http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=109&contentid=466&page=2
Crypto Fascists Want National ID Cards
by SHANE HAM
Editor's Note: Progressive Policy Institute,
a "Democrat" think tank, reveals its true colors as a crypto-fascist shill
for the biometrics industry. Specious reasoning is what they get paid for.
)
The Sept. 11 hijackings illuminated
many holes in our domestic defense. Four of the five hijackers who crashed
into the Pentagon, for example, had fraudulent ID cards obtained in Virginia.
But the flaws in our identification system were evident long before that.
Fake ID cards are so common as to be almost a rite of passage for American
teenagers. The industries that rely on the wildly unreliable identification
system we have today have watched identity theft grow into a major industry.
Worst of all, the ease with which criminals can obtain false identification
documents in some states renders the entire system suspect, as possession
of a valid driver's license is taken as unquestionable proof of identity
for the distribution of other important identity documents -- passports,
social security cards, employee ID cards, and many more.
The Sept. 11 tragedy made vivid the
risks inherent in our flawed identification system, but those risks have
always been there and we pay for them every day -- in higher credit card
interest rates to cover for identity fraud, in victimization by criminals
who avoid arrest, in suffering and death caused by underage drinkers who
get behind the wheel.
Though we have long known that our identification
system is broken, we now have a key opportunity to obtain consensus on
fixing it. If done properly, a new identification system can not only reduce
the threat of terrorism as well as more common crimes, but also lead to
significant economic benefits. Placing 21st-century technology on our driver's
licenses and ID cards will jump-start the New Economy, making offline and
online transactions more convenient and more secure than ever before.
To accomplish this, there is no need
for the federal government to build a new infrastructure for issuing "national
ID cards." Modernizing the current system, in which the primary form of
identification is issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles in each state,
will be sufficient, provided that Congress requires an appropriate amount
of standardization both in the cards themselves and in the processes for
issuing them.
To do that, action is needed in Congress
and in state legislatures. PPI recommends that Congress:
require states to issue "smart ID cards"
containing a standardized hologram and digitally encoded biometric data
specific to each holder;
set standards for initial identity verification;
accelerate the linking of state DMV
databases;
provide grants and loans for additional
state smart card applications;
upgrade the system for foreign visitors
to incorporate a similar "smart visa" program; and
create strict controls to protect privacy
and prevent abuses.
States should:
issue digital signatures with smart
ID cards;
develop and promote other government
applications to take advantage of smart ID card capabilities;
facilitate access to the chip on the
card so that card holders could allow private organizations to place applications
(e.g., digital cash) on the unused parts of the chip; and reduce or eliminate
fees for first-time upgrades from old cards to smart cards.
Shane Ham is the senior technology policy
analyst at the Progressive Policy Institute, and Robert D. Atkinson is
vice president and director of PPI's Technology & New Economy Project.
Modernizing the State Identification
System
An Action Agenda
By Shane Ham and Robert D. Atkinson
For the rest of the story, click here
Phony
Progressives Want Totalitarian America
