Congress should find time in its schedule to relieve states of an expensive federal mandate and protect the privacy of most adult Americans.

It can do this by fixing problems with the Real ID Act, legislation that was hurried into law in 2005 over the objections of civil libertarians and many in state government.

The law’s expensive requirements and potential threats to privacy led legislators in Maine and many other states to dig in their heels against it. In the face of such opposition, the Department of Homeland Security, agreed to a temporary truce last year, but the extension for Maine and other states that are not in compliance is only good for the rest of 2009.

Congressional leaders and the Obama administration are said to be seeking a compromise. Such an effort will have to address both the high cost of verifying every driver’s background, and the concerns that such a system will violate the privacy of citizens.

Real ID was enacted as part of the drive after Sept. 11, 2001 to tighten U.S. security against foreign terrorists. It requires the states to verify the identity of all drivers and issue new tamper-proof licenses. Motor vehicle departments must  digitally store data on the nation’s 245 million drivers and make it available to a federal database.

Today’s economic conditions make such undertakings even more unaffordable than they seemed in 2007, when the Maine Legislature resolved not to comply with Real ID. Many legislators argued that the costs of a federal initiative to make drivers’ licenses more secure should be paid by the  federal government.

The real concern raised by Real ID is its intent to compile a national database of drivers. In effect, the act  seeks to establish a national identity card, and it seems likely that federal monitoring of individuals’ travels, purchases and financial transactions would eventually become routine. The government’s inclination to gather information is shown by the National Security Agency’s zeal to tap into domestic telecommunications.

Privacy advocates, including a government oversight committee, have also noted that data on the card will not be encrypted, and could be downloaded and stored every time the identification card is swiped at a market, hotel or gas station. If driver’s license information can be commercially collected this way, it will multiply the opportunities for scam artists and identity thieves.

Maine and other states have already taken steps to make drivers’ licenses more secure, and this work should continue. But creating a national identity card and a database of drivers takes the effort several steps too far.

— Questions? Comments? Contact Publisher Drew McMullin at 282-1535, Ext. 326 or  dmcmullin@gwi.net, or Managing Editor Nick Cowenhoven at 282-1535, Ext. 327 or cityeditor@gwi.net.