Read ID, Real Debate Washington Technology (05/28/07) Vol. 22, No. 9, P. 24; Lipowicz, Alice
as it appeared in the June 1, 2007 edition of ACM TechNews.
Security professionals, vendors, and trade groups continue to argue over the feasibility and effectiveness of the 2005 Real ID Act, which would standardize driver's licenses nationwide. Under the act, states would gather and electronically house millions of individuals' personal information, and the states' databases would link together. The concept was developed by the 9/11 Commission to close gaps in the current system, but critics contend that the act's mandates would put people at risk for identity theft, racial profiling, and other threats to civil liberties. Eugene Spafford, ACM's U.S. policy committee chairman, asserted that Real ID sets up the possibility of identity theft "on an unprecedented scale," and voiced concerns that states will establish insufficient privacy protections as they hurry to meet Real ID deadlines. Spafford cited audit trails, strong data access controls, and employee background checks as types of protections that should be employed, as well as a paper trail for the system. The DHS Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee declined to sanction the program, as panelists felt that concerns about privacy, data security, and cost, among others, had yet to be resolved. Still, the committee noted that the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators' (AAMVA) database system could be a potential prototype for Real ID. ACM also characterized AAMVA's system as "effective," and said that its system design could create a national database, if expanded in scope. For more information on ACM's Real-ID activities, visit http://www.acm.org/usacm Click Here to View Full Article
