U.S. Gov't Still Trying to Push Flawed ID Schemes

When you can't get any states to participate in your flawed National ID scheme, what do you do?

If you're the U.S. government, you change its name and try again.

With the death of the REAL ID Act comes a replacement bill that poses many of the same threats, including what the Campaign for Liberty refers to as a federal grab for personal information. Now the act has been renamed and referred to as an enhanced or higher security driver's license. In reality, however, the only way to resolve the problem is to repeal it, not rename it. (Source: campaignforliberty.com)

After 9/11, the government began more pervasive surveillance on American citizens, despite the fact that the increased governmental intrusions have done little to keep its citizens safer. To the contrary, one could argue that only thing being done is the taking away of rights and freedoms.

REAL ID Called for Centrally-Coordinated Database

When Congress was considering the REAL ID Act in 2005, it would have called for a massive, centrally-coordinated database containing highly personal information, including name, date of birth, place of residence, Social Security number and physical characteristics, as well as the ability for the feds to demand more information at any time. (Source: campaignforliberty.com)

REAL ID would have granted open-ended authority allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to require biometric information on IDs in the future, meaning your driver's license could contain a retina scan, fingerprints, DNA information or radio frequency technology.

As noted by the Campaign for Liberty, REAL ID remains a threat, and in order to understand what the feds may try next, it's important to understand how REAL ID was sold, how it was expanded, and why it remains a threat. (Source: campaignforliberty.com)

REAL ID Could Give Gov't More Control

REAL ID was promoted by the government as being necessary to make Americans safe. In reality, national ID cards would give the government more control over Americans: making it easier to track everyone's movements.

The REAL ID Act also greatly expanded the definition of terrorism. It redefined terrorism in broad new terms to include members of firearms rights and anti-abortion groups as well as any other group as determined by whichever party is in power at the time.

Passage of such legislation would make it easier for the feds to exploit it and block citizens from traveling (among other things), which has already been happening for the past eight and a half years. (Source: cato-at-liberty.org)

Same Flawed Risks in the REAL ID Act

Now the DHS is trying to urge Congress to enact the PASS Act (Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification Act of 2009). The PASS Act has many of the same flawed risks as the REAL ID Act, including the requirement that drivers' licenses contain RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips with unique numbers for each individual.

Congress is still up to its old tricks. Recently H.R. 3174 (the Photo Identification Security Act) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, providing that only certain forms of identification of individuals may be acceptable by the federal government and by financial institutions.

In this author's opinion, there isn't a single valid reason to pass the REAL ID Act, the PASS Act, or the Photo Identification Security Act.

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