The deadline of yet another, and perhaps the most insidious, element of the post-9/11 initiatives (a partial list of which includes the establishment of the Transportation Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and a never-ending international war against a nebulously-defined, noncorporeal enemy, "terror") is less than one year from coming to fruition. Beginning no later than October 1, 2020, citizens of all US states and territories will be required to have a Real ID compliant card or US passport to board a commercial plane or enter a Federal government facility. Pundits citing the inevitability of what amounts to a national ID card have, regrettably, been vindicated.
https://www.aier.org/article/while-you-slept-government-created-internal-passports/
(Score: 3, Interesting) by slinches on Wednesday November 06 2019, @08:48PM (1 child)
Why is it crazy for an ID to be valid for long terms? It's not like people change their identity so frequently that they need to recheck every year or two.
(Score: 2) by danmars on Thursday November 07 2019, @06:59PM
While you may still be the same person, cards essentially have no long-term security against counterfeiters - their only ultimate security is in their replacement with newer designs. Have you seen an ID issued 20 years ago?
McLovin is an easy example. While an ID issued in that design still belongs to the same person, a card with ancient/nonexistent physical security features is easily counterfeited and anyone can have a fake ID in that insecure design, so you carrying that card is in no way an indication that you are who you say you are. Built-in obsolescence (an expiration date which reasonably corresponds to how long that card will remain reasonably secure) makes sense for items which are significant targets for counterfeiting.
We're already starting out at a car system, so I won't go for a car analogy. Maybe Star Wars? "It's an older code, sir, but it checks out." - You get rid of that attack vector by making the codes expire.