New Security Rules for Driver Licenses to be Unveiled

[Chris_]

New Security Rules for Driver Licenses to be Unveiled

Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver's licenses in the next six years under ambitious post-9/11 security rules to be unveiled Friday by federal officials.

The Homeland Security Department has spent years crafting the final regulations for the REAL ID Act, a law designed to make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get government-issued identification. The effort once envisioned to take effect in 2008 has been pushed back in the hopes of winning over skeptical state officials.

Even with more time, more federal help and technical advances, REAL ID still faces stiff opposition from civil liberties groups.

To address some of those concerns, the government now plans to phase in a secure ID initiative that Congress passed into law in 2005. Now, DHS plans a key deadline in 2011, and then further measures to be enacted three years later, according to congressional staffers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not yet been made. DHS officials briefed legislative aides on the details late Thursday.

Without discussing details, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff promoted the final rules for REAL ID during a meeting Thursday with an advisory council.

"We worked very closely with the states in terms of developing a plan that I think will be inexpensive, reasonable to implement and produce the results," he said. "This is a win-win. As long as people use driver's licenses to identify themselves for whatever reason there's no reason for those licenses to be easily counterfeited or tampered with."

In order to make the plan more appealing to cost-conscious states, federal authorities drastically reduced the expected cost from $14.6 billion to $3.9 billion, a 73 percent decline, according to Homeland Security officials familiar with the plan.

The American Civil Liberties Union has fiercely objected to the effort, particularly the sharing of personal data among government agencies. The DHS and other officials say the only way to make sure an ID is safe is to check it against secure government data; critics like the ACLU say that creates a system that is more likely to be infiltrated and have its personal data pilfered.

In its written objection to the law, the ACLU claims REAL ID amounts to the "first-ever national identity card system," which "would irreparably damage the fabric of American life."

You can bet that if the Anti Christian Lawyers Union is against it, it's a good thing.

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[Flame]

Dang, it was already practically an act of congress to get our new licenses when we moved here from FL last year!  Seriously, it was almost easier for Mr Flame to get his top secret security clearance!

[Chris_]

I was thinking about this a few years ago.
A lot of people are against a National ID. So I thought...eventually there will be State IDs with federal requirements and data base.
What would be the difference between the two?

[DixieBelle]

why only folks born after 1964?

I'm for some sort of secure ID. Let's also set up an I.C.E. truck in the back and haul off the ones who are here illegally. Simple but will somehow never happen.

[Chris_]

why only folks born after 1964?

I'm for some sort of secure ID. Let's also set up an I.C.E. truck in the back and haul off the ones who are here illegally. Simple but will somehow never happen.

They're implementing it in phases.  Folks born before 1964 are considered too old to be terrorists or illegal aliens.  Go figure.  Eventually everyone will have to conform to the "real ID" format.  You kids get to go first.

[DixieBelle]

Oh so NOW they want to exclude the "older folks". But feeling them up at airports is a-okay. Crimeny!!!!

[MASHLover]

so, if I read this correctly the states are going to have to track and issue two separate types of ID's.  My wife was born in 61 and I was born in 66 so according to the article, we would have different ID's.

Bullshit, they can hardly keep track of ONE type much less two.

[Chris_]

so, if I read this correctly the states are going to have to track and issue two separate types of ID's.  My wife was born in 61 and I was born in 66 so according to the article, we would have different ID's.

Bullshit, they can hardly keep track of ONE type much less two.

I suspect they can just issue one type if they want, but it would have to be the new, approved format.

[Bondai]

....and the counterfeit version will be on the street a week after the real one's are issued.

[Chris_]

Oh so NOW they want to exclude the "older folks". But feeling them up at airports is a-okay. Crimeny!!!!

Hey, thats the most action a lot of them have gotten in a while.

;)