Biometric Database Plans Hidden In Immigration Bill 365
Doug Otto writes "Buried deep in the bowels of a bi-partisan immigration reform bill is a 'photo tool.' The goal is to create a photo database consisting of every citizen. Wired calls it 'a massive federal database administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID.' Of course the database would be used only for good, and never evil. 'This piece of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act is aimed at curbing employment of undocumented immigrants. But privacy advocates fear the inevitable mission creep, ending with the proof of self being required at polling places, to rent a house, buy a gun, open a bank account, acquire credit, board a plane or even attend a sporting event or log on the internet.'"
In the UK we have been through this already (Score:5, Informative)
The Identity Cards Act 2006 [wikipedia.org] mandated national ID cards. In October 2006, the Government declared it would cost £5.4bn to run the ID cards scheme for the next 10 years, and by November 2007 this estimate was revised to £5.612bn. The Identity Documents Act 2010 [wikipedia.org] cancelled this with at least £256 million already spent [independent.co.uk].
It is generally acknowledged that this scheme would not have delivered any increased security, as applications would be verified against passport and driving license databases that were already known to be inaccurate.
Re:so... (Score:4, Informative)
I have no social media accounts and never have.
Yes you do. Facebook has a 'shadow' account for you (which you have no access to of course).
Re:so... (Score:3, Informative)
You have to register before you can vote but since each state has their voting registration laws, it varies. In some states you can register and vote on the same day, others you have to register a month or two in advance.
As to the photo ID issue, the claim that one needs to show ID to vote comes from the vast amount of voter fraud that occurs in this country. For example, in my state of PA, we had four cases over the last decade of voter fraud. Granted, none of these cases involved anyone actually voting for someone else, but the rampant amount of voter fraud has caused the Republican party, the party of smaller government, to force everyone to prove who they are before they can vote. If you don't have an ID, and there are many who don't for various reasons, the taxpayers get to foot the bill to get you one.
Re:And doesn't this already exist? (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe in America you can't get a bank account without photo ID, but in Canada there's an old law that mandates you must be able to get a basic account with no photo ID. Now, if you actually try, banks will make a fuss, but it is possible.
Re:Counter strike (Score:4, Informative)
Re:And doesn't this already exist? (Score:4, Informative)
Not in my state. They cannot legally ask for ID at a polling place (not that it'd do any good if they did as you don't even need to be in the country legally to get a DL in New Mexico).
Re:Counter strike (Score:4, Informative)
From the wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
[...] self-defense allows a person to use reasonable force in his or her own defense or the defense of others [...]
Please, enumerate the situations where this would be allowed, and the reasonable uses of force as well.
Re:so... (Score:5, Informative)
I think what you're missing here is that our Constitution, and in particular, the Bill of Rights, was founded on the principle of denying the government too much power over the citizens precisely because the founding fathers had no faith in future elected officials using power exclusively for good. Every place where the government's actions are limited by the Bill of Rights, they are prevented from doing good while preventing them from doing harm.
History has proven that a government that holds too much power over its people will eventually devolve into tyranny. The general public has no possibility of building a database like this for their use against government tyranny, which means that the government must be disallowed from having such a database as well. We can only maintain freedom by carefully maintaining the balance between what your country can do to you and what you can do to your country.
REAL id as a national id already tried (Score:3, Informative)
15 states passed laws prohibiting themselves from implementing a national id and 25 more "rejected" the law
http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/yes-states-really-reject-real-id [aclu.org]
Sounds like a dead end