p2pnet.net News:- More than 600 organizations opposed it. But the US senate has nonetheless passed without debate the controversial ID bill for standardizing national drivers` licenses.

The legislation mandates federal identification standards and requires states DMVs, which have become the targets of identity thieves, to collect sensitive personal information, says EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center).

The senate yesterday approved the supplemental military spending bill to which the REAL ID Act was attached.

Supporters say the bill would, “prevent terrorists and undocumented immigrants from obtaining legitimate documents that would help them move freely through the country,” says Wired News, going on:

“But opponents of the bill say it would create a national ID card and a de facto national database – a concept that Congress rejected when it was first proposed several years ago.

“The act would force states to produce standardized, tamper-resistant driver’s licenses that would include machine-readable, encoded data. States wouldn’t be required to comply. But those that don’t comply would create hardship for residents, who wouldn’t be able to use their licenses as official identification to travel on airplanes, collect federal benefits or gain access to federal buildings.”

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See:-
EPIC – Congress Passes Controversial ID Bill Without Debate, May 11, 2005
Wired News – National ID Battle Continues, May 12, 2004

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 12th, 2005 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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