SURPRISE! Public-private vendors demand national ID standards
Posted in Back Door Politics by R Lee Wrights on November 11th, 2009 by Sheila Dean
Public-private partnerships are known for behavior we compare to vultures. Scavenging birds circling your tax payout to contract goods and services that may, or may not, directly benefit you.
In the following example, the identity industry has the most to gain from mandating national identity standards to pursue life normally. Basic standards for a nationalized ID card are a far cry from what some of these corporations urge our government to endorse: massive database systems, biometric face prints, RFID, DNA laminates and now fingerprints in order to secure legal working status.
Fingerprinting is one solution proposed to curb illegal immigration. There have been recent murmurs on Capitol Hill, that NY Senator Chuck Schumer has got a walking agenda for the biometrics industry based on immigration reform. He has plans to propel legislation requiring everyone to submit copies of their fingerprints in order to have the right to work in the United States.
Charles Schumer said the following during a summer floor speech:
“There is only one way to really get a system that will stop illegal immigration and stop employers from hiring, and that is by creating a biometric-based Federal employment verification system that will give both employers and employees the peace of mind that employment relationships are both lawful and proper. It will also give the American people the same peace of mind. This system will be our most important asset in dramatically reducing the number of illegal aliens who are able to live and work in the United States.
…I am eager to enact comprehensive reform with a strong, tough employer verification system.”
We disagree with Schumer. Erecting fingerprint standards as a gate to one’s right to work does not lend peace of mind for those with concerns about privacy.
We believe Schumer’s recent motivation to act on universal fingerprinting may have something to do with standards identity industry corporations set themselves. They propel their agenda onto Congressional leaders with a soft spot for certain lobbyists.
Sheila Dean is the blog editor for BeatTheChip.org and an organizer for the 5-11 Campaign, a single issue advocacy campaign opposed to Real ID. She also hosts & produces Waking Up Orwell, a weekly online radio magazine spotlighting privacy, technology and civil liberty.
