerns, the government now plans to phase in a secure ID initiative that Congress passed into law in 2005. Now, DHS plans a key deadline in 2011 _ when federal authorities hope all states will be in compliance _ and then further measures to be enacted three years later, according to congressional staffers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not yet been made. DHS officials briefed legislative aides on the details late Thursday.

Without discussing details, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff promoted the final rules for REAL ID during a meeting Thursday with an advisory council.

"We worked very closely with the states in terms of developing a plan that I think will be inexpensive, reasonable to implement and produce the results," he said. "This is a win-win. As long as people use driver's licenses to identify themselves for whatever reason there's no reason for those licenses to be easily counterfeited or tampered with."

A friend of mine has refused to get his state's driver licence because they would use his social security number as the licence number. These cards will allow centralized tracking of everyone, a database that beyond whatever legitimate use it has, would be extremely useful in all kinds of social control.

A book: "IBM and the Holocaust" shows the importance of information gathering in the th!rd re!ch. Soon after the Naz!s took over a questionare was sent to every doctor in the nation, apparently a health survey to assist in disease research. And it may well have been used for that purpose. (the ! are for the SE bots)

Among the questions concerning diseases and afflictions, doctors were asked their patient's race and religion. No-one wondered about that, obviously it was to assist in classifying disease. Maybe there was use for the information for that.

That information proved very useful in locating nearly every Jew and Gypsy in the country.

Quote:These cards will allow centralized tracking of everyone, a database that beyond whatever legitimate use it has, would be extremely useful in all kinds of social control.

I know. I never thought it could happen here.

Big Brother is watching