Big brother, big government

Big brother could be keeping a closer eye on you
c/o ArgueWithEveryone forum

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma lawmaker is calling a piece of legislation under consideration in the U.S. Congress a "big brother, big government bill." The Pass I.D. Act calls for standardizing driver's licenses across the country, but State Representative Paul Wesselhoft says the bill is an invasion of privacy.

"I think it's big brother at its worst. I know the motive behind it is to curb illegal immigration and other security issues but I think it's a violation of our 4th Amendment," says Rep. Wesselhoft (R-Moore).

Representative Wesselhoft believes the Pass I.D. Act could give the government unprecedented access to your personal information through your driver's license.

The republican claims there's a provision in the bill that calls for ID's like licenses to carry radio frequency identification chips.

"They could embed that with a chip, they can track you and find out not only where you are, but who you are," says Rep. Wesselhoft.

The U.S. Senator from Hawaii who is sponsoring the act says that's just not the case.

We contacted Senator Daniel Akaka's office; his staff told us the bill implements the 9/11 commissions requirements for driver's license security.

In a written statement, the senator's office says: "Neither REAL ID nor PASS ID call for computer chips of any sort. As recommended by the 9/11 commission, the existing REAL ID regulations require IDs to contain machine readable barcodes much like you would find at the supermarket. Police officers can scan the barcodes to easily verify the information printed on the front of the ID and detect fake IDs. Many states have been using the barcodes for years."

Despite what the congressman's office told us, Representative Wesselhoft says there is language in the bill that could allow for computer chips in driver's licenses.

However, he does admit he has not read the bill in its entirety.

The representative is now proposing a new bill aimed at protecting Oklahoma driver's licenses from government intrusion by preemptively disallowing state and local governments from tracking a persons location or obtaining personal information from an individuals driver's license.