2008 Woodie Awards
ACLU gives their insight into Bush's Real I.D. Act
Allison Carroll
Issue date: 2/14/06 Section: Campus News
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Congress passed the Real I.D. Act in the fall of 2005 with no reviews or hearings - there was even significant opposition from community organizations. Two major organizations opposing the Real I.D. Act were the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSLU) and the National Governors' Association (NGA).
The Real I.D. Act will require all fifty states to have standardized driver's licenses which will include information like your full name, address, and personal identification number. The catch is that on the back there will be a certain type of "machine-readable technology" - for example, a microchip which will house all of your information, which will then be stored in your state's designated database. After your state and all other 49 states have collected their information it will be directly linked to the federal government's large database.
This act is part of Bush's homeland security measures to ensure the safety of our country. However, the huge database that the government plans to keep individuals' information in may soon become a haven for forgers and identity thieves. Also, the machines that businesses will use to read the "machine-readable technology" can be bought for around $100.00 after the program gets rolling.
In order for a driver to be eligible for one of these licenses he or she must prove two things - one, that he or she is in fact who they say they are, and two, that he or she is a legal resident of the United States. According to the ACLU, this will be a nightmare for thousands of Americans, people like the victims of Hurricane Katrina, whose personal information is now floating in the Mississippi River.
"The process may sound simple, but in practice this is close to impossible," says Barry Steinhart, Director of ACLU technology and privacy.
Although the Act was passed by Congress in 2005, it won't be until 2008 that every state in the United States has to change their drivers' licenses to the format of the Real I.D. Act. The cost of this change is an estimated $13 billion dollars, just to get things rolling. Virginia says its costs will reach $169 million and a recurring $63 million annual cost. Washington State has estimated its costs as high as $251 million over a span of six years once the program is enacted. At this point the government has only apportioned $40,000 to this program.
If you wish to join the ACLU in its attempts to stop this act you can find more information on the ACLU's website located at http://www.aclu.org or the North Carolina homepage, http://www.aclunorthcarolina.org.
