Re: IDs and privacy

(ml@justintime.com)
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 10:02:08 -0800

Forrest Bishop wrote:
>> This gave me a product idea- a shield or carrier for your driver's
>> licence, made of thin metal or plastic, that has cutouts for picture,
>> DOB (or just year of birth), official seal.

I have a scrap of yellow sticky stuck to the plastic pocket in my wallet containing my Driver's license. It hides only the license number, so I can show my license without thinking about it about what someone might be looking for. Usually people want to see the DOB or address, (which I don't mind) or the fact of the license itself. When someone says "I need to see the license number", I get the opportunity to decide whether to refuse to show it.

>> I'm not entirely sure of this, but begininning in 2001 or so all
>> US states will be required (by extortion) to place your Social
>> Security Number on your licence or ID card, producing a defacto
>> national ID card.

There was enough outcry about this that the proposal has been put on hold. Notice that this is not the same as cancelled, but the states are not currently being coerced to comply with this plan.

Chris

---
Chris Hibbert                 protecting privacy in the computer age is 
hibbert@netcom.com            like trying to change a tire on a moving car.
http://www.aimnet.com/~hibbert/home.html                --Colin Bennett
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