Biometrics in your CA driver's license? No!

[AsahinaKimi]

I recieved this email, and it might be bogus, then again it does look
like it might be serious. You deceide :

A serious high tech threat to personal privacy is looming, with hasty stealth, in Sacramento.

On January 14th the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) - without notifying the public - sent a letter to the state Joint Legislative Budget Committee requesting that biometrics be placed in every California Driver’s License and state-issued ID card starting in June of 2009.

The DMV wants to embed scans of our faces or our thumbprints into our drivers' licenses - and to use computers to match this information against millions of images. The result would be the creation of a massive database of biometric information from virtually every Californian over the age of 16.

It is an understatement to say that we have extensive concerns about what the DMV’s proposal would mean for the monitoring and tracking of individuals.

take_action: https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr006=3j7wji01l3.app25a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1256

Unless the Budget Committee actively rejects the DMV’s request within 30 days, DMV staff may be directed to begin scanning, storing, and sorting your personal data as early as March.

With very little information about privacy protections and a request for an extra $63 million for the project over 5 years - in the midst of an already severe state budget crisis - the ACLU urges you to join us in saying NO to this proposal.

Tell the legislature to STOP the DMV from putting biometrics in all of our state ID cards and driver’s licenses.

Putting the sensitive biometric data of millions of Californians into a massive state database is not a good way to address problems of identity theft. Do you want your face scan or thumb-print to be leaked if the DMV has a data breach?

Identity theft is a real problem and one that must be solved with plans that do not collect and store more and more personal information about each of us.

Please tell the legislature that the DMV needs to answer questions about privacy and justify its request for tax-payer money before collecting Californians’ biometric information.

Sincerely,

Nicole Ozer
Technology and Civil Liberties Policy Director
http://www.aclunc.org/

[musette_sf]

1. not bogus, it's from the ACLU

and your reply and support is requested!

i believe all this silliness is from the so-called "Patriot Act", which on its own needs to be repealed ASAP.

in the meantime, let your legislators know that you want your privacy and that you don't want your tax dollars spent on what could be an identity theft gold mine.

[davidinalameda]

2. you might need some accessories for your post

:tinfoilhat:

[Xithras]

3. Something very big is missing from this article.

Californian's are already required to give a picture and a thumbprint when requesting a license or ID card, and have had to do so for at least 15 years now. That "massive state database" with personal records connecting to thumbprint records and photos already exists.

So what is actually being proposed here?

[AsahinaKimi]

4. I really don't know...

It's all I got in the mail.