Bruce Schneier

 
 

Schneier on Security

A blog covering security and security technology.

« My Talk on "Dual Use Technologies" | Main | Friday Squid Blogging: Squid T-Shirts »

March 7, 2008

Me in the News

I had an op-ed published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on national ID, and they also ran a small Q&A.

Posted on March 7, 2008 at 2:47 PM3 CommentsView Blog Reactions

To receive these entries once a month by e-mail, sign up for the Crypto-Gram Newsletter.

Comments

Hi, Bruce.

I'm sending you the article from the Pittsburgh City Paper in which you were recently interviewed tomorrow.

In the meantime, the article is online:
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A42618

Posted by: Laurie Mann at March 9, 2008 4:17 PM


Nice article.
I suggest that all Bruce's US readers forward the link to their local representatives.

Also we should point out that the US already has a national ID system, commonly referred to as a passport. Perhaps that point should be more heavily publicized. Once US Citizens figure out that REAL ID is not a security mechanism, but an internal passport, maybe they will be less enthusiastic about it. Or am I hoping for too much?

Posted by: ndg at March 10, 2008 12:22 PM


Bruce,

Perhaps I am misunderstanding the purpose of the National ID system. I was under the impression that a National ID card was meant to provide a more consistent (single) form of identification which would lessen the burdeon of financial institutions of verifying the identify of any given individual. Financial institutions currently have to rely on a hodge-podge of different bits of information (which is easily forged) for a given individual before they can be certain that a person taking out a load is who he/she says he is. Isn't one thing going for the National ID Card a means of standardizing identity?

I agree that no system is ever fool-proof... but if we can make the cost of faking an identity expensive enough that it defeats the average dumpster-diver, isn't that in itself worth $23billion?

For all I know the National ID Card is just a laminated social security card. However what I understood it to be had me hopeful that identity theft would be lessened to a degree.

Posted by: Kyle at March 12, 2008 8:08 AM


Post a comment



Real names aren't required, but please give us something to call you. Conversations among several people called "Anonymous" get too confusing.



E-mail is optional and will not be displayed on the site.


Remember Me?


Powered by Movable Type. Photo at top by Steve Woit.

Schneier.com is a personal website. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of BT.

 
Bruce Schneier