Biometrics |
The immigration reform measure the Senate began
debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually
every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to
a ubiquitous national identification system.
Buried in the more
than 800 pages of
the bipartisan legislation is language mandating
the creation of the innocuously-named “photo tool,” a massive federal database
administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages,
Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a
driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID.
Employers would be obliged to look up every new hire in the database
to verify that they match their photo.
This piece of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and
Immigration Modernization Act is aimed at curbing employment of undocumented
immigrants. But privacy advocates fear the inevitable mission creep, ending
with the proof of self being required at polling places, to rent a house, buy a
gun, open a bank account, acquire credit, board a plane or even attend a
sporting event or log on the internet. Think of it as a government version of
Foursquare, with Big Brother cataloging every check-in.
“It starts to change the relationship between the citizen and state,
you do have to get permission to do things,” said Chris Calabrese, a
congressional lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union. “More
fundamentally, it could be the start of keeping a record of all things.”
For now, the legislation allows the database to be used solely for
employment purposes. But historically such limitations don’t last. The Social
Security card, for example, was created to track your government retirement
benefits. Now you need it to purchase health insurance.
“The Social Security number itself, it’s pretty ubiquitous in your
life,” Calabrese said.
David Bier, an analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute,
agrees with the ACLU’s fears.
“The most worrying aspect is that this creates a principle of
permission basically to do certain activities and it can be used to restrict
activities,” he said. “It’s like a national ID system without the card.”
For the moment, the debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee is
focused on the parameters of legalization for unauthorized immigrants, a border
fence and legal immigration in the future.
The
committee is scheduled to resume debate on the package Tuesday.
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