National ID proposed in Immigration Reform disturbs the natives

c/o Washington Independent

No one is going to be excited by a proposal that involves “finger printing the entire U.S. working population,” said [ACLU counsel, Chris] Calabrese at a Cato Institute Capitol Hill briefing today. The proposed regulations are “costly, they’re ineffective, they’re bureaucratic. They’ll start with immigrants, but they’re a tool for social control.”

What Calabrese is referring to is a proposal for a national biometric ID card, laid out by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a Washington Post op-ed in mid-March as part of the comprehensive immigration reform bill they’re drafting. The two senators essentially plan on requiring “all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs to obtain a high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card,” they wrote.

But according to Calabrese and [Jim] Harper [Cato Instititute], the nationally uniform ID would create a long list of problems — and it wouldn’t help solve the problem of illegal immigration.

Perhaps the most significant issue Calabrese addressed is that the problem targeted by the proposal won’t be affected at all. The card would require all U.S. citizens and permanent residents to get a card, but illegal immigrants who already ignore current laws can still just ignore the national ID. “You’re saying, ‘Let’s pass a law to target people who are already ignoring the existing law,’” Calabrese said. Employers could still hire people who do not have a card or have a falsified card, or they could simply pay their workers under the table.

This isn’t just an immigration issue, Harper noted. “We’re talking about native-born Americans” who would be affected by this.

Harper and Calabrese addressed some of the issues with the national ID:

• Anyone could still present false documents, either by creating a manufactured identity or stealing an identity, to obtain a national ID.

• The actual ID could also be illegally reproduced.

• Biometrics are untested. There is no good standard for biometrics. Harper pointed out that, for example, some people who work in manual labor don’t have easily distinguishable fingerprints.

• The ID system could cost at least $100 billion, based on cost figures for a similar identification program, “the Real ID,” a voluntary state-issued national ID program implemented in 2005.

•  The system would create privacy issues, including a possible government database of information that could be easily corrupted.

• It eliminates the choice of documents someone can use when applying for a job or for government benefits.

• A nationwide system could create long delays for correcting errors.

• It could encourage discrimination in the workforce, because employers might not want to deal with longer delays for immigrants (legal residents or naturalized citizens) who have more documents that need to be added into the system.

“These problems have never been addressed,” said Calabrese, “and the problems are going to fall on the backs of workers.” He said it would invert the relationship between citizens and the state and it would mean certain rights are conditional upon approval by the government. A national ID would be “sort of like the note you needed to get to go to the bathroom in school.” Calabrese said the Arizona immigration bill is a step in that direction. [SB 1070 was signed by Governor Brewer today].

The ACLU and more than 40 other organizations have publicly opposed the national ID proposal within Schumer and Graham’s immigration reform plan. But the entire proposal is still cloudy — the Post op-ed is the only concrete “plan” the senators have so far, and until the bill is actually introduced, no one really knows what to expect. It’s also unclear whether a national ID could face opposition from right-leaning anti-immigration groups.

TODAY: Nevada hearing on Real ID, D.C. biometric worker card briefing

Video c/o KTNV


Nevada hearing on Real ID licensing
c/o McClatchy-Tribune, TMC.net  

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles will hold a hearing Friday on a proposal to make a new high-security driver's license optional.

The hearing will be held at 9 a.m. in Room 4412 of the Sawyer Building in Las Vegas, and will be teleconferenced to Room 3137 of the Legislative Building in Carson City.

To prevent a legislative committee from killing the Real ID licensing system entirely, DMV Director Edgar Roberts announced Monday that he would issue a new regulation to make the licenses optional.

Deploying High-Density Zones in a Low-Density Data Center Learn more, download free white paper.

Under the proposal, which would return to the Legislative Committee on Licensing for final approval, motorists would decide whether to get a regular license or the new license, which requires a birth certificate, Social Security card, proof of address and other identification.


Discussion: National ID & Immigration Reform in D.C. 


Capitol Hill - A briefing sponsored by the Cato Institute discusses whether or not National ID should be a part of Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  Special guest speaker is Chris Calabrese, special counsel to ACLU on the national ID issue and  Cato's Jim Harper.

DOUBLE FEATURE: Immigration & Police State special

HEY! Blogging IS NOT A CRIME!, Know your rights!!

THIS WEEK ON WAKING UP ORWELL 
::: PODCAST:::
Waking Up Orwell's 2 hour Immigration & Police State special
Interview start times are in bold.

1st hour - News magazine coverage of this week's chronicle of dystopia followed by instructions on how to assert your rights over a police interaction with Scott Morgan of FlexYourRights. org. (@42:44)

2nd Hour - Alex Norwrasteh, an analyst for Competetive Enterprise Institute (@01:06:28) covers the nasty business of Immigration and Arizona's police state bill, SB 1070. He also exposes the anti-immigrant movement as a pan-partisan strategy initiated and sustained by the type of Global Green who are in favor of eugenics. Why? To depopulate North America. How it plays out shocked me and I know it will surprise anyone who listens. It will change the way you see Republicans, Progressives and the way you've interpreted social darwinism in the past.

