A New License, For More Than Just Driving2008

7/31/2019 A New License, For More Than Just Driving2008

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September 17, 2008, 3:34 PM

A New License, for More Than JustDrivingBy JENNIFER 8. LEE

New York State on Tuesdaybegan offering an enhanced

drivers license, one of a number of non-passport citizen travel

documents that are making their way down bureaucratic

government pipelines. While it looks and functions as a license

for driving, only United States citizens can get the voluntarynew license (or the non-driver equivalent), which means it can

be used for land and sea crossings to Mexico, Canada and the

Caribbean islands.

It is also a high-tech card, equipped with a vicinityRadio

Frequency Identification (RFID) chip that will broadcast a

number to pull up biographic and biometric data for the border

officer. (What is good for E-ZPass andWal-Mart is good for

people, too). The same information that is in the front of the

enhanced drivers license document is in the database, saidKen Brown, a spokesman for the New York State Department of

Motor Vehicles. They are also sending a sleeve out with the ID,

he said. What it does is prevent transmission of that secure

number.

This is part of the function creep around drivers licenses that

The new high-tech enhanced drivers license, which features an American flag icon,

will allow people to cross over land and sea in lieu of using a passport. (Photo: New

York State Department of Motor Vehicles)
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NEW YORK TODAY

some people have long been fearing. The push to make the a

drivers license a secure identity document, as opposed to

simply a credential to drive, has caused protests among privacy

advocates (and libertarians) who warn that the licenses are

verging on becoming a de facto national ID. And numerous

state governments have rebelled (in part because of cost) at

federal standards for drivers licenses issued by the Department

of Homeland Security.

At the same time, a number of border states have been leading

the charge for voluntary high-tech drivers licenses for other

reasons such as anxieties over how the border restrictions will

cause economic drags and inconveniences. (According to New

York State statistics, Canadians make 2.5 million visits to New

York State annually, spending $679 million, while New York

residents make 1.7 million visits to Canada, spending $561

million.)

For many years, Canadians and American citizens were exempt

from presenting a passport or other secure document to cross

the worlds longest nonmilitarized border 5,526 miles overland and water. The Homeland Security Department said that

border officers reported more than 1,500 cases of people falsely

claiming to be American citizens between October and

December 2007. Under pressure to tighten border security, the

United States set a deadline of January 2008, after which a

traveler would have to present a passport in crossing back over

land to the United States from Canada and Mexico, among

other places. The requirement overwhelmed the American

passport system with applications in a country where only 24

percent of the people originally had passports. The deadline

was then pushed back to January 2009.

The compromise has been identification cards that essentially

prove citizenship, things that have not historically existed in the

United States, despite being widely used in other countries like

China, Thailand, Malaysia and Russia.

Washington State, which experiences a lot of cross-border

traffic with British Columbia, was the first state to offer the

enhanced drivers license in January. Other border states areworking with the Department of Homeland Security, including

Michigan,Vermont,Arizona, California and Texas. (In

contrast, Maine has led the charge among states protesting the

federal standards.)

And even Americans who do not live in one of the border states

may soon be able to obtain a passport card from the State

Department (note how the guys name is Happy Traveler), a

passport in card form that fills a demand by Americans for a

less cumbersome citizen document to cross borders. There are

also a number of trusted travelers identification cards that

allow border clearance for low-risk, preapproved travelers

between Canada and the United States whether by air, land or

sea.

To apply for a New York special license, applicants are required
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Albany, Government & Politics, Highlights, New York State, Drivers Licenses,

homeland security, national ID

Related Posts

to provide their Social Security card, proofs of identity,

citizenship and residency. The license costs $30 more than a

normal license or state ID, and is valid for eight years. (The

price of a United States passport is more than $100.)

The standards for these cards come from the Western

Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which came from the the

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004

[pdf], requiring all travelers to present a passport or other

document that denotes identity and citizenship when entering

the United States.

It was always natural to turn to drivers licenses, since they are

widely seen as documents that indicate legal presence in the

United States regardless of whether or not that is legislatively

true. This is why it has been difficult for states, including New

York, to issue licenses to illegal immigrants, despite the public

safety issues involved of having nonlicensed drivers on the road.

This has been a touchy area, and last year it tripped up Senator

Hillary Rodham Clinton, who stumbled on a question during a

presidential primary debate. And recently, the Supreme Court

upheld the Indiana identification requirement for voting.

But perhaps convenience will drive people to vote with their feet

for these citizen licenses. In the first year, Mr. Brown said, 15 to

20 percent of New Yorkers with drivers licenses or state IDs are

expected to convert to the high-tech version. Take note, because

about one-third of Americans live in states that are already in

discussions with the Department of Homeland Security for the

citizen drivers licenses.

