Your papers, please . . .

by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff

AUGUSTA - After many years of opposing the federal Department of Homeland Security’s attempt to force Maine to fall in line with a Real ID proposal, Maine capitulated ... somewhat ... in April of this year.  Maine was the first state to formally reject the federal law, and the last to be given additional time to comply.

The Homeland Security Department’s approval of an extension means that Mainers’ driver’s licenses will suffice for identification at airports and federal facilities and the state’s residents won’t have to submit to added security checks.  For now.

There are two laws on the books currently.  One, LD2304, requires state residency to get a Maine driver’s license or state identification.  No one, with few exceptions, has much of a quarrel with that law.  It is often confused with the similarly numbered LD2309, which the state calls, “ An Act To Enhance the Security of State Credentials,” but which its detractors call the first step toward Real ID.

The REAL ID Act of 2005 is U.S. federal law which imposes certain security, authentication and issuance procedures standards for the state driver's licenses and state ID cards, in order for them to be accepted by the federal government for "official purposes", as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Currently, the Secretary of Homeland Security has defined "official purposes" as presenting state driver's licenses and identification cards for boarding commercially operated airline flights, entering federal buildings and nuclear power plants.  But DHS acknowledges that official purposes may be extended in the future, and can be changed by any administration, and would not be subject to further legislative input.

According to Governor Baldacci’s Communication Director, David Farmer, Maine’s current law would implement five elements to its identification protocol.  The first would verify the legal presence of an applicant; the second would tie any visa to an expiration of the identification; the third would check an applicant against the SAVE database (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) using some biometric data, such as a thumbprint or photo; the fourth would provide the results of a study as to the most cost-effective method for such biometrics by October of 2009; and finally, the fifth would require DMVs to take a photo upfront at the beginning of the application process, rather than at the end, even if the applicant did not go forward and finish the application.

The SAVE database is a federal database, which even the Department of Homeland Security admits provides incorrect information more than 60% of the time.  That is, a citizen of Maine could apply for a driver’s license, and be turned down because his or her name is similar to one on the registry or because a fingerprint card had a smudge that made it similar to one in the database.

As the Legislature was debating whether to pass LD 2309 to move toward compliance with the federal REAL ID Act, Commissioner of Public Safety Ann Jordan applied for over $2 million in funds from the Department of Homeland Security REAL ID Demonstration Grant Program.  Maine was awarded just over $1 million for REAL ID implementation last month.

The budget request solicits funds for the implementation of Digimarc type facial recognition technology, the installation and implementation of the SAVE system, and what appears to be the installation of technology to facilitate a shared database system.  At the time that the budget request was made, Maine law, passed as LD 1138 in 2007, explicitly prohibited any compliance with the federal REAL ID Act.

“The Governor and Commissioner Jordan have pulled a bait and switch on Mainers and the legislature,” said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union. “The legislature expressly prohibited the expenditure of funds to implement REAL ID because of the giant privacy concerns associated with the vast federal program.”

Under threat from the Department of Homeland Security that Mainers wouldn’t be able to board planes, the Maine Legislature narrowly passed LD 2309 in April, moving Maine toward at least partial compliance with REAL ID.

LD 2309 institutes a legal presence requirement and requires the Secretary of State to report back to the Legislature regarding the most cost effective way to implement biometrics technology.  LD 2309 does NOT direct the Secretary of State to implement Digimarc facial recognition technology, a system that is inherently susceptible to false matches.

“Mainers shouldn’t have to be fingerprinted, retinal scanned, or undergo facial recognition screening in order to get a Maine driver license,” said Bellows.  “That’s why people’s veto of LD 2309, is so critical.  We need to stop the privacy nightmare that is REAL ID now.”

The People’s Veto may or may not happen.  The period for collecting signatures to get the veto on the ballot in November ends on July 17, and currently, collectors do not have the 55,000 signatures needed. 

Supporters of the People’s Veto attempt point out that any cooperation with Real ID is forbidden by state law, and that if Mainers information is shared, personal information may be misused in numerous ways, including identity theft. 

For information about the veto attempt, or to find out where to sign a petition in the next few days, contact Lu Bauer at 729-0531 or Kathleen McGee at 666-3598.

“Under the REAL ID and under LD 2309, Mohamed Atta would still be able to get a REAL ID or a Maine driver license, but the elderly woman from Fort Kent who was born in a Canadian hospital or the Hurricane Katrina victim would not,” said Bellows.  “Commissioner Jordan seems willing to sacrifice Mainers’ fundamental liberties for an expensive system that undermines our privacy without making us any safer.”