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GCN Home > November 8, 1999 issue

THE VIEW FROM INSIDE

Bill puts privacy protections in the driver’s seat

If you believe Americans have an unalienable right to privacy, you’ll take heart in the latest round of funding bills from Congress.

HR 2084, the Transportation Department and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal 2000, contains two privacy protections for holders of driver’s licenses. The implications of these actions by Congress should not be lost on proponents of federal electronic services delivery.

Having an online, transactional relationship with citizens has become the Holy Grail of nearly every agency. But to do so requires elaborate systems to authenticate the recipient of benefits or personal data held by agencies. How agencies handle such data has become a political issue, as does anything that smacks of a universal personal identifier.

Preventive action

The first relevant provision in HR 2084 prevents a Transportation action that could have become, in effect, a national identification system. The second uses transportation funding to protect driver’s license information. Approved by Congress, the bill, at this writing, was headed for President Clinton’s signature.

The first provision of HR 2084 repeals Section 656(b) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Section 656(b) required the display of Social Security numbers, electronically or through other means, on all driver’s licenses. The goal was to thwart illegal immigrants from using false driver’s licenses as identification. Illegals cannot legally possess a number.

But including Social Security numbers on all licenses has the potential to undermine privacy and increase fraud. Consolidating this personal data into a single logical database makes obtaining a license Job 1 for those intent on identity theft or fraud. Furthermore, Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration planned to implement Section 656(b) by mandating national format standards for driver’s licenses, making them easier to fabricate.

Privacy advocates saw this as the creation of a de facto national ID system. Apparently, Congress agreed.

The second provision of HR 2084 restricts the ability of state motor vehicle administrations to sell driver’s license information by withholding federal highway funds from those that do. States would have to receive permission from drivers to distribute or sell any of their personal information, including photographs, Social Security numbers and medical or disability information.



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