Howard Dean's "Smart ID" plan-

[Beaker]

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5147158.html

"...Dean's current stand on privacy appears to leave little wiggle room: His campaign platform pledges unwavering support for "the constitutional principles of equality, liberty and privacy."

Fifteen months before Dean said he would seek the presidency, however, the former Vermont governor spoke at a conference in Pittsburgh co-sponsored by smart-card firm Wave Systems where he called for state drivers' licenses to be transformed into a kind of standardized national ID card for Americans. Embedding smart cards into uniform IDs was necessary to thwart "cyberterrorism" and identity theft, Dean claimed. "We must move to smarter license cards that carry secure digital information that can be universally read at vital checkpoints," Dean said in March 2002, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. "Issuing such a card would have little effect on the privacy of Americans."

Dean also suggested that computer makers such as Apple Computer, Dell, Gateway and Sony should be required to include an ID card reader in PCs--and Americans would have to insert their uniform IDs into the reader before they could log on. "One state's smart-card driver's license must be identifiable by another state's card reader," Dean said. "It must also be easily commercialized by the private sector and included in all PCs over time--making the Internet safer and more secure."

The presidential hopeful offered few details about his radical proposal. "On the Internet, this card will confirm all the information required to gain access to a state (government) network--while also barring anyone who isn't legal age from entering an adult chat room, making the Internet safer for our children, or prevent adults from entering a children's chat room and preying on our kids...Many new computer systems are being created with card reader technology. Older computers can add this feature for very little money," Dean said..."

Although it seems like a sensible idea, it can definitely and easily be turned into one giant step closer to 1984's BigBrother, and may scare offalready suspicious voters.

[HFishbine]

1. Wave Systems?

Isn't that one of Clark's companies?

[bicentennial_baby]

6. Nope

That's WaveCrest..sorry to disappoint you

[HFishbine]

8. No dissapointment

just an honest question. I hope you're not dissapointed by my lack of disappointment.

[bicentennial_baby]

9. LOL

No, in fact I'm happy! Ha! :hi:

[killbotfactory]

2. I tend to think State ID cards should all be uniform

and have the same safety features, so that ID cards would be harder to counterfit.

I don't like the PC idea, though.

[blm]

11. so there is always SOME good in flawed plans?

Interesting. Of course, it depends on which candidate is being discussed, then it's all or nothing again.

[corporatewhore]

3. So was big brother his Lt.gov? pretty scary

[latebloomer]

4. This is extremely disturbing!

National IDs? Checkpoints? Cards plugged into computers so Big Brother can see everything you do? Completely unacceptable.

[artr2]

12. I got this as an Email from Politech

Here is the ENTIRE article. It’s not as draconian as you make it out to be. And I don't believe that this violates any copyright issues.





GOV. HOWARD DEAN

STATE OF VERMONT

Prepared remarks to state DMV administrators



March 27, 2002

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania



<...>



It is time to take a serious look at hardware and smart-card based solutions.



I believe that the states -- and therefore you -- will lead the way in the discovery and implementation of greater digital security. Some of you have already begun this process.



States can move faster than the federal government to ensure that employees accessing the state’s network are indeed who they say they are and that they are doing legitimate business.



But it would be shortsighted to imagine that your work is limited to solving these problems only for state employees.



State Chief Information Officers, and each of you here today, have tremendous power to forge a solution that will set the standards for securing devices for all of us, not just those accessing state resources.



We must develop flexible solutions that will likely require the use of Smart Cards and some form of hardened security in a reader or desktop device.



For example, one state’s Smart Card driver’s license must be identifiable by another state’s card reader. It must also be easily commercialized by the private sector and included in all PCs over time

-- making the Internet safer and more secure.



In an age where identity and trust are paramount, the fact remains that the only viable form of universal identity in the U.S. today is the state-issued driver’s license. Think about it: When you entered the airport or the train station to travel to this conference, how many times did you use your driver’s license to prove your identity?

Remember -- this is the same driver’s license that teenagers alter in order to get into a club or buy cigarettes. Terrorists do it all the time. They did it on September Eleventh.



As you know, states have made great strides in developing drivers licenses that are difficult to counterfeit --- even by ingenious teenagers. But the question remains --- how does an airline agent at the Pittsburgh airport know what an Alaska or Florida license is supposed to look like, let alone identify a counterfeit?



It is clear that the state issued driver’s license is the current identification standard. It is also clear that this is certainly an inadequate way to go through this uncertain world.



Many in private and public life have called for a national identification card. In spite of Larry Ellison’s offer to provide the necessary software for free --- this has raised a public outcry concerning privacy and sharing too much private information with the government.



We can’t let this become our briar patch. I’m from Vermont and believe me, government is kept at a respectful but very conscious distance.

Reality demands that we understand ---First --- that the rise of empowered individuals whose single mission is to destroy Americans means that we have to fight them at an INDIVIDUAL level and second --- that we have already ceded our private information to faceless credit card companies and direct marketers who then sell it for a profit.

Now --- I believe that our nation has the technological capacity to protect both our privacy and our way of life.



And I am convinced that these complex solutions rest in a successful partnership between private enterprise and government --- led by state governments. As we stand here today, please accept the vital challenge I offer each of you.



The solutions you create to protect your state’s networks must be implemented in a complimentary manner, allowing interaction between every state of the Union.



We must tighten driver’s license standards among the states. Fortunately, this work has already begun, led by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators’ Task Force on ID Security.



Beyond that, we must move to smarter license cards that carry secure digital information that can be universally read at vital checkpoints.

And we must include new security features to provide ever-greater protection against counterfeiting.



Issuing such a card would have little effect on the privacy of Americans. I understand that you will be discussing privacy issues at a later workshop in this important conference --- but let’s take a moment to look at privacy in America today.



