DHS Regulations Could Cost Taxpayers, Threaten Privacy

(Washington, D.C.) - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released Real ID: Big Brother Could Cost Big Money, a report detailing the substantial costs and privacy risks that could be posed by federal standards for state-issued drivers’ licenses.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will hold a meeting today with state officials to discuss options for implementing the Real ID Act.  One mandate being considered is an embedded computer chip with the capacity for carrying detailed personal information, which would cost $17.4 billion and could push the cost of a drivers’ license from $10 to $25 to at least $90.   

“With the high price of gasoline and massive costs of hurricane recovery already burdening Americans, federal agencies should not be saddling drivers and taxpayers with billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said. 

Buried in an $82 billion military spending bill and passed without any congressional debate in May 2005, the Real ID Act was touted as an anti-terrorist and immigration reform bill.  However, most states were already making secure cards at a reasonable cost and improving application procedures.  While states are not technically forced to accept federal standards, the refusal of any state to comply would affect its citizens’ ability to get a job, receive Social Security benefits, or fly on a commercial plane. 

  “Real ID was not subject to a full debate.  But since it is the law, it falls on the Department of Homeland Security to issue regulations that do not lead to tax increases or invade citizens’ privacy,” Schatz continued.  

Two main forms of protection are being considered:  Magnetic stripes or two-dimensional (2-D) barcodes; and contactless integrated circuits such as radio frequency identification (RFID) chips.  Currently, 49 states use either magnetic stripes or 2-D technology on drivers’ licenses and have had minimal identity theft problems.  If the government opts to require RFID chips, more than 196 million U.S. drivers will be forced to carry a license that has the memory to store every detail about the person, including health records, family history, bank and credit card transactions.  Another pitfall is that information on RFID chips can be remotely accessed by unauthorized persons.  Finally, the cost of a driver’s license could rise by 260-800 percent, from $10-$25 to at least $90, a heavy burden on low-income taxpayers and many senior citizens.    

“The idea of turning licenses into ‘smartcards’ is far from brilliant.  RFID chips would force some states to shelve millions of dollars of investment into their own security solutions and start from scratch.  With the government’s long history of technological ineptitude, RFID chips could make citizens more vulnerable to identity theft and government snooping.  If the chips fall where they should, they will not be included in any American’s ID card,” Schatz concluded.

Real ID: Big Brother Could Cost Big Money, written by CAGW Research Associate Angela French, is available at www.cagw.org.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.