WASHINGTON, March 2 (UPI) -- The Bush administration has given U.S. states an extra 20 months, until the end of 2009, to meet requirements for a national driver's license.
The move did little to quell criticism that the Real ID Act would seriously undermine personal privacy and stick states with a big bill for checking and verifying identity documents, the Los Angeles Times said.
The Bush administration views the new policy as an essential weapon in the war on terrorism. Opponents say linked the databases would create a kind of national ID card.
Criticism of provisions of the law from officials and others displays a shift from the almost total initial support for the administration's national security agenda after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Some governors now dismiss the Real ID Act as a "nightmare." Almost two dozen states are weighing legislation to oppose the change.
The new law requires licenses to have tamper-proof security features issued only to people who can prove citizenship or legal status with verifiable identification such as passports and birth certificates.
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Hands On
By Amal Graafstra
How radio-frequency identification and I got personal
When I open my front door, I don't reach for a key. When I log into my computer, I don't touch my keyboard. When I start my motorcycle, again, no key needed. Instead, I just wave my hand and I'm in business.
I was one of the first do-it-yourselfers to have a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag implanted under my skin. In fact, I have two—one between the thumb and index finger in my left hand, the other in the matching spot on my right hand.
So what's a nice guy like me doing with a microchip in each of my hands? My life as an RFID guinea pig started in early 2005. At the time I was managing servers for medical facilities around Seattle, a job for which I carried around a ring of keys to almost 100 different doors and drawers.
That bulky key ring got me thinking. It struck me that modern keys are just crude identification devices, little changed in centuries. Even if each lock were unique—most aren't—keys can be copied in any hardware store and, once distributed, are hard to control.
I considered biometric ...   more »