De facto National ID Program Underway?
Two recent stories highlight the attempt to transform the state drivers license into a de facto national ID card by requiring the driver's biometric data to be electronically stored on the license and creating a national standard for machines to be able to read that data on the license. The risk is that a a well-defined form of identification, used for a particular public safety function, will be transformed into a general purpose ID that could be used routinely for policing and surveillance.
New Drivers' Licenses Study Underway Associated Press, January 8, 2002
Upgraded Driver's Licenses Are Urged as National ID's
New York Times, January 8, 2002
EPIC's ID Card Resource Page
CPSR's ID Card FAQ
