November 6, 2007

Washington, DC Seeks to Mandate SmarTrip Chips in DC Licenses and ID Cards

Privacy advocates are alarmed by a D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles initiative to embed SmarTrip computer chips inside every new D.C. driver’s license, making it easier than ever to track D.C. residents on their travels through the transit system. The DMV will spend $830,000 a year to install SmarTrip chips in all driver’s licenses and identification cards starting in October 2008. SmarTrip does, however, provide Metro and the government with a system to follow users, though Hazel said the agency “has no intention to track [a] person’s movements on the Metro system.”

D.C. DMV to build SmarTrip chips into driver’s licenses, Washington Examiner, November 6, 2007.