You may have heard about the recent news wherein the Province of British Columbia will be the first in Canada to offer “enhanced” driver’s licences. From the outside, these new driver’s licences will look just like their current counterparts with the notable exception of a Canadian flag in the top-left corner. However, inside the card will be an embedded wireless chip (RFID) that contains a specific identification number which can then be cross-referenced with a national database containing your name, address, birthdate, and so on.
The idea is that the enhanced driver’s licence (EDL) can replace the need for a passport when crossing the border (via land) into the United States. As you know, the easiest form of identification that you can use when driving to Seattle, for example, is your Canadian passport, but you might not always have that on your person. By contrast, you probably carry your driver’s licence with you everywhere you go. As such, it is much easier to take a spontaneous trip to the States. Have to meet up with a business contact on short notice? No problem, because you don’t need to go home to grab your passport and/or birth certificate.
Naturally, there are all sorts of privacy concerns that go into such technology, because someone with an RFID tag reader can illegally pick up your information without your knowledge. This is because the tags are completely wireless; as you approach the border, you simply wave your EDL in front of a reader and the border guard immediately has access to your information.
The pilot program will consist of about 500 volunteers and if successful, the EDL will be offered for an additional fee to the rest of BC. This program will cost taxpayers about $4 million. What do you think? Is this a good idea?
Matt
January 22, 2008 5:33 pm
Considering it can only transmit less than a few meters away from the reader, I don’t think people will be in danger of getting their RFID number stolen.
Although, I see some RFID signal blocking wallets in the future. :P
James Mann
January 23, 2008 4:11 am
We live on the east coast of Canada and we are baby boomers waiting to start traveling. I am ready now but my wife has a couple more years to put in where she works, before retirement but then we are outta here. And having a license that will let us travel in the States is going to be awesome.
Kirk
January 30, 2008 2:59 pm
“As such, it is much easier to take a spontaneous trip to the States.”
Do people actually just wake up one day and say, hey let’s go to the States today? What is wrong with a little forward thinking and planning? Spontaneity and convenience is not all it’s cracked up to be.
“The pilot program will consist of about 500 volunteers and if successful, the EDL will be offered for an additional fee to the rest of BC. This program will cost taxpayers about $4 million.”
Are you saying the pilot project will cost $4 million or the fully implemented plan, once it’s rolled out, will cost $4 million? If it’s simply the pilot project costing $4 million, what will the fully-realized plan cost taxpayers? In BC? In the whole of Canada (once it is rolled out across the board)?
“However, inside the card will be an embedded wireless chip (RFID) that contains a specific identification number which can then be cross-referenced with a national database containing your name, address, birthdate, and so on.”
The “so on” part is what I’m concerned about. How much information is to be stored on this card? If it’s simply the information that is currently stored on my driver’s license then it doesn’t bother me too much. However, if there is any additional information contained on this card (i.e. biometric identifiers, medical records, financial information, etc.) then I would be more than leery to allow U.S. authorities to “data mine” my personal information. However, it’s probably already in their hands via some clandestine electronic method.
I don’t travel to the US and have no intention of doing so. I have no need for this type of driver’s license. Will there be two types of licenses – one for people wishing to travel to the US and those not wishing to travel to the US? I highly doubt it due to the costs involved. I personally have zero use for this type of card. This is simply the next step towards a North American Union ID card.
The Canada we know is slowly being destroyed by incrementalism.
“Incrementalism is a method of working by adding to a project using many small (often unplanned) changes instead of a few (extensively planned) large jumps.” – wikipedia