U.S. and Canada look into common ID card -- full article

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tim Meehan <tim () ocsarc org>
Date: July 9, 2004 4:39:34 PM EDT
To: pierre () achilles net, declan () well com, dave () farber net
Subject: U.S. and Canada look into common ID card -- full article

Here is the original complete article

Pubdate: Thursday, July 8, 2004
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)

Licensing group wants just one biometric ID for whole continent

Sarah Staples
The Ottawa Citizen

An influential organization representing U.S. and Canadian driver's 
licence
bureaus is developing a proposal for a de facto North American identity
card: a biometric licence for 300 million people that could be fed 
through
law enforcement databases to catch holders of multiple forged licences.

Such a card would require the creation of the largest database of 
biometric
data in the world -- potentially to include digital images of a person's
face or eye, or electronic fingerprints.

The move comes as Ontario signals that it will tighten security on major
pieces of identification.

Ontario has quietly just revealed plans to adopt biometric technology on
health cards and drivers' licences. A government spokesman would not 
rule
out the possibility of merging the two cards into a single "smart" ID 
even
though a similar proposal by the previous Conservative regime was 
abandoned
in 2002 after it was panned by privacy critics.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), a
quasi-governmental body whose members are mainly state and provincial
ministries of transportation, has finished the first stage of a 
multi-year
evaluation to gauge whether a common biometric licence could be applied
across the association members' jurisdictions, including Canadian 
provinces.

A report by International Biometric Group, produced last January and
released to association members in September 2003, reviewed available
research on biometrics before concluding more study is needed to decide
whether a North American identity card supported by a massive database 
of
fingerprints, iris or facial scans is technically feasible.

Marked "confidential" and with an advisory it is "intended for 
dissemination
within the AAMVA member jurisdiction community only," the report, titled
"Phase I: Technical Capability of Biometric Systems to Perform 1:300 
million
Identification," was later posted on the association's website as an
addendum to a status report on drivers licence security.

Although a decision would ultimately rest with lawmakers in the U.S. and
Canada, the initiative is being fast-tracked at the highest levels of 
the
association, according to a second report subsequently produced by 
Fischer
Consulting Inc., which offers a detailed blueprint for further action,
including gauging political and public support.

The motor vehicle association's board of directors has voted to continue
canvassing biometrics vendors for detailed technical advice on scaling a
database so it could dwarf existing warehouses of personal information
without sacrificing accuracy, according to the Fischer report.

Raj Nanavati, a partner with International Biometric Group, confirmed 
his
company was contracted by the association to explore the feasibility of 
a
North American licence designed to provide "a real background check that
would identify criminals who apply for more than one licence under an
alias."

"The basic idea is to build a national repository of biometric 
information
that's not just in one state, but it all states and provinces," said Mr.
Nanavati, whose firm helped the White House devise "U.S. Visit," the 
world's
largest biometric database to date, which is operational at American 
border
crossings.

But Jason King, a spokesman for the Arlington, Virginia-based 
organization,
denied the group is reviewing options for a centralized North American
licensing system.

"I don't know what reports you're reading and I'm not certain what 
all's in
them, but you can take my word as gospel," said Mr. King, adding he had 
not
seen either report posted on the association's website.

"We're not looking at any type of North American licence. What we want 
to be
able to do is verify that everyone who applies for a licence is who 
they say
they are and that they're qualified to drive a motor vehicle."

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the motor vehicle
organization has merely been working with jurisdictions across North 
America
to standardize aspects of their licensing systems, Mr. King said.

In Ontario, meanwhile, Joe Uzan, of the Strategic Procurement Branch of 
the
province's ministry of transportation, said "everything is open and on 
the
table," when asked if the province intends to design a combined ID card
merging health and driver's information.

"We don't know what's available, what is the best way. Now we are just
examining the market, examining the possibilities," Mr. Uzan said.

A notice posted last week with little fanfare on the government 
tendering
website, Merx, announces the ministries of Transportation and Health and
Long Term Care "wish to develop a strategy for ... new security 
measures for
driver licence and health card issuance and identification security."

About 30 North American card vendors "with knowledge of image capture" 
were
invited to a closed-door meeting hosted by the transportation ministry 
last
week. They have until July 19 to submit ideas to help shape a contract
tender for revamping the cards, which could be issued within weeks, he 
said.

In 2002, the former Harris government shelved a smart card proposal 
that had
taken 20 months and at least $12.5 million to develop, before losing the
2003 election to the Liberals led by Dalton McGuinty. But in recent 
months,
Mr. McGuinty has hinted his government would consider adding biometrics 
to
drivers' licences, when manufacturing contracts for the cards expire 
next
year. This is the first official move to beef up the security of health
cards as well.

The Alberta government has also announced plans to use facial 
recognition in
its new drivers licences. Manitoba recently backed down from a similar 
plan.

Ann Cavoukian, information and privacy commissioner for the province of
Ontario, said while it makes sense for Ontario to "explore its 
options," she
would oppose any proposal to merge confidential health information 
together
with driving records on a sole ID card.

Ms. Cavoukian agreed with efforts by the motor vehicle group to tighten
licensing requirements, but called the proposal for a North American
biometrics ID card "laughable."

"I'm laughing at this simply because just logistically it would be such 
a
problem, before we even talk about privacy," she said. "Then you'd have 
a
database that would be a magnet for identity thieves -- everyone on the
planet is going to try to hack into this ... and every law enforcement
agency, the intelligence communities, anyone that produces a warrant 
could
(gain access). The potential for abuse of the information is enormous."

Mr. Nanavati added the group is more likely to endorse a common template
individual states would use for issuing their own biometric drivers'
licences, along with emphasis on greater sharing of licence information 
with
law enforcement. But he added the North American licence option "is 
still
pending."

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