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From MIT Technology Review, by Simson Garfinkel:



Identity Card Delusions



But despite their high-tech appeal, smart cards have a checkered track record when it comes to protecting the information they store. In Europe, where smart cards are widespread, hacking them to get free telephone calls or free satellite television is a cottage industry. If some U.S. businesses have access to the “secure” area of smart cards, I find it hard to believe that the relevant know-how and codes won’t, over time, migrate to criminal elements. Already, there are many cases of crooked clerks giving credit cards a second swipe at department stores and making their own copies of their customers’ credit card numbers. If some crook steals your fingerprint, you’re going to be vulnerable to a lot more than simple credit card fraud.
States are asking for the establishment of a national standard for driver's licenses, as well as funding to link all state DMV databases. Why? To formalize what has become, in their beady little minds, the nation's de facto ID card.



Argh! This is being proposed in a day and age when there is no such thing as a standard law enforcement database! Most police agencies within a single state aren't integrated, yet we're going to create a national ID card, joining together 50 different DMV systems? Madness.



Garkinkel comes down well and truly on the side against such a card, and bravo for him. His reasons are even technical in nature, rather than ethical. Good read!

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