Not quite the "Mark of the Beast" but one huge step toward it.Found this article in the news today:What's all the fuss with the Real ID Act about?President Bush is expected to sign an $82 billionmilitary spending bill soon that will, in part, createelectronically readable, federally approved ID cardsfor Americans. The House of Representativesoverwhelmingly approved the package--which includesthe Real ID Act--on Thursday.What does that mean for me?Starting three years from now, if you live or work inthe United States, you'll need a federally approved IDcard to travel on an airplane, open a bank account,collect Social Security payments, or take advantage ofnearly any government service. Practically speaking,your driver's license likely will have to be reissuedto meet federal standards.What's new:The House of Representatives has approved an $82billion military spending bill with an attachment thatwould mandate electronically readable ID cards forAmericans. President Bush is expected to sign thebill.Bottom line:The Real ID Act would establish what amounts to anational identity card. State drivers' licenses andother such documents would have to meet federal IDstandards established by the Department of HomelandSecurity.The Real ID Act hands the Department of HomelandSecurity the power to set these standards anddetermine whether state drivers' licenses and other IDcards pass muster. Only ID cards approved by HomelandSecurity can be accepted "for any official purpose" bythe feds.How will I get one of these new ID cards?You'll still get one through your state motor vehicleagency, and it will likely take the place of yourdrivers' license. But the identification process willbe more rigorous.For instance, you'll need to bring a "photo identitydocument," document your birth date and address, andshow that your Social Security number is what you hadclaimed it to be. U.S. citizens will have to provethat status, and foreigners will have to show a validvisa.State DMVs will have to verify that these identitydocuments are legitimate, digitize them and store thempermanently. In addition, Social Security numbers mustbe verified with the Social Security Administration.What's going to be stored on this ID card?At a minimum: name, birth date, sex, ID number, adigital photograph, address, and a "commonmachine-readable technology" that Homeland Securitywill decide on. The card must also sport "physicalsecurity features designed to prevent tampering,counterfeiting, or duplication of the document forfraudulent purposes."Homeland Security is permitted to add additionalrequirements--such as a fingerprint or retinalscan--on top of those. We won't know for a while whatthese additional requirements will be.Why did these ID requirements get attached to an"emergency" military spending bill?Because it's difficult for politicians to vote againstmoney that will go to the troops in Iraq and tsunamirelief. The funds cover ammunition, weapons, trackedcombat vehicles, aircraft, troop housing, deathbenefits, and so on.The House already approved a standalone version of theReal IDAct in February, but by a relatively close margin of261-161. It was expected to run into some trouble inthe Senate. Now that it's part of an Iraq spendingbill, senators won't want to vote against it.What's the justification for this legislation anyway?Its supporters say that the Real ID Act is necessaryto hinder terrorists, and to follow the ID cardrecommendations that the 9/11 Commission made lastyear.It will "hamper the ability of terrorist and criminalaliens to move freely throughout our society byrequiring that all states require proof of lawfulpresence in the U.S. for their drivers' licenses to beaccepted as identification for federal purposes suchas boarding a commercial airplane, entering a federalbuilding, or a nuclear power plant," Rep. F. JamesSensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said during thedebate Thursday.You said the ID card will be electronically readable.What does that mean?The Real ID Act says federally accepted ID cards mustbe "machine readable," and lets Homeland Securitydetermine the details. That could end up being amagnetic strip, enhanced bar code, or radio frequencyidentification (RFID) chips.In the past, Homeland Security has indicated it likesthe concept of RFID chips. The State Department isalready going to be embedding RFID devices inpassports, and Homeland Security wants to issueRFID-outfitted IDs to foreign visitors who enter thecountry at the Mexican and Canadian borders. Theagency plans to start a yearlong test of thetechnology in July at checkpoints in Arizona, New Yorkand Washington state.Will state DMVs share this information?Good question. The answer is yes. In exchange forfederal cash, states must agree to link up theirdatabases. Specifically, the Real ID Act says it hopesto "provide electronic access by a state toinformation contained in the motor vehicle databasesof all other states."Is this legislation a done deal?Pretty much. The House of Representatives approved thepackage on Thursday by a vote of 368-58. Only three ofthe "nay" votes were Republicans; the rest wereDemocrats. The Senate is scheduled to vote on it nextweek and is expected to approve it as well.White House spokesman Scott McClellan has toldreporters "the president supports" the standalone RealID Act, and the Bush administration has come out withan official endorsement. As far back as July 2002, theBush administration has been talking about assisting"the states in crafting solutions to curtail thefuture abuse of drivers' licenses by terroristorganizations."Who were the three Republicans who voted against it?Reps. Howard Coble of North Carolina, John Duncan ofTennessee, and Ron Paul of Texas.Paul has warned that the Real ID Act "establishes anational ID card" and "gives authority to theSecretary of Homeland Security to unilaterally addrequirements as he sees fit."Is this a national ID card?It depends on whom you ask. Barry Steinhardt, directorof the American Civil Liberties Union's technology andliberty program, says: "It's going to result ineveryone, from the 7-Eleven store to the bank andairlines, demanding to see the ID card. They're goingto scan it in. They're going to have all the data onit from the front of the card...It's going to be notjust a national ID card but a national database."At the moment, state driver's licenses aren't easy forbars, banks, airlines and so on to swipe through cardreaders because they're not uniform; some may havebarcodes but no magnetic stripes, for instance, andsome may lack both. Steinhardt predicts thefederalized IDs will be a gold mine for governmentagencies and marketers. Also, he notes that theSupreme Court ruled last year that police can demandto see ID from law-abiding U.S. citizens.Will it be challenged in court?Maybe. "We're exploring whether there are anylitigation possibilities here," says the ACLU'sSteinhardt.One possible legal argument would challenge anyrequirement for a photograph on the ID card as aviolation of religious freedom. A second would arguethat the legislation imposes costs on states withoutproperly reimbursing them.When does it take effect?The Real ID Act takes effect "three years after thedate of the enactment" of the legislation. So if theSenate and Bush give it the thumbs-up this month, itseffective date would be sometime in May 2008.
