Skip the navigation
Opinion

Is the Real ID Act the real deal for ID security?

By Gary Klinefelter, Fargo Electronics
August 24, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Is the Real ID Act a step toward a safer society or a threat to the liberties we hold dear?
On May 11, President Bush signed a military spending bill including a provision to create electronically readable, federally approved ID cards for all U.S. citizens. The Real ID Act was created in part to secure identification systems and authenticate credentials to avoid fraudulent duplication. Critics fear that the law empowers the federal government to track individuals in their everyday movements, but with the proper security mechanisms in place, the Real ID Act will help prevent ID credentials from being duplicated or otherwise misused.
What is the Real ID Act?
The Real ID Act provides that, as of May 11, 2008, a federal agency may not accept, for any purpose, a U.S. driver's license or identification card that does not meet the provisions defined in the act. Everyday activities, from opening bank accounts to visiting national parks to traveling by air, will require federally approved identification.
While the act is getting a lot of attention, in truth, the process of getting a driver's license today is not much different from what will be required under the act, as similar data is stored on the card. At a minimum, states must include the following information and features on driver's licenses or personal identification cards:

  • Legal name

  • Date of birth

  • Gender

  • Driver's license ID number

  • Digital photograph

  • Address of legal residence

  • Signature

  • Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting or duplication for fraudulent purposes

  • Common machine-readable technology with defined data elements.

Securing your private data
Citizens have willingly provided photos and birth certificates for some time, so this provision is not new. Additional precautions are being taken to make sure that "breeder" documents, such as Social Security cards, birth certificates and driver's licenses, are valid and that biometric information is gathered in a consistent fashion. Today, these records are being stored electronically so the need to protect this information from hackers and criminals has not changed. The biggest challenge will be securing the databases to ensure their integrity.
Certain personal information may no longer need to be printed on the citizen's card because it is stored electronically on a computer chip inside the "smart" card. Security mechanisms can be built into the smart card to make sure that when a citizen provides his card for identification, only predefined personal data will be electronically released.
Critics of the legislation
Critics of the Real ID Act have voiced concerns regarding the issue of civil liberties, privacy and the government acting as Big Brother.


Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Security White Papers
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps
This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into...
Identity Governance: The Business Imperatives
This white paper describes the business challenges and opportunities that are driving interest in Identity Governance while discussing considerations your organization should make...
All Security White Papers
Security Webcasts
Live Webcast
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
Introduction to VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5
Traditional disaster recovery solutions are often too expensive, complex and unreliable to meet business requirements. As a result, IT departments are hesitant to...
The Top Ten Secrets to Avoiding SAN Performance Problems
Maintaining peak performance while simultaneously addressing the root cause of SAN errors is challenging. Learn the most common SAN problems and explore new...
Deduplication Without Compromise
Go inside Quantum's scalable, high-performance, multi-protocol new DXi deduplication appliances, designed to make backup much more effective. Discover how the new future-proof DXi6700...
Director of Disk Products Discusses DXi6700
Discover how the new DXi 6700 series of deduplication appliances provide investment protection and a future-proof feature set, all while delivering fast, scalable,...
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
All Security Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs