Just because you have an RFID chip in your driver's license doesn't mean the authorities are watching you; it simply means they can if they want, whenever they want. Arizona, Michigan, Vermont, and Washington will be the first states to begin placing the radio frequency identification chips in their citizens' licenses.
The chips don't need to be physically read by someone scanning your license -- they can be read by monitors within a 30-foot range. Information contained will include name, DOB, physical characteristics, and a private identity number that will allow access to further information stored in the state's DMV database. One good thing about the enhanced ID's: travelers will be able to cross the border without a passport as of January 2009.
The Department of Homeland Security is in favor of the program, promoting it under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Said a DHS fact sheet, "Multiple cards can be read at a distance and simultaneously with vicinity RFID technology, allowing an entire car full of people to be processed at once."[/FONT] Motorists won't be compelled to use an enhanced ID, however -- in the beginning, it will be by voluntary issue only.
