National ID Cards: Civil Liberties Endangered.
The contemplation of a National Identification System ("NIDS") by our government is not a new topic of discussion. The September 11 attacks; however, aroused new concern and consequently pushed consideration for the development of a NIDS into the spotlight once again. Now, two years later, the reality of creating a NIDS is there, and its advantages and disadvantages are still being debated. It is a very touchy and controversial subject, which I feel very strongly about. Those concerned with civil liberties adamantly oppose the idea of every American Citizen being required to have a national ID card. Regardless of what adversaries might be inclined to believe, national ID cards would breach our rights of privacy and spawn the further degradation of our sense of security. .
As Americans, one of our greatest civil liberties is that of privacy. If we give the government the power to track our every move at any given time, the threat of Big Brother becomes more real than ever. The government and other officials would have the power to connect to a database, and within seconds, they would know anything about us. If we were to have national ID cards, they would contain information such as our Social Security number, address, place of work, income, legal records, banking information, medical history, religious preference, schooling, and political affiliations; as well as any identifying qualities, such as those on a standard driver's license. Even more frightening is the proposition of using biometrics, which Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, says would possibly include "thumb prints, hand prints, iris scans, or other new technology [that] could detect false identities" (sec. 2). With these cards, privacy and security would be virtually passe. How can we possibly feel secure knowing that all of our personal information is in a computer system that could be tampered with by officials, as well as hackers? The threat of hackers poses yet even more prospective problems.
