Soon, Big Brother may live in wallets

by U-Wire
by Jeremy Oehlert
Iowa State University

U-WIRE) -"He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, 
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their
foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save that had the 
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

Those are words from the book of Revelation in the Bible. With the
passage of the Real ID Act recently in the U.S. Senate, those words
might soon become more meaningful in each of our lives.

In George Orwell's novel, "1984," every member of society is under
near constant watch, technological advancements are used primarily 
for public surveillance, and anonymity is a luxury afforded only to
society's outcasts. The stories told in Orwell's novel may no longer
be just a fictional tale. Orwell's distopian vision of the future
could very well become a reality because of the passage of the 
Real ID Act.

The essence of the Real ID Act makes perfect sense. Its goal is 
to get state licensing agencies on the same sheet of music so that
undocumented immigrants cannot obtain valid licenses from state
agencies. The closing of this loophole, according to U.S. Rep. 
James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., will prevent another attack like 
Sept. 11.

In actuality, this Act does little to prevent this occurrence and 
much to curtail every American's most basic liberties.

The secrecy behind this bill and what its passage means to our
everyday lives makes one wonder why it would be passed. The bill 
was never debated before the U.S. Senate; instead it was attached 
to a military spending bill. By doing this, senators were all but 
forced to vote for the Real ID Act so they don't appear opposed 
to the war on terror and unsupportive of our troops.

Underhanded tactics notwithstanding, the passage of this act makes
private, everyday activities subject to government scrutiny.

Once Real ID takes effect three years from now, every citizen will
need a federally-approved ID card to travel by plane, open a bank
account, get a job, join the military or take advantage of virtually
any government service. Personal information once available only to
state agencies will now be automatically collected in a federal
database. Retinal scanning and fingerprinting are parts of this 
act likely to be approved by the Department of Homeland Security.

Perhaps the worst part of this act, however, is that the Department 
of Homeland Security will be allowed to outfit these IDs with Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) chips. RFID technology is currently
being used by private companies to track the movement of goods. RFID
is likewise a very convenient means of tracking people.

It is estimated that Americans are filmed by cameras about seven times
per day. Imagine that, in addition to being watched, you were being
tracked every time you passed through an airport checkpoint, under a
traffic light or even a store's scanner.

This is not science fiction but rather the harsh reality of what
provisions of the Real ID Act will lead to. In order to catch the 
bad guys, everyone must be scanned and tracked, regardless of 
criminal history or even suspicion. In the United States of the 
future, everyone will be a suspect.

Cards have a fatal flaw though; they can be lost or discarded. The
next logical step of this act, if it is to be truly effective at
controlling immigration and preventing a major terrorist attack, 
will involve implantation of such devices, perhaps in our hands or
foreheads. That way they cannot be discarded, traded or otherwise 
used for purposes they were not intended for. What Real ID means for
Americans is not so much added security but an invasion of privacy on
a biblical scale.

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Cheers, Steve..

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