-------- Original Message -------- Subject: for politech - on Sensenbrenner ID bill Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 15:20:51 -0500 From: J Plummer <jplummer@private> To: declan@private Declan, I've been comparing the Sensenbrenner bill's section on driver's license / national ID with the language in the 9/11 "intelligence reform" bill; and noted a few things. The Sensenbrenner bill would repeal the license/national ID provisions of the 9/11 intel bill and create a different system for turning driver's licenses into a national ID card. The 9/11 bill set up a "rulemaking" committee, which will be led by DOT and staffed by DOT, DHS, NGA and AAMVA (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators -- trade association for DMVs). The Sensenbrenner sets this aside with the following changes: 1) The minimum standards for information contained on licenses is the same as those listed in the 9/11 bill. In the 9/11 bill, the list of seven requirements (name, address, gender, ID number, digital photo) is a floor for national standrards. Sensenbrenner's bill would allow the states to implement stronger biometrics than a digital photo, etc. The intel bill leaves the door open for the "rulemaking" to mandate stronger biometrics at the national level. 2) Both bills require licenses to have a common machine-readable technology; the intel bill leavs the exact defintion of that up to the rulemaking. 3) Sensenbrenner lists which documents are acceptable as proof of identity when applying for a license; the intel bill leaves that up to the rulemaking. Senbrenner bill tells states how they must verify these documents (eg, cheack with SSA on SSN; the intel bill leaves verification up to the federal rulemaking. 4) Sensenbrenner requires licenses be issued only to US citizens or fully-legal immigrants/foreigners; intel bill is silent. 5) Sensenbrenner bill gives the Homeland secretary the unilateral power to strengthen the standards for the licenses (eg, stronger biometrics such as finer- or eye-print) at any time, as long as he claims it is for "national security" 6) Sensenbrenner bill requires state databases to be linked to one another and s to join AAMVA's "Driver's License Agreement." The DLA explicitly styates that states and provinces of Mexico and Canada are elgible to join. This means that the Sensenbrenner bill essentially creates not a national ID card, but a tri-national ID card here in the United States of NAFTA. -- James Plummer National Consumer Coaltion, Privacy Group www.nccprivacy.org _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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