Single Government ID Moves Closer to Reality

Further to my earlier posting on the new US Government identity verification project (PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law: US Government developing standard for positive identification), the Washington Post is carrying an article that comments, among other things, on privacy objections to the new standard:

Single Government ID Moves Closer to Reality:

"....Some federal employees have concerns about the new cards.

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents more than 150,000 federal workers in 30 agencies, said the proposed standard would permit agencies to print employees' pay grade and rank on the new cards, which many workers would consider an invasion of privacy.

'For example, an agency might seize upon this technology as a means to track employees as they move throughout a building,' Kelley said in written comments to NIST last week. 'That is troubling, standing alone. It would be particularly objectionable if the agency tried to track visits to particular sites such as the union office, Employee Assistance Program offices and the inspector general's office.'

NIST has gathered comments on the draft standard from more than 500 entities and individuals but has not made them public.... "

I wonder how long it will take before this makes its way into IDs for civilians, such as passports and drivers' licences.