Is the high-tech ID another form of security theatre?

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By Edward Tenner,
The Atlantic

| June 12, 2012

Drivers in New Jersey and other states are facing longer lines in the Federal government's efforts to require still more proofs of identity in order to obtain a license.

Drivers in New Jersey and other states are facing longer lines in the Federal government's efforts to require still more proofs of identity in obtaining and renewing driver licenses, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

The inconvenience would be worth it, of course, if it truly prevented fraud and terrorism. But there's disturbing evidence that the quest for the secure document may be a losing battle. As USA Today reports:

Overseas forgers from as far away as China are shipping fake driver's license and other IDs to the United States that can bypass even the newest electronic digital security systems, according to document security experts.

The new IDs are "an affront to the very sovereignty and dignity of the states that issue them," says David Huff, a senior special agent in enforcement for Virginia's Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control, which has investigated some of the frauds.

Most troubling to authorities is the sophistication of the forgeries: Digital holograms are replicated, PVC plastic identical to that found in credit cards is used, and ink appearing only under ultraviolet light is stamped onto the cards.

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Drivers in New Jersey and other states are facing longer lines in the Federal government's efforts to require still more proofs of identity in order to obtain a license.