Watching the Watchers: “Un-Personing People,” or How To Control a Population in Three Easy Steps

​The ACLU’s Jay Stanley just published a critique of the increasing push by states to adopt digital ID systems. It’s his fifth admonition in as many months, and the message is more urgent than ever: the digital ID bandwagon is becoming a rush job that threatens to discard privacy guardrails.

Of the many possible pitfalls, the greatest may be the ability of authorities to “un-person” someone. In the parlance of Orwell and his novel 1984, an “unperson” simply vanishes as every last record of that person’s existence is expunged.

Stanley's version of Orwell hinges on what happens when authorities revoke an ID that exists only in digital form. In his new essay, “How to Give the Government New Power to ‘Un-Person’ Someone, in Three Easy Steps,” Stanley unmasks the underlying features of digital IDs that can be revoked at will:

• It’s about control: “The big push for state digital driver's licenses that we’ve been warning about is effectively a movement to increase the power of big companies and government to control individuals.”

 

• It’s about power: “The power to revoke people’s IDs, cutting off in a single stroke their ability to access their accounts, visit much of the Internet, access government services, start a new job, obtain healthcare, and who knows what else. In short, kneecap their ability to function effectively in society.”

 

• It’s about dependency: “Make it frictionless to present an ID, which will make it easy for every business to demand your ID.”

 

• It’s a universal ID: “Build a new digital identity system, such as digital driver’s licenses, that comes to serve as the proof of identity (and age, and residency, and other characteristics) for the vast majority of the population in the vast majority of use cases.”

 

• It’s an at-will free-for-all: “People could be un-personed because of simple errors, because they have unfairly been accused of wrongdoing, or out of abusive targeting for political reasons.”

 

• It’s too easy: “With digital licenses, state governments can create a system that allows them to … reach into your digital wallet in your phone and remotely deactivate your ID.”

 

• It avoids individuality: “Don’t create protections for individuals (such as those that some states have erected around the scanning of barcodes on physical licenses).”

 

• Put plastic and paper on the road to extinction: “Before long, physical IDs may be treated as a second class after-thought as digital IDs become de facto mandatory.”

Stanley recommends that lawmakers impose statutory limits on the revocation of state-issued IDs, along with strong due-process protections. He also recommends adding technical guardrails against abusive revocation.
​
Stanley’s original piece goes into much more detail. We also recommend GovernmentTechnology reporter Nikki Davidson’s recent interview with Stanley – it is more than worth ten minutes of your time.

DONATE & HELP US DEFEND YOUR FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS