John Whitehead's Commentary
The "Not-So-Smart" Smart Driver's License Bill
"There will be another terrorist attack," FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III recently warned at a closed session meeting of the National Association of District Attorneys. "We will not be able to stop it. It's something we all live with."
Even though government officials apparently believe a terrorist attack cannot be prevented, legislators and government agencies continue to churn out policies to restrict, regulate and monitor the activities of Americans--all in the name of fighting terrorism.
For example, the Social Security Administration has announced that it will no longer issue numbers to foreigners to apply for a driver's license, even in states that require them. Nevertheless, legislators continue to propose laws to track individuals through their driver's license, transforming these state-issued permits to operate a car into centrally databased national ID cards.
The most recent proposal, the Driver's License Modernization Act of 2002, co-sponsored by Representatives James Moran (D-Va.) and Tom Davis (R-Va.), could possibly be the worst thing to happen to individual freedom and autonomy since the U.S.A. Patriot Act.
Referred to by some as the "smart card" bill, this proposed legislation supposedly targets several serious problems arising out of database abuse and fraud, including identity theft, the market for illicit licenses and identification cards and underage purchase of alcohol and tobacco products. But by seeking to establish national standards for the issuance of drivers' licenses and identification cards, it would create a vehicle for intrusive monitoring of American citizens nationwide.
The bill, if passed, would require states to put in place a driver's license and identification program within five years. The "smart card" would have a computer chip embedded within it containing text data, encoded biometric data--such as a retinal scan, fingerprint--matching the holder, and driving history such as violations, convictions and restrictions. Included as well would be encryption and security software that supposedly would prevent unauthorized access to data, other than by a federal, state or local agency or "by a private entity" acting on behalf of such government agencies. In other words, virtually anyone, from the local police to various telemarketing companies, would potentially have access to the information on these drivers' licenses. Moreover, the bill would also require states to link their motor vehicle databases, creating a national warehouse of information accessible to government officials at any time.
At a whopping $315 million just to set up links between state computer systems, the price tag for implementing this piece of legislation could very well hightail it into the billions of dollars. The irony, of course, is that American taxpayers will be the ones to pay the cost--both literally and figuratively.
All told, the Smart ID bill--which creates a national ID card--suffers from grave constitutional infirmities that would handicap the protections against unreasonable search and seizure afforded by the Fourth Amendment--and prioritize security over personal privacy.
In fact, in calling for the creation of a national electronic database of citizen information, the bill leaves itself wide open for potential abuse by government, businesses and private individuals. Similar forms of data-encoded ID cards have already been shown to be vulnerable to misuse and tampering. According to the Palm Beach Post, one popular bar in Boston runs patrons' drivers' licenses through a scanning machine that extracts personal data, such as name, address, birthday and physical attributes, which the bar can then use for marketing purposes. One critic called it a "honey pot" for stealing data.
Even the argument that this bill would help control and curtail the actions of terrorists holds no water in light of news reports that most or all of the 9-11 hijackers entered the country legally. Some of the hijackers even obtained drivers' licenses through legitimate means in various states.
The Smart ID bill is really not so smart after all, and it's certainly not designed to provide any conceivable safeguards against the kind of fraud perpetrated by the 9-11 hijackers or future similar criminal operations. Let us hope the American people will not be fooled into supporting such blatantly invasive legislation by scare tactics about an inevitable future terrorist attack.
While most of the opposition to a national ID card has come from civil liberties groups, there are still some voices of reason in government who appreciate that the Constitution was intended to safeguard our rights at all times--in war or peace, famine or prosperity.
For example, former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore, now the head of a congressionally appointed anti-terror commission, has publicly expressed his concern that Americans are needlessly being forced to believe they must give up their fundamental rights for the benefit of security.
Gilmore referenced the advent of traffic light cameras to stop errant motorists and surveillance cameras on the streets as an example of security concerns trumping individual rights. "I don't think we should teach Americans that they should get used to being watched," he said. "It runs against the American grain."
So much of what our government officials are putting in place these days runs against the American grain. It is nothing more than tyranny disguised as "the better good." And for as long as we let them, government officials will continue to trample on our rights--always justifying their actions as being for the good of the people.
But this is one person who's had enough. In the words of author C. S. Lewis:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busy bodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
Even though government officials apparently believe a terrorist attack cannot be prevented, legislators and government agencies continue to churn out policies to restrict, regulate and monitor the activities of Americans--all in the name of fighting terrorism.
For example, the Social Security Administration has announced that it will no longer issue numbers to foreigners to apply for a driver's license, even in states that require them. Nevertheless, legislators continue to propose laws to track individuals through their driver's license, transforming these state-issued permits to operate a car into centrally databased national ID cards.
The most recent proposal, the Driver's License Modernization Act of 2002, co-sponsored by Representatives James Moran (D-Va.) and Tom Davis (R-Va.), could possibly be the worst thing to happen to individual freedom and autonomy since the U.S.A. Patriot Act.
Referred to by some as the "smart card" bill, this proposed legislation supposedly targets several serious problems arising out of database abuse and fraud, including identity theft, the market for illicit licenses and identification cards and underage purchase of alcohol and tobacco products. But by seeking to establish national standards for the issuance of drivers' licenses and identification cards, it would create a vehicle for intrusive monitoring of American citizens nationwide.
The bill, if passed, would require states to put in place a driver's license and identification program within five years. The "smart card" would have a computer chip embedded within it containing text data, encoded biometric data--such as a retinal scan, fingerprint--matching the holder, and driving history such as violations, convictions and restrictions. Included as well would be encryption and security software that supposedly would prevent unauthorized access to data, other than by a federal, state or local agency or "by a private entity" acting on behalf of such government agencies. In other words, virtually anyone, from the local police to various telemarketing companies, would potentially have access to the information on these drivers' licenses. Moreover, the bill would also require states to link their motor vehicle databases, creating a national warehouse of information accessible to government officials at any time.
At a whopping $315 million just to set up links between state computer systems, the price tag for implementing this piece of legislation could very well hightail it into the billions of dollars. The irony, of course, is that American taxpayers will be the ones to pay the cost--both literally and figuratively.
All told, the Smart ID bill--which creates a national ID card--suffers from grave constitutional infirmities that would handicap the protections against unreasonable search and seizure afforded by the Fourth Amendment--and prioritize security over personal privacy.
In fact, in calling for the creation of a national electronic database of citizen information, the bill leaves itself wide open for potential abuse by government, businesses and private individuals. Similar forms of data-encoded ID cards have already been shown to be vulnerable to misuse and tampering. According to the Palm Beach Post, one popular bar in Boston runs patrons' drivers' licenses through a scanning machine that extracts personal data, such as name, address, birthday and physical attributes, which the bar can then use for marketing purposes. One critic called it a "honey pot" for stealing data.
Even the argument that this bill would help control and curtail the actions of terrorists holds no water in light of news reports that most or all of the 9-11 hijackers entered the country legally. Some of the hijackers even obtained drivers' licenses through legitimate means in various states.
The Smart ID bill is really not so smart after all, and it's certainly not designed to provide any conceivable safeguards against the kind of fraud perpetrated by the 9-11 hijackers or future similar criminal operations. Let us hope the American people will not be fooled into supporting such blatantly invasive legislation by scare tactics about an inevitable future terrorist attack.
While most of the opposition to a national ID card has come from civil liberties groups, there are still some voices of reason in government who appreciate that the Constitution was intended to safeguard our rights at all times--in war or peace, famine or prosperity.
For example, former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore, now the head of a congressionally appointed anti-terror commission, has publicly expressed his concern that Americans are needlessly being forced to believe they must give up their fundamental rights for the benefit of security.
Gilmore referenced the advent of traffic light cameras to stop errant motorists and surveillance cameras on the streets as an example of security concerns trumping individual rights. "I don't think we should teach Americans that they should get used to being watched," he said. "It runs against the American grain."
So much of what our government officials are putting in place these days runs against the American grain. It is nothing more than tyranny disguised as "the better good." And for as long as we let them, government officials will continue to trample on our rights--always justifying their actions as being for the good of the people.
But this is one person who's had enough. In the words of author C. S. Lewis:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busy bodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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