News on ID Cards, ID Badges and Photo ID Systems: 06/03/2007

New Haven's Haven

4:16 AM

New Haven's embrace of the thousands of undocumented immigrants who've taken residence there in recent years has been exemplified by a plan to issue them identity cards. Such ID cards would facilitate such vital but typically mundane activities as being able to use a bank rather than carry around large amounts of cash, making them targets for theft.Last Monday the plan to issue ID cards received overwhelmingly approval from the city's Board of Aldermen. The IDs now become available to an estimated 10,000 undocumented immigrants in this city of 125,000, apparently the first such program in the nation.
Mayor John DeStefano, who first suggested the ID cards in 2005, said access to basic city services and public safety for the immigrants and the practical matter of accepting them as part of the community superceded protests about their illegal status and niggling about enforcement of housing codes and loitering laws.

Full Article from TheDay.com.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Workers may have to wear photo IDs

4:16 AM

Repairmen and delivery workers not working directly on behalf of the city also would be exempt, as would be contracted companies with more than 500 employees who issue their own identification cards.Other Brevard County cities provide photo identifications for all or some of their employees. But none has second-degree misdemeanor penalties in place for those who don't wear their ID cards.
Melbourne encourages employees to wear photo identification badges, but they aren't penalized for not wearing them. Cleaning crews are issued cards as well.
In Titusville, Joe Nenaro, human resources director, said employees are required to wear ID badges "visible at eye level" while working and can be disciplined if they fail to. The discipline can include dismissal. The only contractors given badges are those who have access to city hall, he said.Contact Jump at 409-1423 or ljump@floridatoday.com.

Full Article from Floridatoday.com.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

OU ID cards feature new look, better security What's in your wallet?

4:16 AM

Faculty, staff and students on all six campuses will be able to obtain new ID cardsat their campus ID card offices as of June 18. Incoming students will get the new ID cards during Precollege Orientation. Returning students and employees gone during the summer can obtain new cards when they return to campus in the fall. There is no charge for employees or students to get the updated card.OIT will also offer options for students and employees to discard their old IDs."Because the holder's Social Security number is encoded on the existing cards, we'll be encouraging individuals to destroy their old cards," IT Communications Manager Sean O'Malley said in the release. The IT office will shred old cards on request and may offer a magnetic wipe option for those who want to keep their cards. More info on ID card office locations and hours is available at http://technology.ohio.edu/idcards/where.html.

Full Article from Athensnews.com.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

NASA contractors raise concerns about looming security checks

4:16 AM

Three years after the 2001 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush signed an executive order requiring government agencies to increase security through a new badge system for millions of civil servants and contractors. The program includes the issuing of Ťsmart cards,ť ID badges with a photograph and fingerprints digitally embedded.Federal workers and contractors must fill out a form online about their employment history, past residences and any illegal drug use. Those in more sensitive positions are asked to disclose financial records, list foreign trips and give the government permission to view their medical history. In both cases, workers must sign a waiver giving investigators access to virtually all personal information. Once the forms are processed, they submit their fingerprints to the FBI.Employees from a cross-section of government _ including the Education Department and the Bureau of Land Management _ have protested. Several reported losing or leaving their jobs after refusing to undergo the background checks, though the exact number is not clear.Several JPL workers expressed their frustration to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin on Monday during an hour-long meeting at the lab that was closed to the public and media.Griffin apologized to those who found the new system intrusive but said that it was a Ťprivilege to work within the federal system, not a rightť and that he would carry out the order unless it was overturned in court, according to a video of the meeting obtained by The Associated Press.

Full Article from Pr-inside.com.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Dover students will wear ID badges next year

4:16 AM

Dover Area High School students will wear mandatory ID badges when they return to classes for the 2007-08 school year, despite one board member's protests.Last night the school board voted 8-1 to approve the 2007-08 high school student handbook, which will include the new badge policy.
Board member Heather Geesey offered the only "no" vote.
She said this morning that she doesn't support the rest of the board's viewpoint that the badges will increase safety."I just don't see how wearing a badge around the neck will promote safety," she said. "The two kids at Columbine had badges. The guy at Virginia Tech had a badge. Just because you're supposed to be there doesn't mean you're not the one causing trouble."
Geesey said that some "religious" people in the community will also take issue with their children wearing a badge that contains a barcode, due to the Biblical reference of "the mark of the beast."

Full Article from Yorkdispatch.com.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Smart cards for a unique identity

1:19 AM

Till now, a good number of Indian citizens had either of the four documents to prove their nationality?a passport, election ID, PAN card or the all too familiar family ration card. They can now gear up for more. A national identity card to uniquely identify a person. With smart card technology as its cornerstone, it will hold a number that?s unique to you, your photograph along with your fingerprint. All rolled into a single smart card to give you your identity wherever you are in the country.
Sounds amazing isn?t it but when the government recently presented the first few chip-based smart ID cards to a group of residents in North Delhi?s Narela area, kick-starting the completion of a pilot project in selected sub-districts of 12 states and one union territory, the scenario is closer to reality. The cards, christened multi-purpose national identity cards (MNIC), will have the name, date of birth, place of birth, parent?s name and the citizen?s photograph along with his/her educational qualifications. Digging deeper into the tech aspect, they have a micro processor chip with a memory of 16 KB that has been secured by using ?asymmetric key cryptography? and ?symmetric key cryptography,? making them secure against the risk of tempering and cloning.

Full Article from Financialexpress.com.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Maine and N.H. vs. the Real ID Act

1:08 AM

For those reasons, from the start, New Hampshire and Maine lawmakers have been in the forefront voicing concerns. Maine was the first to take a formal stand against the legislation when its Senate and House voted nearly unanimously to approve a joint resolution urging Congress and the president to repeal Real ID.Admittedly, there have been a few concessions already.The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which had set an initial May 2008 deadline to comply with the uniform licensing standards, backed down in March, along with President Bush, from that deadline.
That action was prompted by a Senate amendment introduced by Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.Though the federal government continues to stand by the need for "machine-readable" national ID cards, the states now will have until Dec. 31, 2009, to comply."This is significant progress," Collins said. "The department has finally recognized that it was simply unfair to impose this burden on the states to set such an unrealistic compliance date."
Still, Collins admitted, the new deadline does "not solve all of the issues and the all of the problems with the Real ID Act, the biggest of which is the huge cost of compliance."But for many in Maine and New Hampshire funding still is not the only problem.In fact, even though New Hampshire was chosen last year as one of two states to pilot the program, Lynch and the Executive Council have not moved forward on accepting the $3 million grant, according to Lynch press secretary Colin Manning.

Full Article from Seacoastonline.com.

01/01/2006 - 01/07/2006

01/08/2006 - 01/14/2006

01/15/2006 - 01/21/2006

01/22/2006 - 01/28/2006

01/29/2006 - 02/04/2006

02/05/2006 - 02/11/2006

02/12/2006 - 02/18/2006

02/19/2006 - 02/25/2006

02/26/2006 - 03/04/2006

03/05/2006 - 03/11/2006

03/12/2006 - 03/18/2006

03/19/2006 - 03/25/2006