National ID Card Spurs Debate

Jan. 14 -- "May I please see your ID?" has become a standard question at airports and virtually every government installation.

But some say it is an illusion of security.

"It's a chaotic system … we carry many forms of identity cards," says Brian Jenkins, a security specialist for the Rand Corporation. "The problem is that we have 50 different states with 50 different sets of procedures."

The drive for a national identification card picked up after the Sept. 11 attacks on America. For example, the hijackers who crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon had Virginia identification cards even though they didn't live in Virginia.

A national card likely would be linked to a network of computers, including those in every government agency.

"The card will confirm who you are," says Jenkins. "And it can be connected with other databases to indicate whether or not you are a fugitive."

"It will tell … the security forces at the airport and the airline that I really am me," explains Scott McNealy, the CEO at Sun Microsystems in Sunnyvale, Calif. "And they will keep a database of the fact that I was there."

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McNealy says that existing smart card technology is the answer: a card with an information rich computer chip in it. For extra measure, it will contain a biometric device that can read the card and verify it's you by checking your fingerprint or scanning your eye.

He offers two choices: you had a choice of flying with an airline which used a national ID card verifying your identity or flying with a carrier that relied on the old, patchwork system. "Which airplane would you get on?" asks McNealy.

Big Brother Watching?

But there are some other issues with this sort of technology. The Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) worries about government as Big Brother.

"You can imagine if you go to the airport to check in. Does the security at the airport terminal get access to your FBI files, your employment records, your medical information, your financial information, your children's names' and addresses? Where would the line be drawn?" asks Marc Rotenberg, privacy activist and the executive director of EPIC.