FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2007 Contact: Melissa Ngo Director, EPIC Identification and Surveillance Project (202) 483-1140 ext. 123 ngo@epic.org AFTER LONG DELAY, HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT ISSUES REGULATIONS FOR FLAWED NATIONAL ID PLAN WASHINGTON, DC - Two years after Congress rushed through passage of the REAL ID Act, the Department of Homeland Security announced yesterday proposed regulations that would turn the state driver's license into a national identity card. The estimated cost of the plan exceeds $11 billion. Proposals to repeal Real ID have been adopted in the states and introduced in Congress. Under the regulations, DHS will impose new requirements on state motor vehicle agencies so that the federal government can link together databases. The federal agency claims that no national ID database will be created under these regulations, because there will not be a single database maintained by a federal agency. However, the national identification system will include the personal information of 245 million license and state ID cardholders across the country. "REAL ID centralizes authority over personal identity into one database and one card, which increases both the number of security risks as well as the scope of harm when it occurs. This national ID proposal is inherently flawed," said Melissa Ngo, Director of EPIC's Identification and Surveillance Project. According to Bruce Schneier, security expert and member of the EPIC Board of Directors, "The REAL ID regulations do not solve problems of the national ID card, which will fail when used by someone intent on subverting that system. Evildoers will be able steal the identity -- and profile -- of an honest person, doing an end-run around the REAL ID system." The regulations state that Homeland Security considered using the REAL ID card for purposes other than "accessing Federal facilities, boarding commercial aircraft, and entering nuclear power plants," but chose to limit the uses "at this time." In the regulations, Homeland Security said it "may expand" the uses in the future. The creation of a national ID scheme under the REAL ID regulations comes at a time when security breaches and identity theft are on the rise. For the seventh year in a row, identity theft is the No. 1 concern of U.S. consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission's annual report. Over 100 million data records of U.S. residents have been exposed due to security breaches since February 2005, according to a report from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. "The problem is that security doesn't come through identification; security comes through measures -- airport screening, walls and door locks -- that work without relying on identification," Schneier said. More information is available at: http://www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards