No National ID

This is an issue which has recently come up in the news again. NY has a page on this issue that goes waay back and needs a bit of updating, especially now. Maybe we could just move it here. Please feel free to update it!

See: No National ID!

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From the Libertarian Party of NY -- Issues -- No National ID! National ID Card Denounced by Ron

Paul Jan 6, 2003: Congressman Ron Paul today denounced the national

ID card provisions contained in the intelligence bill being voted on in the U.S. House of

Representatives, while urging his colleagues to reject the bill and its new

layers of needless bureaucracy.

"National ID cards are not proper in a free society," Paul

stated. "This is America, not Soviet Russia. The federal

government should never be allowed to demand papers from

American citizens, and it certainly has no constitutional authority to do so." more info

National ID for flying?

Libertarian John Gilmore is

testing the

bounds the TSA is setting. That's not recommended for people who actually need to get somewhere on

time!

Other people are discovering that it's possible to get on board

a plane without ID if you submit to a much more thorough security screening. (The same

kind of screening that some people get somewhat at random, designated by security code "SSSS"

stamped on your ticket).

from the RISKS Journal, Vol 23, issue 50 Subject: [http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/23.50.html U.S. air

travel without government identification]

The article in RISKS also describes a new Continental 'frequent

flyer' ID program for those who want to avoid intense screening

in exchange for biometric data. However,

[http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=2195545 the incident

with Ted Kennedy] proves that it's tough dealing with bad data

in security databases--even for a senator! That incident looks

suspiciously like a hacking coup instead of the 'clerical error'

it is attributed to. When we have the 'fast lane' for air

travel, how much harder is it going to be to put people on THAT

list who don't belong? Especially when their biometric data

(stored as just a string of numbers, of course) is right there

as "proof?"

There is pressure for all states to require a Soc Sec Number

(SSN) for drivers licenses to make security processing easier,

which is clearly against the original purpose for the SSN.

NYS DMV requires SSN for Drivers

Licenses?

Well, actually they're saying it is possible that Bob

Armstrong's license will be suspended. (Emphasis added.) And the

signs at the DMV say it's not necessary for plain (non-suspended

nor lapsed) renewals. It turns out, if they don't require you to

provide the SSN for a drivers license transaction at the DMV,

they still have yours on record. Bonnie Scott got the scoop from

the Clinton County (NY) DMV manager (who has an impressive

collection of all states' license plates). It's been required

since 1995 in all DMV computer records, and the local DMV

operators have the ability to override requiring it for an

individual transaction, but cannot override a block on

transactions (e.g., renewals) if the SSN isn't in the system:

only the state DMV administrators can do that.

Here is the letter

that was sent to Bob Armstrong about his license.

Where do we start? DMVs are a great place to petition. Our

petitioning period is early July until mid-August

(check here in June for updates).

Take along the letter, show it to people as you're petitioning,

as they sit and wait in the DMV, and let them know that the

Libertarian Party is the one to stand up to it for them.

"Sign the petition, please, so our candidates can get on

the ballot? Thank you!"

To get NYS reg change info:

[1]

Funny, this last happened about four years ago... New York Privacy Activist Denied

Drivers License For release June 27th, 1999—The New York State

Department of Motor Vehicles would not renew Matt Seigel's drivers license last December because he refused to provide his

Social Security Number on their form. Matt believes it to be

illegal for them to require it, and wants to keep his privacy.

The DMV are dragging their feet in his case--which is keeping

him off the road.

Any public agency is required by the 1974 Privacy Act to 

disclose their legal basis for requesting your Social Security

Number, but Matt has now been waiting over six months to hear

what the DMV's justification is. He wonders if Ron Paul's

proposed Privacy Protection Act will help him get his license

back, and prevent others from going through what he has had to.

"The Social Security Number was

created to administer the social security system, and nothing

else."

[http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst98/tst072098.htm From a 1998 press release by Ron Paul (R-TX)]

Background: In 1974, Congress passed a Privacy Act which

was supposed to help individuals keep their Social Security

Number private. It forbade government agencies from collecting

Social Security Numbers, unless that agency had been doing so

before January 1, 1975 to verify the identity of an individual.

Relevant text from the 1974 Privacy Act (will open in new window) In 1996, though, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibilities Act was passed. For the first time, it started setting up a system where Social Security Numbers were to be used outside of the need to collect Social Security payments: now, their use was supposed to be extended just for immigration control and making sure that folks kept up with their child payments. It seemed harmless enough, and it passed. When it passed, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibilities Act only required Social Security Numbers for commercial drivers licenses (affecting about 10 million Americans), but one year later, Congress was tacking an amendment onto the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (H.R.2015) that removed the word "commercial" from this bill that was now Public Law 104-193 (Title 42, U.S.C. 666). In other words, this amendment in the budget bill struck one word from the law and thereby added the 170 million non-commercial drivers in the United States to the list of people now required to provide an "identifying number," when requesting a license, and--with a change of 21 words--it now removes the right for states to substitute another unique number for the SSN. (Louisiana is challenging this statute... see below.)

[http://www.networkusa.org/fingerprint/page1/fp- deception.html More information about the gradual distortion of U.S.C. Sec. 666]
Another interpretation of the Immigration Control Act and U.S.C. Sec. 666

1999: On June 24th, Ron Paul (R-TX), supported by our own Maurice

Hinchy (D-NY) and other representatives, introduced the Privacy

Protection Act of 1999. It will repeal the sections of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant

Responsibilities Act that set the national ID in place.

In 1999: Matt Seigel is willing to carry his his case forward,

and [http://www.islandlaw.com/ Libertarian lawyer Dan Conti] has agreed to represent him in a lawsuit against the

New York State DMV. They have filed a an "Article 78" which is a formal request for an

answer from the state. With other privacy advocates, the

Libertarian Party hopes to make a stand against U.S.C. Sec. 666,

an intrusion into our basic human right for privacy.

What's the problem with everybody knowing my Social Security Number, anyway?

There are many reasons people might not want to provide a Social

Security Number. Some people, such as ministers, have previously

been allowed to opt out of Social Security, but as of October 1,

2000, they would need one if they wanted to drive. Other people

object to the assignation of numbers to people on religious

grounds, and/or to the photos that are also now required under

this same law. Previously, the first amendment had been held to

protect the religious against laws like this that violate their

beliefs, but lawmakers have made no such exception for U.S.C.

666. In fact, Christian families who do not want to number their

children for the governement are now discriminated against on

their tax returns, since the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997

eliminated he federal child tax credit for children without

Social Security Numbers. In 2000, when Sec. 666 goes into

effect, will they have to give up their drivers licenses?

[http://www.networkusa.org/fingerprint/page1/fp-new-uses-for-ssn.html More about the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997]

Chronicles 21:1-14, which some Christians believe prohibit them from obtaining SSNs
Revelations 13:15-17, which describes a mark "so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark"

Privacy groups are also concerned. Social Security was

originally enacted as a voluntary insurance scheme to prevent

widespread poverty among the elderly, but little by little, the

number has been used to catalogue all aspects of an American's

life: from their school and medical records, to bank accounts

and income tax statements, and now, it seems, anybody wishing

the drive a car.

"There is no satisfactory

condition under which Social Security Numbers may be required as a condition for travel."

Scott McDonald, a grass-roots privacy activist

The more companies and government agencies that index your

personal info by Social Security Number, the easier it is in

this new information age for others to find out about you--as incidents in 2005, 6 years after this page was originally written, are proving--and possibly steal your identity or harm your credit rating. When

your photo, height, weight, eye and hair color are all

conveniently indexed by Social Security Number, and available to

any person who can get a job at the DMV, your privacy is invaded

a hundredfold more than before. Eventually, every police

department in the nation will be able to reference your photo

and arrest record as easily as the phone company can call up

your bill when you call them. And every computer cracker will

have their choice of places to go to access your private info,

even more so than today.

Unless action is taken now, the checkout clerk will scan and

maybe even see your Social Security Number every time you buy a

sixpack or a bottle of wine! (Regulations will nearly ensure

that states print your SSN right on your license to meet with

the Federal Guidelines for the National ID. Perhaps it will be

barcoded.)

Help us draw attention to this issue!

Urge Congress to Defang the Matrix (LINK UPDATED 9/28/04) (The ACLU also outline more details of

the database of information that will be created as a result.)

Then, write a letter to the editor. Let them know that you're

not just a number.

Related links

Good, but doesn't go far enough:

[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/exclusiv/981023_money_withheld_nat.shtml In 1998, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill deliberately

withheld funding for the provisioning of the National ID

system]
Better: [http://www.networkusa.org/fingerprint/page1/fp-ssn-act-

louisiana.html Louisiana bans DMV from Requiring a SSN, but

concerns remain over the provisions in the Immigration Act]
Please support this!

[http://www.house.gov/paul/press/press99/pr062499.htm Ron Paul's

Privacy Protection Act of 1999] (press release)

More Info:

Grassroots Granny and the Washington State Citizens Against National ID,

another Privacy Activist who opposes a National ID (LINK UPDATED

9/28/04)
Privacy Notice to be posted in places of employment

6/27/99: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/27/211l-062799-idx.html Washington Post

article on the personal data clearinghouse]