National ID card a reality this spring

You might want to check if your state is opting out of the Fed’s National Identification Card program, which will be required by 2014 for citizens born after 1964. For non-participating states in the program, the Feds have mandated to the commercial airlines industry that your state driver’s license is no longer valid identification to board a plane.

During this presidential race the topic of economics is eclipsing the war. The heated topics of national security and job economics are fueling the government to exact these stringent laws. Taking all of the variables in consideration, the public wants to know who are U.S. citizens and who are not.

Proponents of the new ID card include some states which conclude that the price of reissuing identification to every citizen is costly and beyond current staff resources. They believe that that many of the records might contain outdated or incorrect information that would deny legal citizens the new card. Civil liberty groups are concerned the cards are a privacy concern due to the way the card is linked to a social security number. The cards were also planned to contain a device which broadcasts personal information to select reader devices by swiping. Concerns of tourists being singled out in crowds, or their personal information being captured by third party scanning devices was also brought up.

To address these issues the government extended the period for the transfer to the new cards in two phases. The first phase is for citizens born after 1964 to be converted first by 2014. The second phase is for citizens born before 1964 to be converted to the new card by 2017. The estimated saving by doing the conversion in two phases is expected to save states $10.1 billion over the previous cost of a single phase in of $14 billion. Additionally, the construction of the card will no longer require the controversial radio frequency Identification device or RFID for short.

The new card will have similarities to the current state issued card. There will be a digital photograph, and tougher anti-counterfeit measures. The legal status of the recipient will be cross checked through the Federal Social Security database and the state’s database.

According to Michael Chertoff, Homeland Security Secretary, the willingness of citizens curb the rampant forgery of counterfeit state issued licenses is growing. Currently fake driver’s licenses are easy to acquire, and the overworked staff at the DMV neither have the time nor resources to check an applicant’s legal status.

Whether you agree or disagree with the new standard, it’s a reality that will eventually be a requirement to get a job, board a plane, drive a car, and find a place to live, or even enter a government building.

source doc: the wall street journal