REAL ID
Rules Expose International ID System
REAL ID Proposed Guidelines:
Questions & Answers

On March 1^st, 2007,
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed its Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the REAL ID ACT of 2005. NPRM tells
states what they must do to comply with REAL ID federal standards for
state driver’s license/ID cards. DHS provided 20 questions and answers
to explain the 162 page NPRM. However, the questions and answers
reveal deceit more than answers and clearly exposes REAL ID as INTERNATIONAL
ID.  

REAL ID is the fulfillment
of long-standing plans to require states to adopt biometric ID. Long
before 9/11, these plans date back to the Commercial Motor Vehicle
Safety Act of 1986, (required biometric CDL enrollment) and the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that
placed state ID under the influence of the AMMVA (American Association
of Motor Vehicle Administrators). The AAMVA is an international association
of motor vehicle and law enforcement administrators that strongly advocates
biometrics. Now that REAL ID is law, DHS officials have been boasting
of biometrifying the world population and creating a
permanent biometric link to one’s identity
to be used by nations and corporations. 

Since 1996, the federal government
has tried to hide the international influence that is pushing current
driver’s license design including the use of biometrics. This influence
has come from two major international organizations, the AAMVA and the
ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization- affiliated with the
United Nations). The AAMVA has international influence over driver’s
license design through State and international DMV, DPS agencies. The
ICAO is in charge of creating an international biometric passport design
for most nations that includes a chip for storing personal-biometric
data.

REAL ID IS INTERNATIONAL
ID

The NPRM finally names these
organizations and defines their roles in the new ID standards. It is
now much easier to see where DHS is REALLY going with REAL ID. One
may also review the official reports on 9/11 that read like a roadmap
to implement global biometrics. The new driver’s license/ID card
(DL/ID card) design adopts many features of the AAMVA’s Personal
Identification €“ AAMVA International Specification
€“ DL/ID Card Design of 2005 (the NPRM drops the word international
from its AAMVA specification description).  

The ICAO sets the photo image
capture specifications for REAL ID. These specifications are biometric
compatible. In other words, REAL ID photo images can be read by facial
image recognition software turning the images into a biometric ID image.
These standards are also being adopted by many other nations for their
biometric DL/ID cards and biometric passports. Biometrics is the
foundational element for REAL ID, TWIC, WHTI, e-passport (globally),
SPP and other federal initiatives. 

Knowing these facts about international
biometric ID, and then reading the DHS-NPRM questions and answers, it
is easy to conclude that DHS is using deceit, not facts, to sway public
opinion about REAL ID.  Below are a few of the DHS Questions and
Answers and the REAL ANSWERS in response. 

REAL ID
Proposed Guidelines: Questions & Answers
DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

Where did this effort originate?

The 9/11 Commission recommended
that the U.S. improve its system for issuing secure identification documents.
In the Commission’s words, At many entry points to vulnerable facilities,
including gates for boarding aircraft, sources of identification are
the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are
and to check whether they are terrorists.  The Commission specifically
urged the federal government to set standards for the issuance of€¦sources
of identification, such as driver’s licenses.  Congress responded
to this key recommendation by passing the Real ID Act  

REAL ANSWER: Federal agencies
have been pushing for a national biometric ID, since the mid 80’s,
long before 9/11. This is evident in laws and bills like the
Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 and the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
The 1986 law required biometrics for commercial license holders and
the IIRIRA 1996 placed an international organization, the AAMVA,
in charge of State ID standards. This issue is NOT about 9/11. It is
about control. 9/11, and our nation’s security, is being used as the
most recent justification for biometrics. 

DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

What is a REAL ID license
needed for?

The REAL ID Act requires that
a REAL ID driver’s license be used for official purposes, as
defined by DHS. In the rule, DHS is proposing to limit the official
purposes of a REAL ID license to those listed by Congress in the law:
accessing a Federal facility; boarding Federally-regulated commercial
aircraft; and entering nuclear power plants. DHS may consider expanding
these official purposes through future rulemakings to maximize the security
benefits of REAL ID.  