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From 1 to 25 of 58 Comments

1 23Next

1. September 17,

2008

4:02 pm

Link

Here we go again

With all these changes would it hurt the

designers of this new license to use the proper

possessive apostrophy as in; Drivers License as

other English speaking states do??
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4/9

Perley J . Thibodeau

2. September 17,

2008

4:10 pm

Link

Perley, would it hurt you to spell apostrophe

properly?

Skip Harrington

3. September 17,

2008

4:27 pm

Link

Zing! The grammar hammer hits all, equally.

That said, Im not a huge fan of states having to

take responsibility for what the State

Department should be doing. All I need is a fake

social security card and a few other documents

and I can get something with a RFID that allows

me to cross borders? Logically, I should be

allowed to present this ID and get a passport.

The problem with this security arrangement is

that it makes the employees of the DMV

responsible for checking up on people. I dont

intend to malign anyone working at the DMV,

but this isnt their job, theyre busy enough as itis. Will this makes lines shorter or longer for

those of us who simply want to renew a license?

McCrum

4. September 17,

2008

4:31 pm

Link

This is like the proposed UK card scheme .. all

kinds of info including Soc Sec numbers, health

details, criminal record, marital status etc. can

be loaded onto this little baby. And dont believe

the little jacketwill stop people picking upyour signal and data!

Esteban

5. September 17,

2008

4:36 pm

Link

Oh great another us of the flawed and

insecure RFID chips.

When they issue a protective sleeve for security

reasons you know its an even bigger problem

michael

6. September 17,

2008

4:39 pm

Link

I might seriously weigh giving this much more

personal information to the state and federal

government, and having a miniature radio

transmitter in my pocket beaming out my

credentials to the closest hacker, and paying

$30 more, if they could guarantee that I would

also get a license photo as good as this one.

Enhanced, indeed.

Will

7. September 17,

2008

4:39 pm

Link

The compromise has been identification cards

that essentially prove citizenship, things that

have not historically existed in the United

States, despite being widely used in other


5/9

countries like China, Thailand, Malaysia and

Russia.

What do you mean despite? I dont think the

citizen-tracking traditions of China or Russia

should really apply as an example for us here.

A perhaps more appropriate phrasing would

read: things that have not historically existed

in the United States, thank God; paranoid

autocracies like China and Russia use them.

Dan

8. September 17,

2008

4:46 pm

Link

Great, Big Brother wants to put all my personal

info into a microchip that can be read by any

identity thief.

I have a passport. If we want the USA to be like

the USSR, then require all citizens to carry their

passports at all times. Otherwise, leave me an

my driver license the heck alone!

JL

9. September 17,

2008

4:46 pm

Link

Interesting concept, the possessive. For things

we did before we separated from England we

use their term. For instance, we say fishing

license, or hunting license. To be consistent, and

to avoid apostrophes, we could just call it a

driving license.

Also, I was just in Tucson, working with the

Pascua Yaqui tribe. Their lands are bisected by

the US-Mexican border. But, luckily, all they

need is tribal ID to cross. I think thats true with

Native Americans/First Nations up in Upstate

NY and Canada, too.

Brian Gately

10. September 17,

2008

4:53 pm

Link

As a regular traveler throughout the US as well

as less frequently to Canada and Mexico I think

this is great.

My old NYS license gets lots offish eyes from

TSA inspectors at airports who are more

accustomed to the enhanced ones they see

from other State.

And the idea of having to take a passport for a

quick drive into Nogales from our Tuscon home

is a non-starter. Ditto when we visit our friends

in PQ driving from NY.

George

11. September 17,

2008

4:53 pm

Link

Not sure why everyone seems to fear a

national ID number or being reduced to just

a number.

You are *ALREADY* reduced to just a


6/9

number.

Your credit card number, your SS number, your

bank acct number, your work ID, your gas,

electic, water acct numbers.

I would *RATHER* have 1 global number for

everything than have a long list.

Helen

12. September 17,2008

4:57 pm

Link

Uh I forgot .. Mexican citizens can have a USAissued swipe through ID card so they dont need

their Mexican passport to enter the USA.

Driver license is a Brit origin two part noun I

believe . OK correct me.

Esteban

13. September 17,

2008

5:11 pm

Link

IDs in general are silly, and border controls are

silly to the point of being ridiculous. Security

checkpoints are a constant harassment wheredecent people are shaken down by simpler

primates just for the sake of doing so. We used

to pride ourselves for our freedom to cross

borders, now weve become like the former

soviet union.

National borders and border control points are

like trolls at the edge of bridges, you just need to

distract them with enough shiny objects so you

can go on your way. This is one planet, were

one species, and the borders are just in ourheads.

j

14. September 17,

2008

5:15 pm

Link

Are the requirements that same as a passport?

