Subtle Rantings

Details are emerging about the new REAL ID and it’s impending implementation. In case you’ve been living under a rock the past couple years, REAL ID is the national standard that all State issued driver’s licenses must conform to by 2011. It’s been labeled as a secure ID card. Most critics see it as a National ID card and ultimately a complete failure for the objectives it is being touted to achieve. DHS has stated that this ID program will help reduce the risk of terrorism, identity theft occurrences and curb the illegal immigration problem. I say this will not happen and can not be achieved as long as we humans exist.

REAL ID will not solve the risk of terrorism. As long as humans are involved in security checkpoints, airline cargo checks, sporting event security, DMV license issuances, etc, etc, there will ALWAYS be someone who is corrupt and will break the law. There will always be someone who is willing to be bribed to do something illegal. Sure the price to play may go up, but I promise you, there will always be a way to blow something up or cause a terroristic event. No form of identification will ever be the tool capable of stopping terrorism.

REAL ID will not solve identity theft. See above point. It’s been said before that if man makes it, it can be duplicated. You want everything digital and computerized to remove the human element and make things harder to forge? Fine, but don’t tell me there aren’t any hackers out there who will work for money. Don’t tell me there aren’t plenty of vulnerabilities and weaknesses waiting to be exploited in these systems. If you need proof, just look at all the data breaches of 2007. I know of two state agencies that were breached and had taxpayer information compromised. Even the UK lost MILLIONS of records with it’s citizens personal information. No, I promise, identity theft can not be stopped until we as a society get away from using one unique identifier which was NEVER intended to serve that role: the Social Security Number.

REAL ID will not stop illegal immigration. How can it? People assume the government actually wants to do something about illegal immigration. If that was the case, our local law enforcement would not be begging INS/ICE to cart away all the illegals they apprehend. Unfortunately, the fact is, most local law enforcement agencies won’t even consider if someone is illegal or not unless it’s a violent crime or more than a misdemeanor. INS/ICE has been known to ask local agencies to not even call them unless they have more than a certain number of illegals apprehended. But Chertoff and all the goons at DHS are telling me REAL ID will fix that? Get real.

Popularity: 11% [?]

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.