Houston Chronicle

11/03/05

A company the state hired to gather computerized facial imaging and thumbprints on all Texas driver's licenses failed to protect the identities of 7,500 Nevada drivers last spring, Nevada officials say. And, civil libertarians warn that the coming futuristic identification system could endanger both the private identities and individual liberties of law-abiding Texans. Gov. Rick Perry unveiled a five-year homeland security wish list Wednesday that calls for checking the coming high-tech thumbprints of all driver's license applicants with federal criminal and terrorism lists. Scott Henson, a privacy expert for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, called Perry's goal further evidence that a recent change in state law 'lets formerly private personal information be used by law enforcement for any conceivable purpose with no judicial oversight'

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3435054


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp