[clue-talk] national ID card

[Dennis J Perkins]

On Sat, 2007-06-30 at 14:15 -0500, erik at ezolan.com wrote:
> The argument I'm seeing on the "No national ID" side looks a lot like
> "Security through obscurity", which I also disagree with.
> 
> Yes, by keeping a bunch of separate databases, it makes it more difficult
> for the government to do anything.
> 
> Like correct inevitable mistakes, errors, or sabotage.
> 
> By keeping a unified database it forces the government to regulate and
> take good care of it. Right now we have databases operating in the grey
> area because we're not supposed to be having them, in principle.

Errors will always creep into databases.  How hard is it to correct
those errors?  How much more impact will an error have if it affects a
lot more of your data and life?  How long will it take to fix it?

Not only were the databases supposed to be kept separate, in some cases
federal agencies were not allowed to share them.  People worried about
the possibility of a Gestapo or KGB.  And they had the example of
Hoover's secret files on politicians and others when he ran the FBI, so
they had reason to be wary.

The FBI now has a database of over 500,000 people who could possibly be
terrorists.  Really?  Maybe the thinking is like that of some AA people:
Everyone is a terrorist.  You just haven't been caught yet.  Probably
once someone enters that database, they never get removed, no matter
what.

We already have a problem with the govt's no-fly list.  Ted Kennedy was
on that list because of someone else called T. Kennedy.  It took two
weeks to get a senator removed from that list!  What chance do we stand?
And a number of other people suddenly couldn't fly because of that list,
altho they are not risks.