Is it essential for your date of birth to appear on your license to drive a motor vehicle?

[Boojatta]

An alternative would be to include the name of the person who conducted your most recent, successful, road test, the date and time when the road test began, and the date of birth of the person who conducted the road test.

If it is discovered that a particular person who is conducting road tests has been accepting bribes and passing people who shouldn't have passed, it will be easy to identify people who may need to be tested again by someone who isn't corrupt.

Who has a legitimate need to have access to the date of birth of anyone who has a license to drive a motor vehicle?

If now isn't the time to pay attention to privacy rights, then when will be the time?

[Captain Hilts]

1. Why is this specific to 'women's rights'? I don't get it. nt

[Boojatta]

4. How is playing a musical instrument behind a screen specific to women's rights?

A screen prevents the person who is judging the music from discriminating based on any visible characteristic of the person who is playing. Any thread advocating the use of a screen to hide each musician who is applying for a job could be said to belong in a general non-discrimination topic forum rather than in Women's Rights.

[GKirk]

7. Uhmm...maybe it's...

in regards to a woman's right to lie about her age?

[Boojatta]

10. Isn't privacy (not disclosing some information) another possibility?

[Toucano]

12. The date of our birth has never been held as private information.

A birth is actually a public event (well, not LITERALLY) that is recorded in our churches, synagogues, schools, etc.

Your birth is already a known fact that someone (other than you) has prior knowledge about, so I don't see how you can regard it as a privacy issue. In fact, I bet someone had to tell you what your date of birth is!

How can a piece of information about you be regarded as private when so many people already know it?

I think I am missing the connection to the driver's license. What person or entity requires your driver's license from whom you would need to guard your date of birth (but not, for example, your address or even your name)?

[Boojatta]

16. "a known fact that someone (other than you) has prior knowledge about"

When someone is tested for HIV, a lab technician obtains knowledge of the person's HIV status first. Do you not see how there can be a privacy issue associated with HIV status? Would it be acceptable for it to appear on driving licenses?

[Toucano]

19. The technician knows that the sample is positive.

They don't know to whom the sample belongs, but no matter.

No HIV status should not be represented on a driver's license because it can lead to abuse and discrimination, but it is also not an identifiable characteristic. Our age is an identifiable characteristic.

Your argument for the privacy of your date of birth could also be applied to your name. I mean, what right does anyone have to know your name? What difference does it make in respect to your ability to drive?

No names on driver's licenses, by golly! It's a privacy matter!

[GKirk]

17. Even more public than what you are saying

it is also on record at your county clerk's office.

[GKirk]

15. Not sure

because I don't know where you're coming from in this discussion. What is your motivation to withold your DOB?

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Then why bother having a persons name or address, for that matter.

BTW, my last road test was in 1960.

[dipsydoodle]

3. In the UK it's disguised within the licence number by transposing figures

Helps police decide if someone is using a stolen licence if their age don't look right. BTW not all of our licences have photo ID - only new ones and renewals. Apart from that I don't really see how its a privacy issue. Have you got a passport ? If so does that have your date of birth ?

[Toucano]

5. Date of birth is used to identify an individual.

For example, when I was in college, there were three other people on campus with my EXACT same name.

We did not, however, all have the same date of birth. This makes it a distinguishing characteristic that forms part of our identity.

Other distinguishing characteristics like eye color, hair color, skin color, are used too.

Interestingly, perhaps, I have seen myself listed in different databases as black, hispanic, and white. I guess my race is in the eye of the beholder. ;)

[Boojatta]

6. I provided an alternative.

include the name of the person who conducted your most recent, successful, road test, the date and time when the road test began, and the date of birth of the person who conducted the road test.

Do you think that two people who have the exact same name are likely to have also had road tests on the same date, and starting at the same time, and conducted by two different people who have the same name and the same date of birth?

[Wickerman]

8. That would involve a massive rewrite of databases

and an extra step in retrieval of information state to state it would seem.

[Toucano]

9. And that is strange.

YOUR date of birth is a privacy concern, but the name and date of birth of the person who administered your road test is not?

I am not trying to mock you, but what is the concern about your date of birth? Are you afraid someone will see your license and figure out that you're a Gemini or something?

Your point about your birthdate not being relevant to permission to drive is valid, but a driver's license also serves as identification. Your age (or date of birth) is an identifying characteristic.

Is this about older drivers being denied the right to drive?

[Boojatta]

11. "the name and date of birth of the person who administered your road test is not?"

It could be a privacy concern for a small percentage of the population. I think it's important to make some effort to handle the larger problem first.

[Toucano]

13. Forgive me, but I am still trying to understand what the problem actually is.

I realize I have posted in multiple places, and I apologize for the confusion.

Thanks.

[Speck Tater]

14. Without it how the heck can you claim your senior citizen discount at the pizza place? nt

[MineralMan]

18. It's only important that women's birthdates appear,

so we all know how old they really are. :sarcasm:

You have outdone yourself, Boojatta, with this one.

First, we use drivers' licenses as proof of age for things like voting and drinking on the low end, and for identifying seniors eligible for whatever on the high end. Since almost all jurisdictions require presentation of a birth certificate or equivalent, it's a handy record of your age.

Thinking is something that improves with practice. I recommend it highly as a daily exercise.

[Boojatta]

20. "it's a handy record of your age."

There are alternative ways that one might interpret that. For example:

1. Each individual who has a license to drive believes that it is convenient to have his or her DOB on the license and also believes that this convenience overrides all other considerations. Therefore, if each person had a choice of either continuing to have his or her DOB appear or to have the alternative information described in the Original Post appear, then nobody would choose to use the alternative. Therefore, there is no need to oppose giving people the option, but it would have no positive value because nobody would choose it.

2. At least one individual prefers the privacy associated with keeping his or her DOB off the license to be more important than any convenience associated with having his or her DOB on the license. However, all licenses to drive must have the same format, and the convenience of people who want their DOB to be shown is more important than the privacy of people who don't want their DOB to be shown.

3. It is possible for licenses to have different formats, but for a given person's DOB to appear on his or her license is convenient for other people, and the convenience of those other people overrides the desire of any given person to keep his or her DOB off the license.

Which (if any) of the above three did you mean?

[jberryhill]

21. A related question is..

"Who has a legitimate need to have access to the date of birth of anyone who has a license to drive a motor vehicle?"

Random individuals do not have access to one's driving license information. In other words, the information on your driving license is already private.

So the preliminary question is "Who has access to your license to drive a motor vehicle?" I certainly cannot access the driving licenses of other people.

However, information on those with criminal records is indexed by name and date of birth, which is typically what a law enforcement officer will check the license information against when the driving license is requested during investigation of a driving violation.

But all of the information on your driving license is private in the first place.

[Boojatta]

23. Anyone who has a motor vehicle and insurance can deliberately get into a minor collision with you.

Of course, the person would try to make it appear to have been an accident, and might succeed, or you might give the person the benefit of the doubt. The collision or so-called accident is then a pretext for the person to gain access to information on your driver's license.

Do you expect everyone to rely entirely on walking and/or mass transit and/or taxicabs to avoid such a scenario?

How would you feel if anyone on a whim could pay an amount of cash equivalent to a typical collision insurance deductible to any county, state, or federal law enforcement officer and be guaranteed to quickly discover your date of birth, obtained either by you cooperating by handing over your identification to the law enforcement officer who would then pass the information to the person who requested it on a whim, or by having you detained and searched for your identification by the law enforcement officer, who would again pass the information to the person who requested it on a whim?

Random individuals do not have access to one's driving license information. In other words, the information on your driving license is already private.

[Boojatta]

22. Kick