US Driving Licences Offer Little Identity Theft Cover

The object of tightening security provisions against terrorist attack is to get the most safety for the least money and inconvenience. The REAL ID rules announced Friday by the Department of Homeland Security come close to doing that.

The current practice of making airline passengers show a driver's license does the opposite, producing maximum aggravation without much elevating the level of security. In a press release accompanying the new regulations, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff pointed out that the 9/11 hijackers had acquired 30 driver's licenses and IDs and used 364 aliases.

By Dec. 1, 2014, all Americans under 50 would have to acquire a new driver's license that would be more difficult to forge. Americans older than 50 would have an additional three years — tacit recognition that few people over 50 have the energy or inclination to mount a terrorist attack against their countrymen.

Before issuing one of the new, more secure licenses, state authorities would have to make sure that the applicant was who he said he was and was not an undocumented immigrant or criminal bent on fraud.

The American Civil Liberties Union objects to the new regulations on grounds that they would create a giant national database vulnerable to identity theft. Chertoff told Chronicle editors Friday that the system would use only existing databases that would be fortified and be less vulnerable than they are now.

He also pointed out that, according to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft crimes rose 800 percent from 2000 to 2006. A sampling of U.S. Secret Service cases suggests that 35 percent involved false driver's licenses. Those worried about identity theft cannot very well argue for doing nothing to strengthen state IDs.

Other critics say the REAL IDs come close to being a national identity card. But why is this so bad, if it makes American airline passengers more secure and helps to thwart financial fraud and identity theft? Texans must have a state-issued card to drive, and Americans must have a U.S. passport to travel overseas. Unless the country declares open highways and borders, how could it be otherwise?