Ohio legislation permitting deleting address, birthdate from driver's license [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Ohio legislation to allow removal address/date of birth from 
 driver's license
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 08:22:27 -0800
From: James Moyer <james () moyer com>
To: declan () well com

Declan,

Some time ago I mentioned that I was working on a bill here in Ohio that 
will allow any Ohioan to get a driver's license without their home 
address and/or their date of birth.

This legislation has finally been introduced, (it's part of a bill that 
will allow domestic violence/stalking victims to make their home 
addresses hidden in voter registration records.)

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=125_HB_553

The purpose of having the address on the license is long forgotten, but 
presents privacy and identity theft risks. It is absurd that a person be 
required to show where they live simply to get a drink or enter a club.

The date of birth provision was added for individuals who do not use 
their license for age verification. It makes the document less valuable 
if stolen (since date of birth serves as a major element for identity 
fraud, with address) and it also hides the person's age, if the 
individual prefers to keep their age secret. The document will be 
verticalized, like an Ohio under-21 ID card, so it's clear that it can't 
be used for age verification.

I believe this may cause a small revolution in how we think of ID 
cards--you would be able to tailor your ID card to have only the 
information that you actually need. Further, you can have multiple 
copies of the license with different information elements. For instance, 
I may have two licenses, one with my date of birth (for the very 
infrequent time I need to prove my age) and the other without my date of 
birth (for carrying around when I drive.)

For Ohio Politech members, please call up your state representative's 
office and ask them to co-sponsor HB 553.

James Moyer



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