POLICE STATE NATIONAL ID CARD COMES CLOSER

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AP - Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure
driver's licenses in the next six years under ambitious post-9/11
security rules to be unveiled Friday by federal officials. The Homeland
Security Department has spent years crafting the final regulations for
the REAL ID Act, a law designed to make it harder for terrorists,
illegal immigrants and con artists to get government-issued
identification. The effort once envisioned to take effect in 2008 has
been pushed back in the hopes of winning over skeptical state officials.

Even with more time, more federal help and technical advances, REAL ID
still faces stiff opposition from civil liberties groups. . .

The American Civil Liberties Union has fiercely objected to the effort,
particularly the sharing of personal data among government agencies. The
DHS and other officials say the only way to make sure an ID is safe is
to check it against secure government data; critics like the ACLU say
that creates a system that is more likely to be infiltrated and have its
personal data pilfered.

In its written objection to the law, the ACLU claims REAL ID amounts to
the "first-ever national identity card system," which "would irreparably
damage the fabric of American life.". . .

By 2014, anyone seeking to board an airplane or enter a federal building
would have to present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, with the
notable exception of those more than 50 years old, Homeland Security
officials said. The over-50 exemption was created to give states more
time to get everyone new licenses, and officials say the risk of someone
in that age group being a terrorist, illegal immigrant or con artist is
much less. By 2017, even those over 50 must have a REAL ID-compliant
card to board a plane. . .

A handful of states have already signed written agreements indicating
plans to comply with REAL ID. Seventeen others, though, have passed
legislation or resolutions objecting to it, often based on concerns
about the billions of dollars such extra security is expected to cost.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/secure_driver_s_licenses


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