Surveillance and Tracking of Survivors Via Machine Readable IDs

Requiring a common machine readable technology exposes individuals to identity theft, and turns the drivers license into a surveillance and tracking system beyond a simple identification system. Making IDs easily machine readable changes the nature of the interaction when we identify ourselves. When another person visually checks your ID, they look to see if you match your ID. When a machine does it, it records the information on the card. Thus what used to be an ID check is now a recording, and thus, surveillance and data collection.

Bars, businesses and private entities will be reading these IDs, collecting the information on them, and building private databases. Some bars in the New York City area are already doing this:

Club managers love the gadget, and it's rapidly becoming standard issue at the bigger clubs in Manhattan, New Jersey and elsewhere. But the box does more than just check birth dates. It also retains the customer's name, address, license number -- even height, weight and eye color. All that information then can easily be downloaded into a computer system. Most patrons have no idea their information is being electronically stored -- nor are they asked if they mind.

Ian T. Shern, With ID Swipe, Big Brother Bellies up to the Bar, Star Ledger, Nov 21, 2006. These databases will include not just all the information from the license, but also be used for surveillance, tracking, and profiling purposes. The information collected at bars, retail establishments, or other private parties is valuable and can be sold to data brokers. For an example of a player on the personal data broker industry, see EPIC's page on Choicepoint. Though the details are not yet available, Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) could be used to implement this machine readable technology. RFID chips can be read at a distance, and through clothes or other materials, via radio signals. Usually these are billed as more convenient than magnetic strips because then licenses can be scanned without being removed from wallets or the person. This technology would greatly expand the possible harms from private databases and identity theft: people's license data can be tracked and captured without them knowing, and without the license leaving a person's wallet. For more on RFID technology, see EPIC's RFID page. [From Electronic Privacy Info. Center ]

UPDATE: Homeland Security may also require the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in the cards as part of the “common machine readable technology,” which means the sensitive data would be transmitted wirelessly and vulnerable to interception by third parties. The agency is considering “vicinity read” or “long range” RFID tags even though the longer distance increases the risks of security and privacy problems associated with the wireless technology: clandestine tracking, loss of control of data by cardholder, and interception of data by unauthorized individuals. (Dep’t of Homeland Sec., Notice of proposed rulemaking: Minimum Standards for Driver’s licenses and Identification Cards Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes (Mar. 1, 2007) at 94; for more information on the privacy and security risks associated with the use of radio frequency identification technology, see EPIC’s page on RFID.) [From Electronic Privacy Info. Center].