[IP] ID Cards and the Big Lies
Begin forwarded message:
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: July 7, 2005 4:57:03 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: lauren@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ID Cards and the Big Lies
Dave,
Another especially insidious aspect of modern ID card systems is
that they are nearly universally "sold" to the populace under false
pretenses. All manner of pie-in-the sky, computerized, biometric
benefits are promised, while the problems and manners in which they
actually *weaken* security and make identity theft problems *worse*
are ignored, as are the vast potentials for commercial abuse,
discrimination, and so on.
Like the snake oil salesmen of yesteryear, the ID card pitchmen weave
tales of security glories with as much substance as fairy dust.
That their motives are often laudable is no excuse for their
fantasies in this regard.
But they do know how to take advantage of opportunities. Will we
shortly see the tragic events in London today used as talking points
to try seal the deal for a vast British national ID "Ministry of
Information" infrastructure? Does anyone care to bet against this
scenario?
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@xxxxxxxx or lauren@xxxxxxxxxx or lauren@xxxxxxxx
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, EEPI
- Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com
- - -
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: July 7, 2005 9:52:28 AM EDT
To: hadmut@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: cryptography@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Forwarded] RealID: How to become an unperson.
...
So, the next time one of your friends in Germany asks why the crazy
Americans think ID cards and such are a bad thing, remember my father,
and remember all the people like him who fled to the US over the last
couple hundred years and who left children that still remember such
things, whether from China or North Korea or Germany or Spain or
Russia or Yugoslavia or Chile or lots of other places.
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