Paper Topic:

The U.S. should/should not issue nationally generated identity cards.

Nationally Identity Cards

2006

Real ID will not make people any safer no matter how people strive and spin it . In reality people will be less safe from tyranny and despotism than ever before for the reason that it doesn 't come from outside forces but right here in the homeland our own backyard (AJY , 2005 . The terrorist attacks of September 11 have revived proposals for a national identity card system as a way to confirm the identity of airline passengers and keep away from terrorists from entering the country (Kristof and

Stanley , 2004 . For instance , the Chairman and CEO of Oracle Corp , Larry Ellison , lately called for the creation of a national ID system and offered to make available the software for it without charge . The newest calls for a national ID are only the latest in a long series of proposals that have cropped up repeatedly over the past decade , typically in the framework of immigration policy , but also in connection with gun control or health care reform . But the creation of a national I .D . card remains a misplaced , superficial "quick fix " It offers only a false sense of security and will not enhance our security but will pose serious threats to the civil liberties and civil rights . A National ID will not keep people safe or free

The problem is the card itself . No matter how unforgeable we make it , it will be forged . And even worse , people will get legitimate cards in fraudulent names (Schneier , 2004 . A national ID card system will not avoid terrorism . It would not have thwarted the September 11 hijackers for instance , lot of whom reportedly had identification documents on them , and were in the country legally . Terrorists and criminals will continue to be able to get by legal and illegal means the documents needed to get a government ID , such as birth certificates . Yes , these new documents will have data like digital fingerprints on them , but that won 't show real identity just that the carrier has obtained what could without difficulty be a fraudulent document . And their creation would not justify the cost to American taxpayers , which according to the Social Security Administration would be at least 4 billion . It is an impractical and ineffective proposal a simplistic and napve try to use gee-whiz technology to solve difficult social and economic problems

A national ID card system would not protect us from terrorism , but it would construct a system of internal passports that would extensively diminish the freedom and privacy of law-abiding citizens . Once put in place , it is extremely unlikely that such a system would be restricted to its original purpose . Social Security numbers , for instance , were initially intended to be used only to administer the retirement program But that limit has been routinely ignored and steadily abandoned over the past 50 years . A national ID system would threaten the privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and gradually amplify the control that government and business wields over everyday...

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