9 Students Arrested in AZ SB 1070 protests

According to CopWatch AZ 

"Nine brave students chained themselves to the Az State Capitol on April 20, 2010 to send Gov. Brewer a message: VETO APARTHEID BILL SB 1070.  They were all arrested and hauled off to Sheriff Arpaio's jail.

They have called for Non-Violent Direct Action until the Governor veto the bill or 90 days until it becomes law. Major Boycotts are also being planned against Arizona if it passes like this Nation has never seen.

Arizona is becoming a Police State were any and everyone with brown skin will be required to show papers and avoid or turn in anyone they suspect of being undocumented. This could include those taking a relative to the hospital or church.

Lobbyists groups like FAIR that helped write the bill stand to make Millions off the Az Tax payers as they conveniently helped write it so racists can sue any town, city or agency they feel isn't enforcing this fascist law to their satisfaction.

Instead of dealing with the real causes of our border problems (NAFTA ) our racist Republican leadership wants to try more of the same like a crack addict who thinks all will be well if only he can have more. Senator Russell Pearce, the bills sponsor has been exposed as having ties with neo-Nazi and openly associates with hate groups. He used false data pulled mostly from anti immigrant websites most of which is easily proved to be false. "

Crime Prediction Software Is Here and It's a Very Bad Idea

BTC- Thanks to Jim Paulson for sending this one over.

c/o  Gizmodo, Jesus Diaz >> Blacklisted News


The Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice will use analysis software to predict crime by young delinquents, putting potential offenders under specific prevention and education programs. Goodbye, human rights!

They will use this software on juvenile delinquents, using a series of variables to determine the potential for these people to commit another crime. Depending on this probability, they will put them under specific re-education programs. Deepak Advani—vice president of predictive analytics at IBM—says the system gives "reliable projections" so governments can take "action in real time" to "prevent criminal activities?"

Really? "Reliable projections"? "Action in real time"? "Preventing criminal activities"? I don't know about how reliable your system is, IBM, but have you ever heard of the 5th, the 6th, and the 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution? What about article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? No? Let's make this easy then: Didn't you watch that scientology nutcase in Minority Report?

Sure. Some will argue that these juvenile delinquents were already convicted for other crimes, so hey, there's no harm. This software will help prevent further crimes. It will make all of us safer? But would it? Where's the guarantee of that? Why does the state have to assume that criminal behavior is a given? And why should the government decide who goes to an specific prevention program or who doesn't based on what a computer says? The fact is that, even if the software was 99.99% accurate, there will be always an innocent person who will be fucked. And that is exactly why we have something called due process and the presumption of innocence. That's why those things are not only in the United States Constitution, but in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights too.  :::MORE HERE:::

Privacy and Civil Liberties Board still sits empty

c/o Los Angeles Times

Suppose Congress created a board to protect the privacy of Americans and no one showed up. That's the bizarre reality of the five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, all of whose five seats have been vacant since 2008. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) is pressing the Obama administration to fill the vacancies. In doing so, the president should choose individuals of sufficient experience and stature to act as watchdogs over the intelligence community and the Justice Department.

The board was originally established by Congress in 2004 and was raised to the status of an independent agency within the executive branch in 2007. Its mandate is to advise the administration when anti-terrorism policies threaten to trample civil liberties, and it has access to both public and classified information. It's meant to complement, not replace, congressional oversight and investigations by the inspectors general of the Justice Department and the CIA. It also makes an annual report to Congress — or would, if it were reconstituted with new appointments.

Although it was the George W. Bush administration that inaugurated the illegal wiretapping of Americans suspected of being in contact with foreign terrorists, invasions of privacy are a constant danger in any intelligence program empowered to collect and scrutinize the personal and electronic records of U.S. citizens. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is designed to help protect against abuses in advance so that we don't have to conduct inquests after the fact.

Appropriately, anti-terrorism measures constantly are being refined to address new challenges. In a letter to Obama, Harman and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, cite policy changes proposed after the attempted destruction of an airliner on Christmas, including expanded watch lists and increased use of body-scanning technology at airports.

It would be naïve to think that the board always will prevail in its recommendations to Congress or the administration. Nor is it the only brake on ill-considered or legally dubious anti-terrorism initiatives. In addition to various inspectors general, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel is supposed to advise the administration and federal agencies of the legal limits on counter-intelligence operations and other tactics in the war on terrorism.

Stung by criticism of its inaction, the administration insists that it is considering candidates for the three Democratic seats on the board and expects congressional Republicans to recommend nominees for the other two seats soon. Better late than never, but the empty seats at the table more than a year into the Obama administration are an embarrassment.

