DHS Official: 'Real ID Has A Bad Bumper Sticker Reputation'
from the you-don't-say dept
CNet reports on a talk by Department of Homeland Security official Stewart Baker, in which he defended the Real ID Act against its many critics. Conceding that the proposal "has a bad bumper sticker reputation," he insisted that the Real ID Act will make it easier to catch identity thieves. But as my colleague Jim Harper has pointed out, the opposite is closer to the truth: by centralizing loads of private data in one database, the Real ID Act will make identity thieves' jobs a lot easier. One sign of how badly Real ID is faring can be judged from the fact that Baker is bragging about the fact that 45 states plus DC have been granted waivers to continue using their existing driver's licenses while they work toward complying with the law by next year. Why is it a victory that 45 states are going to miss the original deadline this coming May? Because the other 5 states have refused to comply at all. There are a couple of things to note about this. First, as Declan McCullagh points out, DHS has been practically begging states to request waivers, and a number of states have accepted waivers while continuing to express doubts about whether they'll ever comply. Second, there's no way the feds are actually going to impose the promised punishment -- refusing to accept state IDs in airports -- on the residents of the five states that have refused to comply with the law's requirements. Imagine the chaos if every traveler in South Carolina discovered that his or her South Carolina driver's license was no longer a valid form of identification. The feds will back down (especially since showing your ID isn't legally required at airports anyway) rather than risk being held responsible for chaos at the nation's airports.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: homeland security, real id, stewart baker
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Go Montana!
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Re: Go Montana!
The people this program is supposed to "protect" us from will find a way around it before the states and the fed are finished arguing about it. What we really need protection from is government types trying to circumvent the Constitution and restrict our freedom, under the guise of "protecting" us. You can never be protected by having your rights taken away.
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Re: Re: Go Montana!
You have to have some sort of identification if you are over the age of 18 in order to fly. Driving has nothing to do with it. You can get a state issued ID or passport, which are both accepted at airports.
How does this Real ID affect passports? Would you have to show BOTH to fly or will a passport still work?
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Re: Re: Re: Go Montana!
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Re: Re: Re: Go Montana!
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Re: Re: Re: Go Montana!
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Re: Re: Go Montana!
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Re: Re: Re: Go Montana!
Yep, you sure sound like the kind of a$$hole nut-job that would be all for this.
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Security Theater
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Tracking
I don't look forward to the day when we are required to scan our Real ID cards to enter public buildings, ride public transportation, cash a check, etc., etc., All in the name of safety and "homeland security". DHS requests that you please ignore that massive database of all your activities that will be accumulated.
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Re: Tracking
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its just one more step...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vuBo4E77ZXo
thats some scary stuff if you never heard of it before...
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a more interesting tactic to protest REAL ID
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When I was a single mom of two without a car, that was impossible to do. Now that I am married and my household has more money, it is improbable and damned inconvenient.
This RealID shit is exactly that: bullshit. Poor people will be unable to get IDs and how the hell are you supposed to get a job, apply for a car loan, etc. without an ID? You can't even open a bank account without an ID. So, apparently, poor people will now be equated with terrorists (who will still be able to get fake brth certificates and get RealIDs) and be even less able to get the hell off of Welfare.
Great idea, feds! Don't we all love George's America?
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Why not? Both should be in prison.
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It's not about safety, it's not about terrorists, it never has been. It's been about milking the American people of as much of their money as possible, while sending all the jobs over seas, to our enemies.
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Real ID
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Real ID
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Re: Real ID
If you use the new, liberal definition, it is anyone who makes less that $60k/year. ;-)
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That's funny because...
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Dear Mr. Baker:
Get the idea? Sometimes a solution is worse than the problem itself.
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Re: Dear Mr. Baker:
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Stewart Baker is the Real McCoy 911 Insider!
For well over seven years the smart wallet tech standard inventor has declined the financial offers of the orchestrators of 911 against our best financial interests caused mostly by the actions of Stewart Baker!
When Tom Ridge was "fired" by President Bush on November 30, 2004 General Hayden (then NSA Director) gave as an explanation to Fox News it was because Ridge failed to fund the next-generation of technologies. This was because the smart wallet inventor 3 days prior blew the dust off of a 19 months old German financing package to become German and break the Buy American laws.
In mid-December of 2004 General Hayden gave a second explanation to Fox News for Ridge’s departure. It was because Ridge failed to dedicate staff to medium and long-term planning. When the explanations were given by General Hayden, the smart wallet inventor heard them and backed-off of its becoming German. The company and invention remain U.S. based!
Stewart Baker as Assistant Secretary of Policy taking-over to undo Ridge’s wrongs, held the post that was supposed to address the DHS’ medium and long-term planning needs that Ridge had neglected. He knew the smart wallet was forerunner based on merit for every DHS credentialing program including Real ID because of the wallet’s respect for privacy and infallible security protection, and that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House Office of Homeland Security and DOD Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office Technical Support Working Group established this in 2002 eight months into the smart wallet inventor (worldwide intellectual property holder) declining a 100 % financing offer from the orchestrators of 911. This federal technology policy stemming from the President’s statement that “the U.S. will technologically remain many steps ahead of its enemies” also was established seven months after the smart wallet inventor was told by an agent of the orchestrators of 911 that everyone in the U.S. who needed to be bought had been.
Stewart Baker—visible by his own track record at DHS as Assistant Secretary of Policy was one of the DHS officials to take office referenced as having been bought by the orchestrators of 911’s agent. He took office, lied to Congress of the smart wallet’s existence even though Congress knew to ask and was asking, and the inventor has the phone and email records to prove we did pursue him. He hasn’t a single excuse of why he lied to Congress. His only excuse is that he is employed by the orchestrators of 911 while also employed as DHS Assistant Secretary of Policy!
The orchestrators of 911 want nothing more than to quash democracy. Stewart Baker is a traitor to everyone residing within the world’s democracies and he has committed treason against the American people! Not only is treason punishable by a court of law, but so is his deprivation of his honest services to taxpayers and felonies when lying to Congress punishable!
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