by Mark Lerner (June 13, 2008) Constitutional Alliance Stop Real ID Coalition
President Bush signed an Executive Order June 6, 2008. This order specifically concerns the use of biometrics by federal agencies and departments. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080605-8.html
As I have gone from one coast to another across our country it is very apparent to me that Americans do not fully appreciate the attack on our Constitution that is taking place. The overwhelming majority of the public have never heard of the Real ID Act 2005. Of the few that have most do not know that biometrics (facial recognition) plays a significant role in the Real ID Act. The digital facial image required by the Real ID Act must meet international standards adopted by the:
ICAO (International Civil Aeronautics Organization), an U.N. agency, for compatibility with facial recognition software.
Our government has spent millions of dollars on CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras otherwise known as surveillance cameras. The FRVT (Facial Recognition Vendor Test) 2006 focused on a number of items including 3D facial recognition technology. 3D facial recognition technology is what is ideal for surveillance applications.
http://face.nist.gov/mbgc/ I strongly urge each person to review the information provided by this link. Specifically you will see one of the goals was to test facial recognition with video.
With the use of CCTV and facial recognition our government will be able to identify you whether you are walking down the streets in your home town, visiting someone in another state or in another country.
Most people do not realize the digital surveillance cameras now being installed throughout our country are going to be aimed at us, the public. I am not talking about simple video cameras. The majority of people think of video CCTV cameras that can be replayed if there is a need. The new digital CCTV cameras can capture a person’s facial image and then compare that captured image against a database of facial images. This can be done in real time. This technology and the use of it is not new to our government. Once a person’s image is compared to database of facial images that person’s identity will be known to a person sitting behind a computer monitor. That same person will have access to state and federal databases as well as databases maintained by data mining companies such as ChoicePoint. In real time that person at the computer monitor will be making a subjctive opinion as to whether the person the camera is aimed at presents a threat to our government. If you are not familiar with Project Hostile Intent you should research it. According to the American Psychological Association, Project Hostile Intent will allow for our behavior to be judged in real time to assess whether we present a threat.
The federal government under the provisions of the 1994 Driver’s Privacy Protection Act has access to our personal information stored in any State’s DMV database. This is precisely why DHS wanted the digital facial image required by the Real ID Act to be in accordance with ICAO adopted standards for compatibility with facial recognition technology. DHS added the requirement for the digital facial image to the Real ID Act so DHS could get around the provisions of the 1974 Privacy Act. They argue now it is not DHS but rather the States that will be collecting the biometric facial image. Although perhaps that is technically true, it is undeniably true that DHS is mandating the States collect the biometric facial image and that DHS knows they can get it from the State DMV databases without a warrant or probable cause. The digital facial image and the standard for it create a biometric sample which is then used to create biometric data from which a template is created.
Th FBI announced they are going to spend $1 billion to create the world’s largest biometric database. Where does anyone think the biometric data for the database will come from?
Yes, there are databases that the federal government does have that currently do contain some biometric data but the Real ID Act will allow for the collection of all licensed drivers biometric samples. The Real ID Act’s primary motivation is to enroll Americans into an international biometric (facial recognition) identification system.
About The Author 
Mark Lerner is a co-founder of the Constitutional Alliance, an alliance of groups and individuals who support the Mission Statement.