REAL ANSWER: REAL ID is to be
used for official purposes as defined by DHS, not Congress. Those
official purposes are listed as accessing a Federal facility; boarding
Federally-regulated commercial aircraft; and entering nuclear power
plants. However, the law states that federal agencies will no longer
accept a non-compliant DL/ID after May 2008. Therefore, DHS is well
within its authorized jurisdiction to expand
these official purposes through future rulemakings. For example,
a DHS form is now part of the process when one opens a bank account
(not mentioned above). It must be assumed that DHS may, in the future,
only accept a compliant ID for banking. DHS will have control over our
financial lives as well as our driving and flying. Expanding
official purposes may also include additional intrusive
security measures DHS sees fit to employ. 

DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

How does the NPRM protect
Privacy of license holders?

Continuing to protect the privacy
of license holders was a key consideration for DHS in the development
of this NPRM, which contains a detailed analysis of the three key privacy
issues posed by the Act: (1) the connectivity of the databases; (2)
the protection of the personal information stored in the State databases;
and (3) the protection of the personal information stored on machine
readable technology on the DL/IDs. We invite comments on whether the
steps outlined within the NPRM are appropriate and adequate.

&

DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

Who will have access to
the information that the DMV will be required to collect?

As they do now, authorized
DMV officials in the licensing State will have access to DMV records.
DMV employees in one State cannot fish the records in another
State. The proposed rule requires States to include a comprehensive
security plan for safeguarding information collected, stored, or disseminated
for purposes of complying with the REAL ID Act, including procedures
to prevent unauthorized access, use, or dissemination of applicant information
and images of source documents retained pursuant to the Act and standards
and procedures for document retention and destruction.  

REAL ANSWER: Privacy and massive disclosure of personal
information are hardly compatible concepts, and in this case, illegal.
Linking State databases violates the Fourth Amendment that protects
us from illegal searches of our houses, papers, and effects. Information
given to the State, and protected by State law, will be available to
ALL 50 STATES, if REAL ID goes into effect (Sec. 37.33 (b) pg. 149 NPRM).
The answer above says that other states cannot
fish for information. But, the NPRM states: 

States must provide
to all other States electronic access to information contained in the
motor vehicle database of the State, in a manner approved by DHS pursuant
to this regulation. 

Information is shared through
an open and linked system without accountability. Information is available
without first obtaining approval from the State that collected the data.
THIS DOES NOT PROTECT PRIVACY. IT FACILITATES ID THEFT.  A break-in
at just ONE DMV, DPS or Tag Agent could result in total access to ALL
personal-biometric information of ALL drivers in the U.S. This threat
is amplified as data is shared globally. 

DHS is also proposing a national
one-stop-shopping database for verifying ID documents. This will give
ALL STATES instant access to ALL our personal, historical, financial
and identifiable information used for ID verification when obtaining
an REAL ID DL/ID (pg 26), as well as access to FEDERAL DATABASES (see
pg 26 NPRM federated query service and
federal reference databases). Does this mean States (and DHS)
will have access to our banking information, medical information, IRS
records and State Tax records? There appears to be no limit as to what
information will be linked and available in the system. 

The AAMVA already provides States
a portal for online SSN verification (SSOLV). Is our personal information
to be verified through an international organization’s website? This
same AAMVA openly and publicly exposed the name, address and SSN of
dozens of New Mexico residents on the AAMVA website. DHS’s TSA division
lost a hard drive containing personal information of thousands of employees.
The AAMVA and DHS appear to be incapable of protecting their own data,
much less the administration of an international database. It will be
impossible to protect privacy with this system. 

Also, employees at DMV, DPS agencies
and tag agents will have to become instant experts in identifying fraudulent
documents, immigration issues, and document-office security measures.

DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

Is this a National ID card?

