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June 5, 2006
Remind me again why state ID makes sense?
I've had some business at the DMV, and they want me to get my Social Security Card before they will help me. I wasn't sure if I had one, because my mother was out of town and if she had it then it was buried in a pile of old documents. But there is an SSA office across the street from my office, so I thought this would be easy.
The SSA wants the following to establish identity:
U.S driver's license
U.S State-issued non-driver identity card
U.S passport
Military ID
Employee ID Card
Medical Records
School ID cards
What do you notice about that list?
They fall into two categories, things that already require a social security card to get (U.S driver's license or non-driver id), or stuff that doesn't require that actually prove who you are (school's and hospitals don't really check ID, you just need to fill out the forms. The passport seems superficially to be in the requires SSN category because they want you to use a license to get one, but it turns out that some testifying that you are who you say you are is good enough.
What is the point of all this? To make it harder for criminals to get fake identities? In the end, serious criminals can have the time and motivation to get a birth certificate of someone who died young, then get a fake passport with an accomplice. They can then get a fake passport, using it to get a fake SS card, and finally get a fake drivers license. Then they have an entirely fake identity. This near pointless security measure is a serious burden to the citizen who's life passions burn down in a fire.
What's the alternative?
The answer is to trust any one piece of ID less, and require more of them. The idea of a monolithic piece of ID like the drivers license encourages the false sense of security that you have positively identified an individual.
A few weeks ago my brother and I were returning from a trip to Canada. We look similar, despite having different haircuts and being a few years apart. We went through customs together and the agent had so much difficulty telling us apart that he forgot to ask us any questions about our visit. I ask you, in a world where that happens, does it really make sense to take a drivers license or passport seriously as a dispositive form of ID? And if we can't use licenses and passports that way, why bother making it as difficult as we do to get one?
Posted by OneEyedMan at June 5, 2006 4:02 PM
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