(Washington, D.C.) - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and a broad range of activist groups concerned with the cost and privacy implications of implementing the REAL ID Act today sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff expressing opposition to the idea of mandating radio frequency identification (RFID) computer chips in state-issued drivers’ licenses. 

Signatories to the letter include representatives from the American Conservative Union, American Civil Liberties Union, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Americans for Tax Reform, Free Congress Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Center for Democracy and Change, National Taxpayers Union, Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Grassroots Institute of Hawaii, Coalition Against Prosecutorial Abuse, Taxpayers League of Minnesota, National Lawyers Guild/National Office, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Fairfax County Privacy Council, Democrats.com, U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation, and Liberty Coalition.   

Excerpts from the letter follow:

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, have a wide variety of concerns about the proposed REAL ID card and system and we have urged DHS to establish a standard that provides the greatest possible security at the most reasonable cost while protecting individual privacy.  This letter addresses one of those concerns – the use of radio frequency identification chips (RFID) as the “machine readable” feature in the card.

Congressional intent in enacting the REAL ID Act was to build upon the states’ best practices.  States have spent years testing different applications to determine which systems work best for their administrative and law enforcement needs.  Machine readable technologies such as 2D bar codes are an example of an anti-fraud tool that is already in wide use . . .   

While the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost of complying with the REAL ID Act would be $100 million for all 50 states, the state of Washington concluded that it would have to spend at least $92 million just in the first two years.  The National Conference of State Legislatures estimated the cost of implementation of the REAL ID Act would be $9-$13 billion.  Citizens Against Government Waste has estimated that a federal chip mandate for state drivers’ licenses would cost $17.4 billion.

Aside from the cost issue, we are concerned about the lack of adequate protections against the theft of personal information arising from remote-sensing devices. 

Local and state law enforcement agencies have already implemented many processes and technologies to use existing security features.  Mandating drastic change to new unproven technologies might actually weaken the security of citizens at state and local levels and decrease the ability of law enforcement and the states to prevent identity theft, fraud, or other criminal acts.

The complete letter and CAGW’s report, REAL ID: Big Brother Could Cost Big Money, are 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.