No. The proposed regulations
establish common standards for States to issue licenses. The Federal
Government is not issuing the licenses, is not collecting information
about license holders, and is not requiring States to transmit license
holder information to the Federal Government that the Government does
not already have (such as a Social Security Number). Most States already
routinely collect the information required by the Act and the proposed
regulations.

&

DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

Do the proposed regulations
require States to collect fingerprints or iris images from drivers?

No. Though States may independently
choose to implement biometrics into their driver’s license process,
the NPRM does not require a State to collect fingerprints, iris images,
or other biometric data in connection with obtaining a license and has
no plans to serve as a repository for the face images the states will
collect.  

REAL ANSWER: No,
it is not a National ID card, it is
an INTERNATIONAL ID CARD. Card design, document scanning, signature
storage, facial image capture, etc. and systems for
interoperability €”for easy sharing of documents between nations
and corporation, are ALL designed by international organizations to
international sharing standards. These are the same standards also being
adopted by most other nations for their ID.  

No fingerprints or iris scans
are required BUT, FACIAL IMAGE CAPTURE (photo) IS BIOMETRIC COMPATIBLE
- Facial image capture standards are based on the ICAO’s
Biometric data interchange formats (ref. 17 pg.
68 NPRM) ensuring that all non-biometric DL/ID photos will
be compatible with international facial recognition systems.
Only access to the data is needed for conversion.  

This means that a State
with biometrics can access a facial image from a State without biometrics
and convert the image into a facial recognition biometric image (see
page 83 NPRM).

We already have enrollment into
a biometric ID system. We already have international standards for biometric
ID. The REAL DANGER with REAL ID is not cost, but that it opens State
databases containing biometric-personal information and requires all
non-biometric States to use biometric standards so their data can be
converted. Database linking is the last part to establish a global system
of identification and financial control. Such a system would destroy
our nation’s sovereignty and our constitutional way of life because
the people would no longer have access to those who control such a powerful
document.

Do a word search in the NPRM
for AAMVA and ICAO and read the technical requirements for
which these international organizations have authority.

DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

Will a national database
be created that stores information about every applicant?

No. The REAL ID Act and these
regulations do not establish a national database of driver information.
States will continue to collect and store information about applicants
as they do today. The NPRM does not propose to change this practice
and would not give the Federal government any greater access to this
information.

REAL ANSWER:
How is it possible for DHS to provide states with an information-clearing-house
(federated query service) for the ease of State agencies if it
does not have access to those databases itself? DHS officials, in biometric
conferences, have made it clear they intend to share personal-biometric
data globally beginning with Asia and Europe, but here we read a different
response. Why? How can we trust federal agencies that have lied to us
while supposedly protecting us? Once States lose control and share data,
DHS has the power to take over the database since they already have
control over the execution of the system and ability to set new security
standards as they see fit at a later date.

DHS QUESTION AND ANSWER

Will REAL ID change how
my license looks?

The proposed rule does not
specify precise designs or layouts of state issued licenses. Instead,
DHS is proposing minimum standards that will appear on the face of the
card. The proposed regulation would require each of the following on
the face of REAL IDs; space available for 39 characters for full legal
name; address of principal residence; digital photograph; gender; date
of birth; signature, document number; and machine readable technology.
Additionally, temporary REAL IDs would need to clearly state that they
are temporary. Non-REAL IDs issued by compliant States would need to
clearly state on their face that they are not acceptable for Federal
official purposes and use a unique design or color that clearly distinguishes
them from REAL ID licenses.  

REAL ANSWER: These
non-precise designs are precisely spelled out based on the AAMVA
International DL/ID Card Design. Photo images are also spelled out in
the ICAO biometric image collection standards. Again, we have an international
DL/ID card regardless of what State name or color is on the card. The
cosmetic differences between State ID cards is part of the deception,
giving the impression of retained State sovereignty, when in fact States
will have totally lost their sovereignty.