(This was written on 6/15 and posted on 6/17)
With the talk of privacy this week and digital footprints, I found an article that connects this problem with government agencies. This one involves driver's licenses and how your information (digital footprints) can be used to track you wherever you go. When you go to the BMV to renew or get a new license, you are subjected to a process where your picture is taken, as usual, but your facial features are "read" and then documented as part of your digital footprint. Most of you already know this, but what we might not know is that in states like Pennsylvania, that data could be gleaned from the dirver's licence when used to enter certain places, like bars, to prove identity.
The article examines the repurcussions of allowing the state to gather this information into a collective database, where your digital footprint could also include scans of your birth certificate and SS card. In effect, it turns your driver's license into a national ID card, which the government calls REAL ID. According to the article, all states have to submit individual information to the governmnet by the end of this year into a "single, national database." The information could also include what is called biometric data (fingerprints, eye scans, and radio identification chips used for passports).
According to lawmakers who are addressing this issue, "The potential for abuse is absolutely horrendous," and "The more information you put in one spot, the more vulnerable it is and the more likely it will be compromised." They continued, saying, that "people attending any public gathering could be required to scan their cards, giving organizers access to Social Security numbers, birth dates and even facial features."
I didn't know about the REAL ID program until this story. But I think it has a great deal to do with how my picture was taken when I renewed by driver's licence this year. I couldn't smile if I showed my teeth and all hair had to be off of my forehead. No glasses, either. I was told that it was in order for my face to be able to be recognized using certain "points". When I asked why it was being done this way I was told the truth: that it is a better way to identify you if we need to. I didn't ask who the "you" was. Scary.
More info:
REAL ID by Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act
Here's the DHS take on it:
http://www.dhs.gov/xprevprot/programs/gc_1200062053842.shtm
Full Story:
IS LOSS OF PRIVACY IN THE CARDS?:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,url,uid&db=krh&AN=2W62W62819703127&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site
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Very scary. I had not heard of this REAL ID, but had heard of the facial recognition being used in some criminal case. We unfortunately hear of many cases where "confidential" information gets compromised, i.e., medical information, banks, etc. Now we'll have one key location for the hacks to get anything they want. And I just can't believe what you needed to do to take a picture for the BMV. I've never been too paranoid, but feel like it might be time to develop some healthy paranoia after everything I've read this semester!
ReplyDeleteI had a similar post this week with information on drivers licenses. One of the things mentioned for the drawback of the enhanced drivers license was the facial recognition had false positives have the time which resulted in twice as much questioning. This REAL ID is even scarier.
ReplyDeleteUgh! I really detest DHS and their paranoid ideas and scare tactics. My father recently had his driver's license renewed and told me about the experience. I immediately thought, "What's up with glasses and no smile?" The smile part I can leave...ain't nothin' fun about waiting in long lines and then taking a seat waiting for your number and name to be called out. But glasses? This is really supposed to crack down on criminals and terrorists obtaining fraudulent IDs?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this information, Nell! Definitely scary and, as Anna and Pam have so eloquently stated, I think being paranoid about our government is quickly becoming a habit. And very good point, Nell...I'd like to know exactly who this "you" and "we" are!
There are only a few states that you are no longer aloud to smile and Indiana is one of them. I'm very confused why all that information needs to be stored on something that can be lost or stolen. When you get a passport, don't they tell you not to store it with your license? And when traveling, you not to keep your forms of identification all in one place. So why are we doing that electronically? Maybe Little Brother has gotten to us, but I'm pretty sure I would have felt this way about this issue without reading the book.
ReplyDeleteGood point about who the "you" and "we" are. Sarah, I agree with you about not keeping all your important documents together. If all of our nation's citizen's private information is stored in one place isn't that just asking for catastrophe?!!
ReplyDeleteThis is very scary indeed. With the way private information is often lost online (news stories about companies losing credit card information because of insecure networks, or government agencies accidentally losing hard drives with personal data on them), this effort for a database with your most private information seems like a horrible idea. But scarier than the information just being lost accidentally, is the fact that government would have access to all that information so easily. This makes me very afraid...
ReplyDeleteSo maybe Little Brother isn't so off the mark, eh?
ReplyDeleteWhat is scary is that there isn't more of a public outcry. This Real ID isn't something totally new. People are getting their pictures taken and their information stored every day. I don't know why people are not more upset about this. Perhaps, they don't know about Real ID or the potential dangers. Or perhaps, some see it as a necessary privacy invasion to "protect" us.
As I was reading this I had the chills...creepy. It is like in Little Brother when they tracked people by thier the way they walk. At what point do we say, enough...
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting, yet scary article. I can't begin to understand that we are living in a world that simply must know any and everything. Where is the privacy? After reading this article, I would count on that more and more people will be without proper ID in the near future. I can't tell you how many people frequent the library without any type of identification. But if more and more states implement this new feature, I think we as Americans are in trouble!!