Real IdThe Real Id Act passed in the spring of 2005 federalized control over driver's licenses. "The act gave the Department of Homeland Security the power to set technology standards for licenses -- including the potential to require them to carry RFID chips. Requiring spychips in licenses would mean consumers could not leave home without a tracking device, at least not if they're driving. (This bill has been widely denounced by civil libertarians as creating a de facto national ID card.)" from Spychips by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre. Governments like to assure their citizens that surveillance will make them safer, but surveillance is more likely to ensure the security of the regime in power than to protect the citizens. Once surveillance tools are in place,’ governments are tempted to use them to identify and hassle people who oppose their rule, whether they are members of opposing political parties (think Watergate) or citizens acting for peaceful change (think Martin Luther King, or, more recently, twenty-one-year-old Sara Bardwell, a member of the group “Food not Bombs” that cooks for the homeless, who was intimidated by the FBI for protesting the Iraq War. Surveillance by the state has a chilling effect on people’s willingness to work for social change and root out abuse. In a surveillance state, people keep their heads low and conform. And, of course, that’s just how the government likes it." from Spychips by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre. Real ID showdown (1/12/2008) Naomi Klein on Big Brother 'Democracy' ACLU reasons to reject national id cards Bruce Schneier on Passports with RFID RFID used on people (7/2008) A Brief History of Government Surveillance U.S. School District to Begin Microchipping Students --Buses fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices 16 Jun 2008 A Rhode Island school district has announced a pilot program to monitor student movements by means of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips implanted in their schoolbags. The Middletown School District, in partnership with MAP Information Technology Corp., has launched a pilot program to implant RFID chips into the schoolbags of 80 children at the Aquidneck School. Each chip would be programmed with a student identification number, and would be read by an external device installed in one of two school buses. From the Daily Reckoning dated 6/3/06This past Thursday, the House approved this set of rules
that will force Alabama's disastrous experience with Real ID. Real ID will increase exposure to ID theft
National Database of newborn DNASigned into law April 24, 2008, the oh-so innocent sounding Newborn
It's Eyes (video) |