The President’s Identity Theft Task Force Strategic Plan to combat identity theft was released yesterday (pdf). The strategic plan is the end result of a joint effort by a 17-agency task force, co-chaired by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras, to formulate a comprehensive and fully coordinated plan to attack this widespread and destructive crime.
Highlights of the recommendations include:
- Reduce the unnecessary use of Social Security numbers by federal agencies, the most valuable commodity for an identity thief;
- Establish national standards that require private sector entities to safeguard the personal data they compile and maintain and to provide notice to consumers when a breach occurs that poses a significant risk of identity theft;
- Implement a broad, sustained awareness campaign by federal agencies to educate consumers, the private sector and the public sector on methods to deter, detect and defend against identity theft; and
- Create a National Identity Theft Law Enforcement Center to allow law enforcement agencies to coordinate their efforts and information more efficiently, and investigate and prosecute identity thieves more effectively. “This effort will increase our ability to analyze ID theft complaint data and other intelligence from the public and private sectors, and to make that information available to our law enforcement partners at all levels,” said Gonzales.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which served on the task force, commented that mail remains the safest way to communicate.
In related RFID news, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire approved a house bill Friday, March 23, authorizing a pilot RFID-embedded driver’s license for border crossings between Canada and Washington State. The state expects to run a pilot by January 2008.
Washington’s Governor Gregoire approved House Bill 1289 which authorizes the Department of Licensing to work with Homeland Security to make recommendations about their new card, including the kind of technology it will use. That technology is likely to be RFID, says Governor Gregoire’s policy advisor, Antonio Ginatta.
But Homeland Security’s own Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee said it cannot endorse the Real ID Act or the notice of proposed rulemaking. “The Real ID Act of 2005 raises serious concerns about privacy, data security, cost, fairness and so-called mission creep that should be fully scrutinized before it is implemented”, the advisory committee said.
The Department of Homeland Security is already using RFID in its NEXUS card. The voluntary NEXUS card is issued to both American and Canadian citizens who frequently cross the border and are considered low security risks.
The jointly developed license will probably comply with the federal REAL ID Act of 2005, whose technology requirements are still in development.
States should be more involved in choosing technologies for meeting the Real ID Act of 2005, according to the Smart Card Alliance’s Identity Council. The pilot program between Washington state and DHS will offer upgraded driver’s licenses that may serve as proof of U.S. citizenship in crossing the U.S. border, but the Smart Card Alliance believes DHS alone should not select the technology specifications for the enhanced driver’s license.
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California could not issue driver’s licenses that used RFID if legislation approved this week by the state Senate becomes law. The bill would prohibit the DMV from using RFID tags in driver’s licenses or identification cards before Jan. 1, 2011. “Right now, there’s no limit on what information could be there and no requirements that information be protected, even on the most basic level,” said Mike Marando, a spokesman for the DMV.
The REAL ID Act establishes national standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and non-driver’s identification cards. The ACLU has argued that a mandated RFID chip would be a security nightmare.
Personal information including your photograph, home address, date of birth and signature would be available to anyone with a reader. The potential for criminal conduct is staggering. It would actually make some criminal conduct much easier, identity theft in particular.
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) declared a victory last month after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed regulations that do not mandate the use of RFID technology.
The decision to use RFID chips in the new Canadian/Mexico passes “should be reconsidered,” said Neville Pattinson, a vice president with Gemalto North America, which makes microprocessor chips for so-called “smart cards” that are capable of more sophisticated privacy protections.
According to Wikipedia, there is disagreement about whether the Real ID Act institutes a “national identification card”. The new law only sets forth national standards, but leaves the issuance of cards and the maintenance of databases in state hands; therefore, it is not a true national ID.
Others argue that this is a trivial distinction, and that the new cards are in fact national ID cards, thanks to the uniform national standards created by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and (especially) the linked databases.
RFID is routinely used to collect highway tolls. Now an Australian firm is planning to use the technology to prevent highways from taking their toll on drivers, says RFID Update. Telepathx has developed a system that integrates RFID tags, crash sensors, and wireless mesh networks to automatically detect crashes, assess the severity, and report the incident to public safety forces.
Telepathx, which operates remote monitoring systems for bush fires and other applications, hopes to trial its crash detection system in the Australian state of Victoria.
The key to the crash detection system is an RFID tag with integrated impact sensor. Telepathx envisions attaching the tags to guardrails, utility polls, and other roadside structures. When the sensor detects an impact, the RFID tag communicates to remote terminals in the area, which then dispatch the information.
The 433 MHz RFID tags can communicate with RTUs from at least 125 to 250 meters away. The system assesses the severity of the impact based on how many RTUs are signaled. Wide area communication can be done through Telepathx’s legacy wireless mesh network plus GSM, CDMA, and more advanced wireless technologies, and a satellite communication is in development. GPS can also be integrated to provide precise location data.
Related DailyWireless RF-ID articles include; Tracking Hazardous Materials — & The Iditarod, WiFi Tracking Tags from AeroScout, PanGo & Ekahau, Tracking Tags: Push & Pull, Pango Active RFID Tracking, Botanicalls, RFID Ginza Tour, Mapping RFID & Santa, Visa Expands RFID Cards, RFID/WiFi Tags: Moving Out, WalMart Goes RF-ID, Gen2, Axcess RFID Dot and Marathon Woman.
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