Real ID Act is coming soon, very soon

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They just mentioned it on the local news not too long ago.

(i tried searching for a thread but the words are too short to search)

Real ID Act Deadline Pushed Back to 2009

Mar 1, 2007, By Gina M. Scott
According to a statement released today by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), states will now have until December 31, 2009 to implement the regulations of the Real ID act.

The Real ID Act implements security features to drivers and identification cards. These standards must be met to allow the card holder to board planes, enter federal buildings and nuclear power plants. States that receive extensions will have to submit proposed timetables for compliance. The regulations include:

* Security features that must be incorporated into each card
* Verification of information provided by applicants to establish their identity and lawful status in the United States
* Physical security standards for locations where licenses and identification cards are issued.

"Raising the security standards on driver's licenses establishes another layer of protection to prevent terrorists from obtaining and using fake documents to plan or carry out an attack," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "These standards correct glaring vulnerabilities exploited by some of the 9/11 hijackers who used fraudulently obtained drivers licenses to board the airplanes in their attack against America. We will work closely with states to implement these standards and protect American's privacy against identity theft and the use of fraudulent documents."

DHS also announced that up to 20 percent of a state's Homeland Security Grant Program funds can be used to help implement Real ID.

The act has come under fire recently with many senators speaking out against it, as well as the Maine legislature signing a joint resolution against its implementation. The National Governors Association (NGA) issued a statement regarding the introduction of an amendment by Senator Susan Collins to delay implementation of Real ID. "This proposal would provide states a more workable time frame to comply with federal standards, ensure necessary systems are operational and enhance the input states and other stakeholders have in the implementation process," said the NGA.

"We are also pleased to have been able to work with Senator Susan Collins, and I believe that the proposed regulations reflect her approach," added Chertoff.

One of the issues most debated about the Real ID act was its addition to the larger "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief Act."

"Real ID was stuffed into the supplemental appropriations bill for Hurricane Katrina and the troops in Iraq, so of course we had to vote for the bill," said Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, yesterday. "But we had no chance to amend it -- no debate, no hearing, and no consideration of other alternatives. And now we impose on the states an $11 billion unfunded mandate ... I would say we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't stop and think about what we've done."

http://www.govtech.com/gt/104173

 

[Superfly Snuka]

Mar 1, 2007, By Gina M. Scott

come a little more recent with your facts folx

 

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Real ID law to receive makeover under Obama

Battered, not dead

By Austin Modine in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Security, 11th March 2009 20:22 GMT

Free whitepaper – Lower security risks and costs by minimizing the time to protection

A law requiring US citizens to present federally mandated ID cards for "official purposes" such as boarding a plane is likely to be shaken down at the door under the US Department of Homeland Security's new secretary, Janet Napolitano.

The ex-governor of Arizona, tapped as chief homeland spook by Obama in January, has been an outspoken adversary of the law since its introduction as a rider act for the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005."

Revisions to the law being proposed by Napolitano and other officials, however, appear to be motivated by the cost of implementing the law, rather than out of concern for the privacy of American citizenry or states' rights.

Dubbed the Real ID Act of 2005, the law imposes uniform requirements for driver's licenses and state ID cards in order for them to be accepted by the federal government as identification for official purposes. It also establishes new standards for the personal data to be tracked by the cards (similar to that of a passport), and requires each state to share its ID databases with each other.

In the US, driver's licenses are issued by the states, not by the federal government. While the law allows each state to continue issuing non-complying IDs, the old cards must carry a unique design and be clearly marked to show they cannot be accepted for any federal purpose. But the usefulness of non-complying cards is rather put into question by the federal government's running the show at US borders and security check-ins at the country's airports.

Furthermore, the Act specifies needing a Real ID to enter a federal building or nuclear power plant - but leaves the true scope of what is considered an "official purpose" as an ambiguity. For some officials, it's a tempting opportunity to use the system to track more mundane activities such as purchasing over-the-counter medicines as a means to bust meth labs.

Napolitano said earlier this month that her office is working with the National Governors Association (NGA) to propose revisions to the law.

The NGA claims Real ID places unnecessary and costly burdens on states and will do little to achieve the law's intended security goals.

"Governors are committed to improving the security and integrity of state DL/ID systems, but the timelines and requirements mandated by Real ID are unrealistic," the group states in its online policy manifesto.

NGA says implementing the program could cost upwards of $11bn over five years - money the federal government currently doesn't intend to fund and that many states can't afford.

Presently, all 50 states have received extensions to the original May 11, 2008 deadline. A few holdout states such as California, Montana, Maine, and South Carolina have either refused to commit to the plan or even passed resolutions not to participate.

The current deadline for when all US citizens aged 50 years or younger must have a Real ID license is May 2011.

Privacy advocacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) claim the Real ID law fails to provide critical privacy-security safeguards for personal data.

From the EFF's policy page:

Once the IDs and database are in place, their uses will inevitably expand to facilitate a wide range of surveillance activities. Remember, the Social Security number started innocuously enough, but it has become a prerequisite for a host of government services and been co-opted by private companies to create massive databases of personal information. A national ID poses similar dangers; for example, because "common machine-readable technology" will be required on every ID, the government and businesses will be able to easily read your private information off the cards in myriad contexts.

While financial complaints are prominent in the NGA's policy, it does recommend establishing further minimum guidelines to protect the "security, confidentiality, and integrity of personally identifiable information."

But that's not to say Napolitano and company are against tracking the personal data in the first place. Napolitano is an advocate for states individually implementing so-called "enhanced driver's licenses," which include an embedded RFID chip that allows for remote tracking.

"Enhanced driver's licenses give confidence that the person holding the card is the person who is supposed to be holding the card, and it's less elaborate than Real ID," she told The Washington Times.

Napolitano said she expects the NGA to introduce their package of changes to congress this spring. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/11/real_id_changes_napolitano_nga/