Why dont you just get a passport? Theres

more to the world than just North America

Tapatio

15. September 17,

2008

5:19 pm

Link

Several people have said that the cards would

contain personal information. The article

states that the card would contain an identifying

number, and the Border Control or whoever

would use that number to pluck your info out of

a secure database . Your personal info is NOT

on the card. Criminals would have to break into

the government databases to get your personal

info. (or just steal your wallet and read your

card, like they do now)

Steve

16. September 17,

2008

5:21 pm

Link

Also, Ms. Documentwas a good choice to use

as a model for the document photo. Very pretty!

Steve


7/9

17. September 17,

2008

5:21 pm

Link

I think its interesting to see that a highly

controversial development like still inspires

multiple comments about . . . grammar.

Remember the old line about driving being a

privilege rather than a right? That idea is

consistent with the absence of a possessive s.

In other words, there is no Drivers License to

which anyone has a fundamental right. A

Driver License is issued to someone given the

privilege of a license to drive.

D

18. September 17,

2008

5:27 pm

Link

What about those of us who dont, wont or cant

drive? Will I have to carry my passport

everywhere and hope I dont run into anyone

who refuses to accept it and insists on a drivers

license, as I once did?

Yes, Im willing to accept a state- issued IDbut

I refuse to stand in line at the DMV to get it.

Karen

19. September 17,

2008

5:32 pm

Link

I see it now, the next wave of identity theft

when the cashier at [Wal-Mart, grocery, liquor

store] or the bouncer or waiter at [club,

restaurant] makes you yank your ID out of that

protective sleeve so that they can prove the

ID is real by touching it, your info is yanked by

some teenager nearby with a souped-up Hamm

radio. Greaaaat idea. Would it have been that

much harder to encrypt the data? My very

high-tech passport has an RFID chip in it, and

its encrypted.

Mrs. D

20. September 17,

20085:47 pm

Link

I am and have always been against anything

that resembles Big Brother. No thanks again

to taking one more of my freedoms away. Stand

up people and just say nolike the drug thing.

bobby

dallas, texas

bobby frank

21. September 17,

2008

5:57 pm

Link

For those who enjoy the sparkling design but

would eschew the idea of broadcasting your

personal data to any opportunistic identity

thief.. be it in an airport, a bus, sporting event,

anywhere one can imagine

a few solid hits with a hammer will disable the

Orwellian chip.


8/9

joel

22. September 17,

2008

6:53 pm

Link

@Mrs. D [5:32p]

The U.S. passport encryption was cracked in 2

hours by researchers. Try Google to learn how

to do it. The encryption used, like the e-

passport itself, is not legitimate security. It is

merely security theater, intended to make

dupes feel safer.

Patriot & Civil Libertar ian

23. September 17,

2008

6:54 pm

Link

Posted by Skip Harrington;

Regarding my comment about Driver License

vs. Driver s License.

Thank you for correcting me on the spelling of

apostrophe.

I think.

My spell checker isnt working and my e mail

isnt working right now, either.

Technically, Im unemployed myself.

However,I have just completed five movie

sripts, and have seven more almost completed

for a word total of well over one hundred and

sixty thousand words.

That combined with the required one million

plus words that I have written in the past fifty

years should have entitled me to at least five

degrees as a Doctor of Philosophy.

Or is that spelled philosophe?

Perley J . Thibodeau

24. September 17,

2008

7:09 pm

Link

Driver licenses are for driving.

Passports are for crossing international borders.

These two purposes should NOT be confused.

As one poster pointed out, the New York State

DMV should not be doing the job of the US

Department of State. This distinction is

fundamental to our federal republic.

This is similar to the recent trend of having local

police departments do the job of the US INS and

search out and arrest people who are in this

country illegally (thus diverting precious local

resources from local crime prevention).

There is nothing wrong with carrying your

passport into Mexico or Canada. I have done so

for years, even though it wasnt legally

necessary.

Why? You are crossing an international border

and entering a FOREIGN COUNTRY. Whenabroad, one should carry ones passport. Unless,

of course, one is traveling between nations with

advanced cross-border agreements, such as the

countries of the EU.

Maybe one day the US will have agreements

with its neighbors that allow us to cross the

border without checkpoints. But then we would


9/9

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need to have had centuries-long histories of

peaceful coexistence with our neighbors you

know, like France and Germany do.

Eric

25. September 17,

2008

7:20 pm

Link

The ID card should also include Digital

fingerprints and a DNA Profile along with facial

recognization Stats to be a usefull and thus a

non transferrable Identity card and it should

not transmit any information, should all be

incoded on a mag strip. We should start

gathering this information at the time of birth

and continue updating it at specific intervals if

you really want a true ID card which repersents

the individuel.

m iguel Gonzales
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A New License, For More Than Just Driving2008