In many ways, privacy is the new urban myth.



Your credit card company knows every flight you’ve taken; they know your rental car, your hotel, the movies you watched, and where you had breakfast. Credit card companies have a stake in knowing everything about you because it’s a marketer’s dream.



The information for sale regarding your private life is detailed -- and lucrative. When it comes to the Internet, every web page you have ever visited, every e-mail you have ever sent, every word you have ever typed, is stored somewhere and can be accessed by someone with the right skills. And as you well know, it’s not just the Good Guys who possess these skills.



What’s the fastest growing crime in the U.S.? Identity theft --- stealing individuals’ identities --- not just their credit card numbers but their very existence. So, is the answer to create an Orwellian Ministry of Information? No. It’s about creating safe passage through a free but threatened life.



We will not, and should not, tolerate a call to erode privacy even further --- far from it. Americans can only be assured that their personal identity and information are safe and protected when they are able to gain more control over this information and its use.



Again, this points to Smart Card adoption and development of card readers that limit information access but also confirm it --- when appropriate.



The same Smart Card that confirms that a person is a registered voter can also be used to validate age in a liquor store.



The Smart Card owner may decide to put her medical information into the card database, which can be accessed by an Emergency Medical Technician with a universal authorization code. That EMT can learn the blood type and complete medical history of an unconscious accident victim.



The beauty of the Smart Card is that the liquor store doesn’t know anything but age, and the hotel doesn’t know about non-hotel purchases, and the state knows nothing about any of it.



On the Internet, this card will confirm all the information required to gain access to a state network -- while also barring anyone who isn’t legal age from entering an adult chat room, making the internet safer for our children, or prevent adults from entering a children’s chat room and preying on our kids.



A Smart Card reader at the airport, adapted to a universal standard perhaps designed by those in this very room, could match the ticket and the baggage with the card presenter.



Recently, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia introduced legislation to provide funding to states to increase the security features of driver’s licenses. The Moran Bill provides additional and specific funding to states to develop Smart Card capabilities.



I strongly support these efforts and urge you to do the same.



The European Union is ahead of us because they adopted Smart Card technology long ago. The EU has ambitious plans to deploy Smart Cards and Smart Card readers throughout the continent -- and to securely deliver electronic government services, electronic banking, and electronic commerce. Hong Kong is using Smart Card technology with biometrics at security check points.



My view is that the technology is here but that Americans are reluctant to adopt it. It’s time to overcome our fears



The American resistance to the Smart Card also came from the private sector, which was initially the only card issuer. It costs $15 to produce a chip-bearing card versus 80 cents to issue a card without the security chip. Costs have now gone down dramatically.



Many new computer systems are being created with card reader technology. Older computers can add this feature for very little money.



<...>

_______________________________________________

Politech mailing list

Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/

Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)

[blm]

5. July 2002 MTP he "tended to agree" with Bush on TIPS, too.

And days after 9-11 he SUGGESTED we reassess our civil liberties.

[maddezmom]

7. yikes

"Privacy is the new urban myth," Dean said in that March 2002 speech.

[fujiyama]

19. TIPS?

god, tell me that isn't true...thank god it was shot down.

[sweetheart]

10. The government should underwrite identity and privacy

I don't agree with Mr. Dean's technology, but i do agree with the idea that government should adjudicate legal identity and guarantee information privacy in a world where these things are copied and spoofed.

The way "I" would go about this is somewhat different, however. I would create a universal database of unique citizen identifiers, in fault tolerant redundant silo (server farms) run by the government and not on the internet. The private and sensitive identity details of every american citizen would be in That database, not inside a drivers license. Rather the drivers license or whichever card, would merely have a "key" to that database.

The telephone and internet networks would have gateways that could read-only that database. The request would be like "verify(<key>)" much like happens when you use a public telephone with a call card... except much more secure. Each citizen would also be issued with an ultra-secure rotating key login card. These cards have been used for secure military login for some time now. The number on the front of the card, changes every few seconds. To log in, you type in your password (like a bank pin) and then the current number on the secure card. This would open the database for a user to update critical information.. namely their home address.

Then if that data is ever wrong, it is run by a reliable government authority, and not a private company. As it stands today, hundreds of private companies keep this same data about you "legally" and much of it is wrong. This cannot continue, so i would rather have the government do it, than trust cowboys.

This ID can then be centrally used for all sorts of citizen entitlement issues, from the right to vote, to drivers issues towards on-line legal services and virtual court.... as the secure-key login would allow absolute identity verification. Certainly, checkpoints can be added to prevent fraud and further harden the system, but i have engineered systems like this that have worked a charm in america... like the core backbone of the Sprint phone network, or Cray computer's core supercomputing backbone... its all doable... just the real fraudsters are the american govenrmetn and military stealing from the people... and they do not want secure identity checking that is publically administered, as it would veil their attempts to secretly circumvent the law.

Dean's idea is good, his implemnetation is flawed... there is no way to get around identity cards... we need those in our modern world... best they are done right.

[artr2]

13. I would MUCH rather have Dean issue these guidelines

than the current administration.

[latebloomer]

15. Sorry, but

NOBODY should be issuing such guidelines.

[artr2]

16. If you actually take the time to read what he had to say

He was saying that smart card technology could be used for a a lot of different things and guarantee our privacy. Latebloomer,I understand your concerns but there has to be away to securely identify people.

[latebloomer]

17. Sorry, I still don't buy it

He does not convince me of the need for it, and it is subject to abuse.

[TexasSissy]

14. Oh, no! They're gonna put ID chips under our skin? Like in

A Beautiful Mind, when he was working for the CIA?

[fujiyama]

18. that was dean's favorite movie...

[Victor Wong]

20. Dean's for microchips and thumbprints? NO THANKS

I won't be voting for him.