WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- A coalition of government agencies and private companies has produced new guidelines for national identity cards.
The Document Security Alliance, a coalition of more than 70 private companies and 20 government agencies, has given the Department of Homeland Security broad recommendations for implementing requirements of a 2005 law on standardized identification, CongressDaily reported Monday.
The so-called REAL ID Act requires that states begin issuing ID cards, such as driver's licenses, in 2008 that comply with new federal standards. Only documents that meet the standards will be accepted for things such as entering courthouses, flying on airplanes, opening bank accounts or getting government services, CongressDaily said.
The alliance has given the DHS recommendations covering five key elements of a secure identification system: capturing applicant data, verifying identities, incorporating security into credentials, producing credentials and authenticating those credentials.
The DHS is responsible for developing the new standards but has yet to announce what they will be. Department spokesman Jarrod Agen told CongressDaily a notice of proposed rulemaking would be released later this year and that it would be followed by a public comment period. "The odds are pretty good that it will be the later half of this year," he said.
The tight time frame has some state governments concerned, especially if the standards require them to buy new information technology systems or dramatically change their processes.
"It will be a challenge for everyone," said Reed Stager, chief of the government affairs committee for the DSA. "I believe there will be a lot of work required to become compliant, and it depends on what the final rule making is."
