[9585] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: AGAINST ID CARDS
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Arnold G. Reinhold)
Fri Oct 5 10:20:09 2001
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 18:41:44 -0400
To: dcsb@ai.mit.edu, cryptography@wasabisystems.com
From: "Arnold G. Reinhold" <reinhold@world.std.com>
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I too am very nervous about the prospect of national ID cards. I=20
have an idea for a possible compromise, but I have not made up my=20
mind on it. I'm interested in hearing other people's opinions.
The idea is a federal standard for secure drivers' licenses. These=20
would be cards containing a chip that stores an electronically signed=20
and time stamped data file consisting of the driver's name, date of=20
birth, height, address, photo, and scanned signature, as well as=20
endorsements such as truck, school bus, motorcycle and hazmat=20
operator licenses. All this information is contained in existing=20
drivers' licenses, but in a way that is too easy to forge.
The licenses would still be issued by the states so there would be no=20
new bureaucracy. People who don't drive could get "proof of age"=20
cards using the same technology. Many states now issue such cards in=20
conventional formats for liquor purchase. There would be pressure to=20
expand the use of these licenses to other uses. That has already=20
happened for conventional DLs with liquor purchase and airline=20
boarding. Some new uses might be acceptable, e.g. using the cards to=20
contain pilot or boating licenses. Limitations on new uses could be=20
included in the enabling legislation.
The security model of the card would be privacy oriented, i.e.=20
limiting who could access the cards to authorized users and the=20
owner. The integrity of the information would come from the=20
electronic signatures. As I understand it, much of the forgery of=20
DLs that now takes place involves unauthorized use of the equipment=20
that produces legitimate cards. The secure DL would cut down on this=20
because the information on the card would be signed by by the=20
operator of the equipment, making the forgery more traceable. The=20
data would also be signed using a key that is only available at a=20
central location and a copy of the signed info would be retained in=20
the driver database (this information is already collected anyway).=20
This would make it more difficult to change just the photo on the=20
license, for example.
The main difference between a secure driver's license and a national=20
ID is that there would be no new requirement to obtain or carry the=20
card. One can look at it as the nose in the camel's tent or as a way=20
to deflect pressure for more Draconian solutions.
Thoughts?
Arnold Reinhold
At 1:47 PM -0400 10/3/2001, R. A. Hettinga wrote:
>--- begin forwarded text
>
>
>Status: U
>To: WashingtonBulletin@topica.com
>From: "National Review D.C." <nrdc@ix.netcom.com>
>Subject: AGAINST ID CARDS
>Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 13:58:40 +0000
>Reply-To: nrdc@ix.netcom.com
>List-Help: <http://topica.com/lists/WashingtonBulletin/>
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>Washington Bulletin: National Review's Internet Update for
>October 3, 2001
>http://www.nationalreview.com
>
>AGAINST ID CARDS
>[The worse way to fight terrorism]
>
>Only a bare majority of Americans--51 percent--support the creation of a
>national identity card, according to a new poll by Fabrizio, McLaughlin
>& Associates. This is a substantial loss of support since the Pew
>Research Center found 70 percent endorsing the concept in a survey it
>conducted immediately after the September 11 attacks.
>
>Yet plenty of warning signs remain. Westerners are only demographic
>group with a majority opposing ID cards (53 percent) and senior citizens
>are the only segment with a plurality against it (47 percent).
>Republicans and men are evenly split on the issue, with Democrats and
>women likely to favor it. Most troubling, however, may be that the poll
>shows overall support jumping to 61 percent when the ID card is
>described as =ECa measure to combat terrorism and make the use of false
>identities more difficult.=EE
>
>If ever the American public was primed to accept an ID card, the time is
>now. A recent Washington Post survey reports that 64 percent of
>Americans say they trust the federal government to do the right thing
>=ECnearly always=EE or =ECmost of the time=EE--the highest level of trust
>recorded since 1966 and twice the level measured just a year ago. =ECThis
>is the most collective mood we=EDve seen in America for a long time,=EE
>Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told the New York Times. =ECAnd it=EDs
>coming off one of the most individualistic eras in American history.=EE
>
>The Bush administration already has signaled through a spokesman that it
>does not support the idea, though several members of Congress have
>embraced it and House immigration subcommittee chairman George Gekas, a
>Pennsylvania Republican, says ID cards will definitely receive
>consideration. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has said his company, a leader
>in databases, would donate the software to make it happen.
>
>Conservatives must oppose these internal passports with vigor. They may
>be promoted now as tools for combating terrorism, but their potential
>for abuse is enormous. How long before the federal government also
>starts tracking gun sales through them? Or auditing income-tax returns?
>And don=EDt forget the little prop President Clinton held up during his
>health-care speech to Congress in 1993: a =EChealth-security card=EE that
>would have enabled the government=EDs takeover of a whole industry.
>
>Terrorism is obviously worth fighting, but ID cards aren=EDt the only way
>to do it or even the best way.
>
>(Yesterday, NRO published a symposium on ID cards:
><http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-symposium100201.shtml>.
>And one of your correspondents, in a previous life, co-authored an
>assessment of ID cards for the Cato Institute:
><http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa237.html>.)
>
>=3D=3D^=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
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>--- end forwarded text
>
>
>--
>-----------------
>R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
>The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
>44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
>"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
>[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
>experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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