Who, What, and Where You Are

By Jonathan Erickson

October 22, 2001

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Over the years, the issue of national identification cards for U.S. residents has consistently been a hot button for civil libertarians. For instance, when the Clinton administration made its national healthcare proposals, the mere suggestion of national ID cards was enough to sink the idea. More recently, national ID cards have quietly resurfaced in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Now with the tragic events of September 11th, the issue has returned, with everyone from Norman Schwarzkopf and Alan Dershowitz to Scott McNealy and Larry Ellison coming out in favor of national IDs. And as you might expect, everyone has their own reasons for supporting them.

As it turns out, Ellison got the bandwagon rolling with his offer to donate Oracle database software to the government to manage the ID system. The way Ellison sees it, a national ID card would include basic information about the cardholder (such as Social Security number) and be linked to a federal database with more detailed data — thumbprints, palm prints, and the like. Ellison claims his company could have a system running in perhaps three months. Ellison's plan (or more likely his money) opened doors in Washington, as government officials such as U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft took time to listen.

Ellison sees the cards as optional for U.S. citizens, but mandatory for noncitizens. Airline passengers, for instance, would present their cards and have their identity verified by scanning their thumbprints. The cards would also be run against a national database. Ellison reportedly asked San Jose Mercury News reporters, "Wouldn't you feel better if everyone who walked into an airport showed their ID card and put their thumb in the scanner and you knew they were who they said they were?" Fine sentiments indeed, but recall Ellison doesn't fly commercial — he's the guy, in fact, who sued the San Jose airport for the right to land his private jet whenever he wants.

But clearly, instituting a national ID card system will mean millions of dollars for database companies such as Oracle, a fact not lost on Sun's Scott McNealy, who believes every person should be assigned — you guessed it — a Java-based ID card.

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