California Refuses To Play By Real ID Rules

from the waiting-it-out dept

The Department of Homeland Security's "Real ID" program is a classic case of "security theater." It's a project designed to give the appearance of increased security, but which will actually do the opposite (and cost a ton of taxpayer dollars at the same time). The good (and somewhat surprising) thing, is that almost everyone (outside of DHS) seems to recognize this. Not a single state plans to implement the rules by the original deadline. DHS has been granting "extensions" to states that promise to implement the rules by 2010 while threatening to make drivers' licenses no longer valid IDs for things like boarding airplanes or entering federal buildings for any state that doesn't comply. While there are a few states that haven't even asked for an extension, California asked for an extension while saying clearly that it wasn't promising to implement Real ID at all -- but would use the extension to study the matter. This was a test, and DHS has backed down, granting the extension, allowing California drivers' licenses to remain legitimate federal IDs. This could give more confidence to other states to not just blindly implement Real ID. At this point, you have to think that many states are just waiting this out, assuming that there will be a change in management at DHS after the election this November, and the whole concept of Real ID will get changed or scrapped.

Filed Under: california, homeland security, real id

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.

Filed Under: homeland security, real id, stewart baker

Homeland Security Can't Even Configure Its Mailing List Software Correctly?

from the that-makes-me-comfortable dept

Just after the federal gov't screwed up and shut off ca.gov, we find out that the Department of Homeland Security misconfigured its email list software causing a deluge of annoying emails to over seven thousand government employees. The list, normally used to broadcast news summaries of security news, apparently was set up so that any reply messages automatically were broadcast to all members. What happened next is familiar to lots of folks on mailing lists, where the "reply all" button is misused. The one difference, though, was that this wasn't a misuse of the reply all button, but on the mailing list automatically sending out anyone's message to everyone on the list. Many security experts on the list are apparently wondering what that says about Homeland Security's ability to deal with cybersecurity issues. Perhaps it was just a little configuration error, but you would think that the folks at the DHS would be a bit more careful about those things.

Filed Under: email, homeland security

Spying On Your Ex-Girlfriend Not Quite What Homeland Security's Database Is For

from the just-saying... dept

Every time we hear of yet another plan for the government to set up yet another database of information about people, we wonder about how it will be misused. Supporters always talk about how helpful such databases are (which is debatable), but rarely are willing to take into account how such systems are going to be abused -- and they're always abused. The latest such case involves an employee at the Department of Commerce who used a Department of Homeland Security database to track an ex-girlfriend. This wasn't just a one-off thing either. He apparently used the database 163 times to check up on her. Then he threatened to have the woman deported and her family killed. So, as the government continues to push the boundaries in trying to collect more and more data on everyone, it's at least worth asking if the potential for abuses is taken into consideration and how they're dealt with (if they're dealt with at all).

Filed Under: database, homeland security, privacy