Real ID: What is This Federal ID Program?

The US department of homeland security wants all Americans to have what they are calling a Real ID. Americans would need this Real ID card to board a plane, enter a federal building, or even open a bank account.

This Real ID card would have some of the same features as our state issued drivers’ licenses as well as the state issued ID cards. However, these cards would have features that are supposed to make it hard to create a forgery. There will be a bar code on the real ID cards that will be scanned upon entry to board a plane, or entry to a federal building. The bar code will be read into a nationwide database of known terrorists, if you are not a terrorists you should have no problem gaining entry to those places. .

The Real ID program as dictated when it began in 2005 by the government mandates that all Americans would need to have state issued ID by May 2008. Since many states cannot meet the deadline, it has been pushed back to 2013, according to the Washington Post. Every American will need to have the state issued real ID in order to do many of the things we commonly do without a state issued ID.

The Real ID program is a federal law, but if the states do not go along with it, then the State issued IDs for that state are not going to be recognized by the federal government.

So far, only Maine had rejected this Real ID law, which means none of the drivers’ licenses or state issued IDs there will work as federal ID. If you are a Maine resident, you will not be able to use your State issued ID to get into your country courthouse, board a plane, or even open a bank account. That is messed up.

I agree with the lawmakers in Maine this Real ID is crazy. With the Real ID, each person will be required to have this federal ID. Family member who are too young to drive, will still be required to have this Real ID, to accompany a parent into a courthouse, or on a plane. More states will follow Maine on rejecting this law as well because of the cost involved.

Some Americans will need to get their driver’s licenses renewed by that time so that is not a problem for those Americans. Not every American has a state issued ID but this new law requires us all to have them, if we want to open a bank account, board a plane, or enter a federal building.

A flawed system

As we, all know all ID cards and the documents we use to get these IDs can all be forged.

As a computer professional, I know databases can be ‘altered’ by those who can beat the passwords. Also with data entry, it is so easy to make a typo in a name or number on either accident or purpose. Wherever a system can be exploited, someone will be there to do so for the right amount of money.

Another flaw is that some of us, tend to lose cards or someone will steal the cards when the owner is not looking. There are muggings in the cities, as well as thefts of every nature, these cards will be lost. This would cause a whole host of problems, as you could imagine.

With the reasons mentioned in the proceeding paragraphs, I can see that this program may not be as effective as the government thinks it will be.

Sources and More information

Schneier on the Real ID cost

Washington Post article on the Real ID

http://www.news.com/2100-1028_3-6169388.html article on pros and cons of Real ID

States more states will follow Maine’s lead

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act

http://www.dhs.gov/xprevprot/laws/gc_1172767635686.shtm basis of the REAL ID program