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# Careful, that ID just might be transmitting
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/careful-that-id-just-might-be-transmitting/
- Published: 2006-05-12T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:02:54.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By GUEST COMMENTARY BY JOHN WHITEHEAD*

The New Hampshire House recently passed an amended bill to prohibit that state from participating in any national ID card system. Although the state Senate, by a narrow vote, turned aside the amendment, the move may indicate that some of us are waking up. Some innocent citizens, however, have already been snared in the ID trap.

For example, Deb Davis thought her time commuting to work would be better spent reading and working than driving. So she decided to start riding a public bus. But on the first day, while the bus was stopped at the Denver Federal Center, which houses various government offices, a security guard boarded the bus and demanded the identification of every passenger. Feeling uneasy about the situation and not sure what to do, Davis, like all the other passengers, followed the guard’s orders. The guard barely glanced at her ID and handed it back to her without comparing it to any “no ride list” or “terror watch list.” Davis went on to work and rode the bus home without any trouble.

However, when she got home, she began to think more about what had happened that morning. She began to reflect on what she remembered about her rights as a citizen and restrictions on law enforcement agents. Davis remembered from her eighth-grade civics class that she was not required to carry an ID.

On Sept. 26, 2005, Davis’ bus pulled up at the Denver Federal Center. A guard boarded and demanded to see everyone’s identification. When the guard reached Davis and asked if she had ID with her, she said “yes.” He then asked to see it, to which she replied “no.” The guard then ordered her off the bus, but she refused. The guard returned with a federal agent, who demanded to see her ID. Again, Davis refused.

The agents then arrested and handcuffed her. However, the government later decided to drop the charges.

While this story is disturbing, it is not without historical precedent. In fact, the idea of requiring citizens to carry a national identification card is not new. Many authoritarian regimes of the past have used the ID system to control the people.

Presently, many countries in Europe, Asia and South America require all citizens to carry specific documents at all times. If caught without the proper identification, they can be punished.

The term “national identification card” includes a broad range of various technologies. Most, if not all, of these cards are “machine readable,” allowing any government agent to scan for any information necessary. Of the suggested ID cards, the most discussed and the one with the most potential for privacy invasion would be a card that included a Radio Frequency identification (RFID). RFID is a type of automatic identification system.

The purpose of the RFID system is to enable data to be transmitted by a portable device, called a tag, which is read by an RFID reader and processed according to the needs of a particular application. Currently, RFID is used in many ways, including by private businesses to track the quantity of a product available on the shelf. But RFID has other potential uses, such as allowing the government to track the moment-by-moment movements of American citizens — even in their homes.

Corporations and politicians, eager to please security-conscious voters, have jumped at the opportunity to provide and produce a national ID card.

After all, the terrorists on 9/11 used identifications issued by the government. Moreover, “Claims that the government will protect the privacy of Americans when implementing a national identification card ring hollow,” Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex.) argues. “We would do well to remember what happened with the Social Security number. It was introduced with solemn restrictions on how it could be used, but it has become a de facto national identifier.”

Clearly, we are at a crucial crossroads in American history. And it is our response as citizens that will determine whether we have a “government of wolves.” Remember, it is the sheep who get eaten. (Attorney and author John W. Whitehead can be contacted at)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 12, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051206.pdf?ref=smdp.com)