#6 - WA State and Real ID/National ID

The Situation
Congress enacted a law called REAL ID in 2005 that prohibits federal agencies from accepting non-REAL ID compliant state drivers licenses for an official purpose such as boarding Federally-regulated commercial aircraft. Currently, security staff at airport security check points can use state drivers licenses as part of their decision about whether to allow you to board a plane. Lawmakers who passed the act considered the current procedures that states use for issuing drivers licenses too insecure. The REAL ID Act and its corresponding federal regulation (REAL ID Final Rule) attempts to make the process more secure. To receive a REAL ID-compliant drivers license, the applicant must submit to state DMVs certain prescribed documents that verify their identity and legal status. Those who cannot produce federally acceptable identity and legal status documents would not receive a REAL ID compliant drivers license from their state DMV. The REAL ID Act also required states to encode certain information about the applicant in the license card and in a national database. Several states, including Washington, enacted laws prohibiting their state agencies from implementing the REAL ID until the federal government provided funding and enacted stronger security and privacy provisions.

Section 7212 of the "9/11 Commission Implementation Act of 2004," had established a cooperative state-federal process, via a negotiated rule-making procedure, to create federal standards for driver’s licenses. The REAL ID act, however, repealed that section, turning the negotiated process into a legislated notice-and-comment process.

REAL ID required state DMVs to:

• accept a federally defined set of documents as proof of identity and as the basis for issuing the license
  
• verify these documents with issuers
• verify the citizenship status of all those who want a REAL ID-approved state driver's license or identification cards (EPIC)
  
• encode certain information on a person's drivers license
• store the same information about the person in a national database
  

The Information Required on the License
"To meet the requirements of this section, a State shall include, at a minimum, the following information and features on each driver's license and identification card issued to a person by the State:

• (1) The person's full legal name.
• (2) The person's date of birth.
• (3) The person's gender.
• (4) The person's driver's license or identification card number.
• (5) A digital photograph of the person.
• (6) The person's address of principle residence.
• (7) The person's signature.
• (8) Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.
• (9) A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements."

The Documentation Required to Obtain a License (Wikipedia)
Before a card can be issued, the applicant must provide the following documentation:

• A photo ID, or a non-photo ID that includes full legal name and birthdate.
• Documentation of birthdate.
• Documentation of legal status and Social Security number
• Documentation showing name and principal residence address.
• Digital images of each identity document will be stored in each state DMV database.

What this means is that anyone who cannot produce these documents will not receive a REAL ID compliant drivers license.

"DHS does not believe that this rule treats citizens and aliens differently--each is required to prove identity and lawful status to obtain a REAL ID driver's license." (REAL ID Final Rule, pg 5297)


The Problem
REAL ID:

• carries financial burdens for states without offering funding
• raises privacy concerns
• effectively institutes a National ID program
• makes the information more vulnerable to identity theft and misuse (ACLU)
  

The Opportunity
REAL ID offers the opportunity to:

• improve security at our borders
• possibly suppress identity fraud — but by a small amount (CATO referring to an OMB study)
  

Considerations
Critics:

• consider the bill an attempt to build a federal surveillance infrastructure (CATO)
  
• believe the bill does not adequately protect personal information, both on the drivers license and in the national database
  

References
Gregoire news release from March 2007
EPIC's Perspective
CATO link
ACLU
REAL ID Final Rule