Stop the Real ID Act by May 8

[meldroc]

Ars Technica: Stop the Real ID Act by May 8

This past March, the Department of Homeland Security posted its Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) for the implementation of the Real ID Act of 2005. The NPRM has been open to the public for comments, but that comments period is slated to end on May 8. If you're concerned about the implications of a national ID card and a national database with tons of your sensitive data in it, and you'd like to join the growing revolt against the Act by an ideologically diverse array of states and citizens' groups, then you can find instructions and aids for submitting your comments to DHS at the following links:

* The Privacy Coalition
* American Civil Liberties Union
* Electronic Frontier Foundation
* Privacy Activism

At least one of the links provides a sample letter that you can modify and submit, but if you really want your voice heard then it's best to write some comments from scratch. It took me less than five minutes to put together a quick, two-paragraph e-mail to Congress and DHS based on the talking points given at the above links, so I urge you to do the same.

Now, none of the links above make clear what this round of comments is about, and if you've been following Real ID you may be thinking, "didn't this already pass... what's this about 'stopping' it?" To understand what the NPRM is about, and what you can do to stop Real ID, you need a bit of historical context.

Congress passed the Real ID Act back in 2005 by burying it so deep within a "must-pass" military appropriations bill that it wasn't discovered by privacy advocates until just a few days before the bill came up for a vote. With such short notice, there wasn't time to rally enough opposition to the Act to get it stripped from the bill—and that's in spite of the fact that it contained an unprecedented and supremely odd "Trojan horse" type A3S2 provision that apparently guts judicial review for a really obscure reason.

Ausweiss, bitte? Get your comments into DHS by May 8th, to stop the implementation of what's effectively a National ID card. What's even worse is the databases. It would ironically be better if the federal government simply implemented a national citizens database. That would cause enough privacy and Big Brother problems right there. But that's not what's being implemented. Instead, state DMVs are being required to implement connectivity features into their driver's license databases, ensuring that any state government employee with access to one state database can make queries about any citizen in all 50 states. It's like a national database, only with horrible security, even more potentials for bugs and errors causing problems with your records, and a total mess that will be used for privacy violation, identity theft and Big Brothering.

[chaska]

1. National ID: The first step to bringing back debtor prisons...

At least that's what someone for whose brain I have a great deal of respect for has said.

[meldroc]

2. Interesting...

Haven't thought about the idea of debtor's prisons, so I'm not sure how Real ID will be used this way. I do see these Real ID databases becoming a gold mine for identity thieves, and a convenient way for law enforcement officers to find excuses to harass people (since the databases will probably contain things like arrest records, unpaid tickets, etc.)

[Breeze54]

3. Fifty organizations are now part of the Anti-National REAL ID public campaign.

Thanks for reminding me about this!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Over Forty Groups Announce National REAL ID Public Campaign

http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid/pressrelease.php#more

UPDATE: Fifty organizations are now part of the Anti-National REAL ID public campaign.
Click here to see who has joined. http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid/pressrelease.php#more

WASHINGTON, DC -

Today, 43 organizations representing transpartisan, nonpartisan, privacy, consumer, civil liberty, civil rights, and immigrant organizations have joined to launch a national campaign to solicit public comments to stop the nation's first national ID system: REAL ID.

The groups joining in the anti-REAL ID campaign are concerned about the increased threat of counterfeiting and identity theft, lack of security to protect against unauthorized access to the document's machine readable content, increased cost to taxpayers, diverting of state funds intended for homeland security, increased costs for obtaining a license or state issued ID card, and because the REAL ID would create a false belief that it is secure and unforgeable.

This effort builds on the momentum that is signaling broad opposition to the REAL ID in the states. Montana has become the fifth state, following Maine, Idaho, Arkansas, and Washington, to prohibit cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security in implementing the REAL ID national identification system.

Under the Act, states and federal government would share access to a vast national database that could include
images of birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce papers, court ordered separations, medical records, and detailed information on the name, date of birth, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, address, telephone, e-mail address, Social Security Number for more than 240 million with no requirements or controls on how this database might be used. Many may not have the documents required to obtain a REAL ID, or they may face added requirements base on arbitrary and capricious decisions made by DMV employees.

The draft regulations to implement the REAL ID Act are open for comment until 5 p.m. EST on May 8, 2007.
To take action and submit comments against the fundamentally flawed national identification scheme,
under Docket No. 2006-0030-0001.

Online: Through the public submission portal at: http://www.regulations.gov

Or use one of the more user-friendly sites found at the following web addresses:

Electronic Frontier Foundation portal http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=287

Privacy Activism portal http://stoprealid.privacyactivism.org/wiki/index.php?title=Instructions_for_filing_comments

Fax Comments to the Department of Homeland Security through these sites:

Electronic Frontier Foundation http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=287

Privacy Coalition http://stoprealid.privacyactivism.org/wiki/index.php?title=Instructions_for_filing_comments

Or send a letter to the agency. Fax: [phone].

Postal mail:
Department of Homeland Security
Attn: NAC 1-12037
Washington, DC 20528

All comments must be received by until 5:00 PM EST on May 8, 2007.

Visit the Stop REAL ID Campaign site: http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid

:kick: & Recommended!

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. Don't forget Republican-proposed use of Real ID to suppress urban votes by the

MILLIONS!

[meldroc]

5. Ah yes!

Having all the state DMV databases interconnected so any person with access to one database can get info from all of them makes it a hell of a lot easier for Rove and his toadies to create caging lists...

[Breeze54]

6. A hardy KICK for the coffee clutch!

:kick:

Do your duty as a citizen and send a damn letter!!!!!! :P

[Mind_your_head]

7. K & R and writing a letter RIGHT F*CKING NOW!!!!!

:kick:

Everyone please kick this up and GET WRITING!!!

[meldroc]

8. DONE!

I'll just kick this thread again. Like I said, this may be our last chance to avert the Big Brothering coming from the Real ID Act.

[Mind_your_head]

9. I don't understand why more DU'ers aren't interested in this

Why is that?

Gonna kick this again.

[meldroc]

10. Muchos gracias.

I suppose that since a lot of the issues with Real ID are technical in nature, it's hard for a lot of people to understand the real dangers of this act. Do please read the Ars Technica article - it does explain things nicely.