School district admits to webcam spying

c/o AP >> OneNewsNow.com 

PHILADELPHIA – A suburban school district secretly captured at least 56,000 webcam photographs and screen shots from laptops issued to high school students, its lawyer acknowledged Monday.

"It's clear there were students who were likely captured in their homes," said lawyer Henry Hockeimer, who represents the Lower Merion School District.

None of the images, captured by a tracking program to find missing computers, appeared to be salacious or inappropriate, he said. The district said it remotely activated the tracking software to find 80 missing laptops in the past two years.  ::: MORE HERE:::

AZ SB 1070: Brewer takes time considering veto, has "concerns"

BTC  - SB 1070 is not law as of 4/20/2010.

c/o The Arizona Republic

Arizona lawmakers on Monday approved one of the toughest illegal immigration laws in the United States.

The immigration bill now heads to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who has five days to sign it, veto it or do nothing and allow it to become law. Brewer said she’d be reviewing the legislation over the next several days, indicating that she will probably take the maximum time allowed to her before taking action.

Arizona Senate Bill 1070 would, among other things, make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and require local police to enforce federal-immigration laws. If the governor signs it, Arizona would be the first state to criminalize illegal immigrants.

Brewer, speaking to media at an unrelated news conference Monday morning, said she had “concerns” about SB 1070.

“I am always concerned about all of those things,” Brewer said when asked about several specific provisions of the bill, including one that would require police to ask anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally to produce an “alien registration document” such as a green card. Those who don’t or can’t produce one would be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor and face a minimum $500 fine.

[WHAT IF YOU CAN'T PRODUCE A GREEN CARD, AS YOU DON'T OWN A GREEN CARD BECAUSE YOU ARE A U.S. CITIZEN?] 

Still, Brewer declined to give any indication as to whether she would sign or veto the legislation, which has gotten national attention. If she signs the bill, it would go into effect 90 days after the session ends.

“I’ll look at it, go over it and review it completely when it hits my desk,” she said.  :::MORE HERE:::

Nevada beats the chip, drops Real ID mandate

Real ID Licenses Will Now Be Optional

c/o KXNT news radio

High-security drivers licenses will soon be an option for Nevada drivers. That's the word from Department of Motor Vehicles Director Edgar Roberts, who told a Legislative panel Monday the controversial "Real ID" program will no longer be mandatory. In January, Governor Jim Gibbons made the program mandatory in Nevada by executive order. But the high-security licenses have caused long lines at DMV offices, and sparked criticism from opponents who say the program intrudes into personal lives. Lawmakers could endorse Roberts' plan by the end of the month. Nevada has spent about two million dollars to implement the "Real ID" program, and so far, 46-thousand drivers have opted for the high-security cards.

Cyberattack hit heart of Google system

BTC - This blog's hosting technology goes through Google. This lead came in from friend of the blog, JP of NCard who sends us stuff all the time. He's a long time, sure footed opponent of the National ID card.

"The hackers got access to the coding in the password system that controls millions of users' access to many Google services."

A vast amount of info in one place
c/o  StarTribune.com 

The new details seem likely to increase the debate about the security and privacy of vast computing systems such as Google's that now centralize the personal information of millions of individuals and businesses. Because vast amounts of digital information are stored in one place, a single breach can lead to disastrous losses.


The theft began with a single instant message sent to a Google employee in China who was using Microsoft's Messenger program, according to the person with knowledge of the internal inquiry, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. ::: MORE HERE:::

Legislative Commission’s Subcommittee To Discuss “Real ID” In Nevada

c/o  Nevada News Bureau

The Legislative Commission’s Subcommittee to Review Regulations will meet tomorrow afternoon to discuss the fate of the controversial “Real ID” in Nevada.

Citing concerns with both privacy and cost, numerous organizations have come out against the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 including the ACLU, Americans for Tax Reform, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners of Nevada, Campaign for Liberty, the Cato Institute, National Immigration Law Center and the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

Though Congress has said the act is primarily intended to prevent identity fraud and has denied it would signal the dawn of national identity cards that could compromise the privacy of citizens, critics remain unconvinced.

“There is no security plan for protecting this information,” said a spokesperson from the Nevada chapter of the ACLU. “Instead, the federal government presumes that the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators will operate the database. However, this private association has no accountability to Nevada, and it is not bound by either the Privacy Act, which applies to federal agencies, or the Drivers’ Privacy Protection Act, which applies to state DMVs.”

Under the Real ID Act, states will be required to scan documentary evidence into a shared database including proofs of birth dates, legal and residency status and social security numbers.

Real ID cards will feature a two-dimensional, non-encrypted bar code containing personal information such as the citizen’s home address. Because the cards will not be encrypted, there are concerns that businesses and other organizations could potentially scan and store a customer’s home address along with other pieces of personal information.

If Real ID is fully implemented, a Real ID-compliant identification card will be required not only to board commercial aircraft but also to enter federal buildings including courthouses. :::MORE HERE:::