More Than 12,000 Comments Submitted on REAL ID Draft Regulations
From EPIC Alert Volume 14.10 May 18, 2007:
The Department of Homeland Security announced that it has received more than 12,000 comments on its draft implementation regulations for the REAL ID Act, even though the comment process was marked with problems. Many people complained that they were unable file comments through the Web site and fax number provided by DHS. Overwhelmed by the flow of comments, DHS set up an e-mail address for public submissions one day before the comments were due.
EPIC and 24 other experts in privacy and technology jointly submitted comments warning the federal agency not to go forward with the REAL ID proposal. The group urged DHS to recommend to Congress that REAL ID is unworkable and must be repealed. “The REAL ID Act creates an illegal de facto national identification system filled with threats to privacy, security and civil liberties that cannot be solved, no matter what the implementation plan set out by the regulations,” the group said.
[...]
Last week, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about REAL ID, Chairman Patrick Leahy said, “The days of Congress rubber-stamping any and every idea cooked up by this administration are over.” At the hearing on May 8, Bruce Schneier, security expert and member of the EPIC Board of Directors, testified against the fundamentally flawed national identification scheme. Schneier explained that REAL ID would only protect us from terrorists “if the terrorists did exactly what we expect them to. But if they find a way around REAL ID, then it won’t protect us at all.” Schneier also said that DHS has shown a profound lack of respect for the public and for the states. “Today is the deadline for comments on the draft regulations. DHS has testified that final regulations will be released by August or September. It is not possible for DHS to read, review and consider the thousands of public comments it will receive. This tells me that DHS does not intend to make substantial changes to its draft regulations.”
Comments of EPIC and 24 Experts in Privacy and Technology (pdf):
http://www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards/epic_realid_comments.pdfSenate Judiciary Hearing, “Will REAL ID Actually Make Us Safer? An Examination of Privacy and Civil Liberties Concerns”:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm\?id=2746Department of Homeland Security’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on REAL ID: http://www.dhs.gov/xprevprot/laws/gc_1172765386179.shtm
EPIC’s Page on National ID Cards and REAL ID Act:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards/Stop REAL ID Campaign site:
http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid
