Version 2.3

Updates:

National Identity Card

Structured Outline
CSC208—Elliott

Assignment

  1. Prepare a Structured Outline on a proposed action regarding a national identity card for U.S. Citizens (e.g., that everyone must have one, that a new ammendment to the constitution be created that explicitly forbids any such national card, that only convicts have to carry them...), that also includes an analysis under one of the four ethical theories.

    Follow the assigment rules and deadlines for what you bring to class, editing cycles, feedback forms, submission to D2L and etc.

Discussion

  1. Give a clear statement of the action that you propose.

  2. You MUST consider, and discuss the actual technological concerns of your proposed action. No magic technology please!

  3. Two obvious arguments that one might make are: (1) Pro: The United States would be more secure from terrorist attack if everyone had to carry an infallible national ID card, and (2) Con: A national ID card would make it much easier for a badly behaved government to become a totalitarian government.

  4. ID cards can be linked to additional biometric validation which would make them very difficult to fake, or duplicate.

  5. The case can be made that with ubiquitous cell phone usage, especially with wifi connectivity, and GPS, we have de facto national ID cards already—except that there is no policy covering them, and we have never voted to give up our privacy in this way.

  6. What information would be on the ID cards? Police records? Age? Address? Tax information?

  7. Would cards carry RFID information, QR codes, or something more active? Are they powered, or passive?

  8. Would this help with drug trafficking?

  9. Would this help with setting fair rules for immigration?

  10. What is the true cost of a loss of privacy?

  11. What would be a worst case scenario as a result of national, electronic ID cards? (Think of the downside for many people of Stalinist Russia, Maoist China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Hitler's Germany, but on steroids...)

  12. What is the best case scenario? (Think of the cost savings of law enforcement, reduction in civil defense costs, anti-terrorism advantages, and...)

  13. Might you argue that newly arrived immigrants have already been vetted and don't need ID cards, but those whose families have been in this country for more than a generation have never been vetted and should be required to carry National ID cards?

  14. Do the "cards" store historical data. E.g. a powered chip could hold many gigabytes of information. License plates on cars. Driver's licenses. Pharmacy records.

Restrictions?

What limits on the use of National ID cards might you want as part of your proposed action? For example...

  1. Everyone must have one, there are no constraints on how they are used by anyone who wants to read them. (Current cell phones?)

  2. Only the national government is allowed to read them.

  3. Only State governments are allowed to read them. The original structure of the United States ensured much power to the states.

  4. The information can only be used after a specific court order allowing us to do so on case-by-case basis.

  5. How widespread would card readers be? For example, all institutions, stores, schools, gas stations, tollway booths, motels, etc., MUST require the presenting of a National ID card.

  6. Only financial institutions would require National ID cards.

  7. Only transportation systems would require National ID cards.

  8. Might we want to require that only convicts be required to carry national ID cards, splitting society into levels? How would this be implemented?

  9. and so on.