Latest News/Events

EPIC Requests Clarifications on New Passport Application: EPIC has filed comments with the State Department regarding Form DS-5513, a new passport application that requires unusually detailed information about the background of some passport applicants. For example, applicants are asked to provide their mother’s place of employment at the time of their birth. The agency claims that such information is necessary “when the applicant submits citizenship or identity evidence that is insufficient to meet his/her burden of proving citizenship or identity.” EPIC wrote that the State Department needs to provide more information about the purposes of the data collection for the public to meaningfully assess the impact. For more information, see EPIC National ID and REAL ID. (Apr. 28, 2011)

Real ID Remerges on House Agenda: Despite the fact that twenty-four states have rejected the REAL ID Act of 2005, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Rep. Peter King (R-NY), and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) issued Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano a letter warning against any further extension of REAL ID. The letter stated that not implementing REAL ID “threatens the security of the United States.” The letter follows the arrest of Khalid Ali-M Adawsari on charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. According to the House Judiciary Committee, DHS is planning to extend the deadline for implementation to January 15, 2013. The current deadline for states to be materially compliant is May 11, 2011. EPIC previously released a report, testified to Congress, and submitted comments stating that REAL ID included few protections for individual privacy and security in its massive national identification database. For related information see EPIC: National ID and the REAL ID Act, EPIC: Biometric Identifiers, and the Privacy Coalition’s Campaign Against REAL ID. (Mar. 4, 2011)

Worker Biometric ID Under Consideration in US: Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham have proposed a new national identity card. The Senators would require that “all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs” obtain a “high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card” with a unique biometric identifier. The card, they say, would not contain private information, medical information, or tracking techniques, and the biometric identifiers would not be stored in a government database. EPIC has testified in Congress and commented to federal agencies on the privacy and security risks associated with national identification systems and biometric identifiers. For more information, see EPIC: National ID and the REAL ID Act, EPIC: Biometric Identifiers, and the Privacy Coalition’s Campaign Against REAL ID. (Mar. 24, 2010)

• EPIC Report: “REAL ID Implementation Review: Few Benefits, Staggering Costs.” At a REAL ID workshop at the Berkman Center, EPIC today released a new report on the Department of Homeland Security’s national identification proposal, the REAL ID system. “May 11, 2008 is the statutory deadline for implementation of the REAL ID system. Yet on this date, not one State is in compliance with the federal law creating a national identification system. In fact, 19 States have passed resolutions or laws rejecting the national ID program. The Department of Homeland Security has faced so many obstacles with the REAL ID system that the agency now plans an implementation deadline of 2017.” See EPIC Report: “REAL ID Implementation Review: Few Benefits, Staggering Costs” and EPIC Comments on the Draft Regulations. (May 13)
• Alaska Joins Other States in Rejecting REAL ID System. Just two weeks after DHS granted all 56 states and territories extensions that would allow state licenses and ID cards to remain “valid for federal purposes” past May 11, 2008, Alaska has passed legislation against the REAL ID national identification scheme. SB 202(pdf) states, “A state agency may not expend funds solely for the purpose of implementing or aiding in the implementation of, the requirements of the federal Real ID Act of 2005.” DHS has said it “made extensions available for states that needed additional time to come into compliance, or to complete ongoing security measures,” implying that states that received extensions had agreed to implement the national identification system. However, Alaska is just the latest in a number of states that have declared unequivocally that it will not implement the REAL ID scheme. (April 11)
• Idaho Rejects REAL ID System; State Rebellion Spreads. Idaho has enacted legislation to reject theREAL ID national identification scheme. HB 606 (pdf) prohibits the Idaho transportation board and department from implementing the national ID system and “to report to the governor and to the constitutional defense council […] any attempt by agencies or agents of the U.S. department of homeland security to secure implementation of the REAL ID act of 2005, through the operations of that department.” Last year, the Idaho Legislature passed a joint memorial (pdf) opposing REAL ID, but that bill had no force of law. Idaho joinsseveral states in rejecting the national ID system even though they have all received extensions from the Department of Homeland Security allowing their state licenses and ID cards to remain “valid for federal purposes” past May 11, 2008. (April 9)
• DHS Caves, Gives Extensions to All States Though Some Reject REAL ID. Several states are rejecting the Department of Homeland Security’s REAL ID program, which would create a national identification system, but DHS granted all states extensions that would allow state licenses and ID cards to remain “valid for federal purposes” past May 11, 2008. Four states (Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina) have expressly rejected the system and none asked for an extension. The Department of Homeland Security said it “made extensions available for states that needed additional time to come into compliance, or to complete ongoing security measures,” implying that states that received extensions had agreed to implement the REAL ID national identification system. However, a number of states have said that these extensions do not constitute an agreement to implement this national ID scheme, including California (pdf). (April 3)

via EPIC – National ID and the REAL ID Act.

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