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A US federal government plans to introduce smartcard-based driver’s licenses with biometric photographs has been questioned by Senators and civil libertarians as too expensive and invasive of people’s privacy.
Debate has begun over the Real ID Act in the US, which would require states to save digital copies of source documents like birth certificates and registrations, and to share information on their driver’s license database with other states and the federal government.
The broad plans are similar to Australia’s Access Card – although the non-compulsory smartcard in the US, although a driver’s license, is being called an ID.
The Real ID Act was passed by Congress after the 9/11 attacks to beef up identity in the US. Like the Access Card, the Real ID Act envisages a biometric photo on the face of the card, with machine readable personal information stored on the card’s chip.
But like Australia, the card proposal faces considerable opposition, and a lengthy debate on how best to introduce it – or whether it should be introduced at all – is almost certain.
The Real ID card project is being overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. DHS estimates its cost of introduction over 10 years at US$14.6 billion (A$18 billion).
The debate in the US has started to mirror debate that has just started in earnest in Australia. Senators in the US have complained that the card will cost too much for not much security.
They have also questioned the security of the on-chip information, saying there is technology available to crack whatever security measures might be put in place.
Like their counterparts in Australia, US civil libertarians and privacy advocates have complained that the machine-readable zone on each license will potentially provide a computer trail of where it goes.
They also say that far from being a simple driver’s licence, it will become a de facto ID standard, making it impossible to function in a variety of areas – getting on a plane, getting a job – without producing the card.
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