[e-privacy] [EFF] 9/11 Commission Recommendations Carry Hidden Threat to Privacy, Freedom

[Andrea Glorioso]

Ciao a tutti.

Da EFF Effector 17.34:

* 9/11 Commission Recommendations Carry Hidden Threat to 
Privacy, Freedom

Intelligence Reform May Be "Trojan Horse" for National ID System

There's a full head of   political steam behind the 9/11  Commission's
recommendations, and the press is  focusing primarily on the effort to
reform  the intelligence community.  Unfortunately,  a  closer look at
the recommendations, and proposed legislation like the 9/11 Commission
Report Implementation Act,  reveals that they  would do much more than
implement intelligence reforms.  The recommendations would also set in
motion a dangerous and  fundamentally flawed "security" plan: creating
a system  to   tag    and  track US   citizens   using  "standardized"
identification.  In other  words, it paves  the way for a national  ID
card system - something we at EFF strongly oppose.

National  ID cards will  not solve the   problem of terrorism, just as
they would not  have  prevented the  9/11  attacks.  Many of  the 9/11
hijackers had proper identification and were in the country legally.

Further, identification is not     intelligence.   Three of  the    19
hijackers -  Hani  Hanjour, Saeed al  Ghamdi, and  Khalid al Mihdhar -
made false statements on their visa  applications that could have been
proven to be  false when they applied.  A  new national ID card  would
not fill these kinds of gaps in intelligence.

But  the  bad news doesn't  stop   there.  The 9/11  Commission Report
Implementation Act suggests that a national ID system would be part of
an  "integrated   screening system"  that  would include   "a range of
security check points  throughout the Nation's screening system," with
access   to    centralized  "government   databases,"   and "biometric
identifiers" (Section  602).  Travel surveillance  is also part of the
plan, with   the  Department  of  Homeland  Security  (DHS)  requiring
commercial air carriers  to provide the private passenger  information
to make  it  work (Section  703).  It's  not clear how  the government
would use  the  biometrics and travel patterns  of  nearly 300 million
Americans  to catch the small  number of individuals worldwide who are
planning terrorist attacks.  What  is clear is  that the system  would
create fertile ground for  constitutional violations and the  abuse of
private information.

"Congress  rushed through the  PATRIOT   Act under enormous  political
pressure, and the  public is paying for it  with unnecessary damage to
our privacy and constitutional freedoms.   We can't afford to make the
same mistake  again," said Lee Tien, EFF  Senior Staff Attorney.  "The
desire to improve the coordination of  the intelligence systems should
not be a Trojan horse for more incursions on civil liberties."

It's important that we speak  out now against the stealth introduction
of a  national ID system.  Follow the  link below to let Congress know
you support  effective intelligence  reform, not  a system that  would
bring  us  even further  toward a  surevillance society   for only the
illusion of security.

Make your voice heard with the EFF Action Center:
<http://action.eff.org/no_national_id> 

9/11 Commission Report Implementation Act of 2004:
<http://govt-aff.senate.gov/_files/090704bill911commission.pdf>

Travel/ID recommendations in the 9/11 Commission Report:
<http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch12.htm>

Crypto-Gram: National IDs:
<http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0404.html>

For more about national IDs: 
<http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/nationalidsystem.html>

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Ciao,

--
Andrea Glorioso             sama at miu-ft.org         +39 333 820 5723
        .:: Media Innovation Unit - Firenze Tecnologia ::.
	      Conquering the world for fun and profit