-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Ohio legislation to allow removal address/date of birth from driver's license Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 08:22:27 -0800 From: James Moyer <james@private> To: declan@private Declan, Some time ago I mentioned that I was working on a bill here in Ohio that will allow any Ohioan to get a driver's license without their home address and/or their date of birth. This legislation has finally been introduced, (it's part of a bill that will allow domestic violence/stalking victims to make their home addresses hidden in voter registration records.) http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=125_HB_553 The purpose of having the address on the license is long forgotten, but presents privacy and identity theft risks. It is absurd that a person be required to show where they live simply to get a drink or enter a club. The date of birth provision was added for individuals who do not use their license for age verification. It makes the document less valuable if stolen (since date of birth serves as a major element for identity fraud, with address) and it also hides the person's age, if the individual prefers to keep their age secret. The document will be verticalized, like an Ohio under-21 ID card, so it's clear that it can't be used for age verification. I believe this may cause a small revolution in how we think of ID cards--you would be able to tailor your ID card to have only the information that you actually need. Further, you can have multiple copies of the license with different information elements. For instance, I may have two licenses, one with my date of birth (for the very infrequent time I need to prove my age) and the other without my date of birth (for carrying around when I drive.) For Ohio Politech members, please call up your state representative's office and ask them to co-sponsor HB 553. James Moyer _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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