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Vermont Will Test RFID-Based Licenses
by Michael Martinez
The Homeland Security Department announced this week that Vermont has agreed to test driver's licenses that are equipped with radio-frequency identification chips.
The new licenses will be tested as a potential compliance alternative to the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, a program that mandates the presentation of identity documents for cross-border travel in the United States.
Vermont is developing licenses that would satisfy the regulations of the travel program and feature many of the same technological security characteristics of new e-passports. The Vermont licenses also will require proof of citizenship, identity and residence.
The RFID-equipped cards will be more expensive than standard Vermont driver's licenses. But the program will be implemented on a volunteer basis, and the new licenses will be available to those who apply and qualify for them.
In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff praised Vermont for "coming forward" in joining his department's efforts to promote secure identification. "This partnership helps us strike the right balance between security and facilitation, incorporating 21st-century technology and innovation," he said.
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas said the new cards will provide a "reasonable option" for residents who frequently travel between the United States and Canada. "As we move forward with this innovative project, we must continue to include our northern neighbors whose economic and security interests are linked directly to our own," Douglas said.
Washington state launched a similar project earlier this year to test enhanced licenses for the border travel program. The new licenses there also will be accepted for use at land and sea ports.
Lawmakers in Washington, however, also enacted legislation that rejects a federal law mandating nationwide standards for licenses. More than a dozen states have decided not to follow the so-called REAL ID Act, citing concerns about privacy and cost.
Vermont's state neighbors, New Hampshire and Maine, also have rejected REAL ID. Douglas has said that the law is a significant operational and financial challenge and that the federal government needs to be realistic about how the mandate will impact states.
E-Voting Vendor May Face California Penalties
California's top election official announced plans this week to hold a public hearing in September on whether one of the nation's largest e-voting manufacturers misled counties in her state into buying uncertified machines.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen said she wants Election Systems & Software to explain why it sold nearly 1,000 machines to five counties without telling them they had never been properly certified in California. Her office also is not certain that the devices were federally certified before they were delivered to the Golden State.
Under state law, Bowen must hold a hearing before filing any charges against the company.
The company told The San Francisco Examiner that it intends on cooperating with Bowen's investigation and that it respects the state's certification processes.
"Given that each machine costs about $5,000, it appears ES&S has taken $5 million out of the pockets of several California counties that were simply trying to follow the law and equip their polling places with certified voting machines," she said in a statement.
Bowen pledged to pursue $9.7 million in penalties if it is determined that ES&S broke the law. The damages, which amount to $10,000 per violation, would be split between Bowen's office and the counties that bought the machines. She also is considering banning the company from doing business with the state for three years.
"While ES&S may not like California law, I expect the company to follow the law and not trample over it by selling uncertified voting equipment in this state," Bowen said.
According to Bowen, the ES&S AutoMARK machine was cleared for use in California in 2005. But she said the company never submitted a second model of the device for certification before it sold them to five counties a year later.
New Jersey Drafts Education Plan For Web Safety
New Jersey's top law enforcement and education officials this week presented Gov. Jon Corzine with a plan to incorporate Internet safety education into the Garden State's school system.
Corzine asked state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy and Attorney General Anne Milgram earlier this month to develop and implement a plan for teachers before school resumes this fall. The course of action that Davy and Milgram submitted calls for all-day training sessions for teachers this fall and at least five regional education programs for school officials in October.
Teachers who attend the training sessions will receive digital videodiscs produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the New Jersey State Police.
In a letter to Corzine, Davy and Milgram said their plan focuses on "training the trainers" who can instruct children how to protect themselves online. The curriculum will address the dangers of social-networking sites, chat rooms, instant-messaging programs and cyber-bullying.
"The Internet is a great tool for learning and expanding one's horizons," they wrote. "However, dangers lurk there, and we are responsible for seeing to it that children and their parents understand the need to exercise caution online."
Web Business Settles Fraud Case With Arizona
An Arizona-based Internet advertising business has been banned from doing any kind of outbound telemarketing in the Grand Canyon State.
State Attorney General Terry Goddard announced the restrictions on the Results Group as part of a settlement he worked out with the company over fraud charges filed against it in 2004. The firm also has agreed to pay the state a $45,000 fine. Computerworld also reports on a related federal deal between the firm and the FTC.
Goddard accused the company of defrauding consumers through "pop-up" online advertisements that promised lucrative work-at-home opportunities. He said the consumers were baited into purchasing portal sites that they were told would award commissions for every Internet user who passed through them on their way to commercial sites.
"These settlements put companies on notice that fraudulent business opportunity schemes will not be tolerated in Arizona," Goddard said.
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