Salon.com Technology | Identity crisis: "During the past two weeks, while you weren't looking, Congress turned your driver's license into a national I.D. card. Amended to a 'must pass' spending bill that authorizes $82 billion primarily for the war in Iraq, both the Senate and the House passed the Real I.D. Act, which asks states to issue licenses only to people who can prove they're U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. The law also dictates that licenses be 'machine readable' -- probably through the kind of RFID radio tag that's now on American passports -- so that people seeking your I.D., anyone from cops to a bouncer, can quickly scan the license to obtain your name, address, photograph and other personal information.

Hundreds of immigration rights and civil-liberties groups have criticized the bill. They argue that the national I.D. card will allow cops and corporations to spy on citizens and worry that new databases of personal information will aid identity thieves. Opponents also point out that the new bill could create even longer lines at your local DMV, where clerks will scrutinize everybody who applies for and renews a license. The legislation now awaits President Bush's signature, and despite the criticism, he's certain to sign it. But one aspect of the Real I.D. Act should give Bush pause: According to security experts, the new I.D. cards won't make the country any safer and will likely make terrorists harder to catch."

(Via Salon.)