National ID sneaked through

by on May 11, 2005 · 4 comments

Tucked inside the $82 billion emergency military appropriations bill that passed unanimously in the Senate yesterday (because what senator would vote against “supporting our troops”?) was the REAL ID Act, courtesy of Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). That act effectively creates a national ID card by standardizing state drivers licenses and databases. Worst of all, the Act requires that all licenses include a “common machine-readable technology.” RFID is a top candidate to fill that bill, as I lament here. What’s amazing to me is how little debate there was on this particular bill, even though decades of disagreement on national IDs had managed to stave them off. Check out this column by Bruce Schneier to learn why the new IDs are bad news for privacy, for security, and for the states.

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About Jerry Brito

Jerry Brito is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and director of its Technology Policy Program. He also serves as adjunct professor of law at GMU. His research focuses on technology and telecommunications policy, government transparency and accountability, and the regulatory process. Jerry is also a regular contributor to TIME.com's Techland. His personal web site is jerrybrito.com. You can follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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  • Michael

    So is it going to be illegal for me to demagnetize this thing, or zap it for a few seconds in the microwave to fry any chips in it?

  • Michael

    So is it going to be illegal for me to demagnetize this thing, or zap it for a few seconds in the microwave to fry any chips in it?

  • http://mcgath.blogspot.com garym

    You aren’t required to have an ID at all — if you don’t want to drive, or get on an airplane, or work for a living.

    But even if you throw it out, the law turns the Department of Homeland Security into a gestapo outside the reach of the law.

    Sec. 102 (c) (1):

    (1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive all legal requirements such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.

    So if Homeland Security wants to just force people out of their houses and tear them down (not necessarily in that order), it can. Constitutional challenges are still permitted, but only if filed within 60 days.

  • http://mcgath.blogspot.com garym

    You aren’t required to have an ID at all — if you don’t want to drive, or get on an airplane, or work for a living.

    But even if you throw it out, the law turns the Department of Homeland Security into a gestapo outside the reach of the law.

    Sec. 102 (c) (1):

    (1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive all legal requirements such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.



    So if Homeland Security wants to just force people out of their houses and tear them down (not necessarily in that order), it can. Constitutional challenges are still permitted, but only if filed within 60 days.

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