Government Technology - April 2008 - (Page 34)

In Northern states, where business and tourism draw many people to and from Canada every day, the new requirements threaten to make the greatest impact. “Anybody who’s grown up here is used to going across the border,” Zenk said. Washington state and British Columbia are particularly concerned about a barrier to travel along the border when Vancouver, just across the Canadian border, hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics. To maintain the smooth border crossing to which Washingtonians have grown accustomed, the state spent a year and a half working closely The enhanced with the DHS, British Columdriver’s bia officials and the company license (EDL) that manufactures the state’s costs only $11 identification cards, to develop more than the a state-issued driver’s license state driver’s license and partici- that also serves as proof of pation is voluntary, citizenship at the border. Zenk according to said the state expects about the Washington 30,000 people to apply for an Department of EDL in 2008. “All our research Licensing’s Web indicated that most people site. The EDL would be interested in doing makes it easier this on renewal of their driver’s to meet the license,” Zenk said. An EDL stringent rules costs $40 — $15 more than a and requirements regular license — to cover the of the Western Hemisphere Travel extra cost of an in-person interview and additional document Initiative when processing during the applicacrossing the U.S.Canadian border. tion process. Inside the EDL The EDL looks like a regular Washington driver’s license, but it has a red banner across the top of the card and a machine readable zone (a more advanced version of the bar code) that officers can scan at the border, according to the Washington DOL. The licenses also include more subtle security features, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Spokeswoman Kelly Klundt. These include “the materials they’re printed on, the inks, the holograms and the issuance process, which begins with vetting the DMV employees who will be issuing the licenses,” Klundt said. The issuance process for an EDL is one of the program’s main security strengths. According APR_08 to the Washington DOL, staff members involved in the EDL process must participate in special fraud document recognition training from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Citizens also must interview in-person to receive an EDL, and provide proof of identity and citizenship documents, which are scanned, authenticated and saved in a state database. The other novel development for the EDL is the RFID chip embedded in the license that allows officials to check a driver’s identity even as a person pulls up to the border station. According to Zenk, the DHS insisted on the RFID to keep the border crossing moving quickly, as with similar “trusted traveler” programs administered by the DHS. Because the state is producing RFID-embedded licenses to be read at DHS-run border stations, the tags will continue to require close state and federal cooperation. According to Zenk, the RFID in the license will carry no personal data, only a reference number created by the DHS. Those DHS RFID readers at the border will pass that number along to the Washington DOL database, which then returns the driver’s name, address and photo to the officers at the border station. As in other programs involving RFID, the EDL sparked privacy worries among some Washington residents. People carrying an EDL may be concerned they’re broadcasting personal information anytime they leave the house with the license in their pocket, Zenk said, adding that one of the biggest challenges has been this concern about privacy and the new technology. “We’ve gone to great lengths to tell people that the RFID chip doesn’t have any personal information,” she said. “DHS doesn’t have direct access to our database.” Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire first discussed the possibility of an enhanced license with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell at a summit in June 2006. A month later Gregoire sounded out U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the EDL alternative, and by March 2007, the state had signed a memorandum of understanding with the DHS to go ahead with the project. “We did this in a very short 18-month period of time,” Zenk said. “We’re very proud of the fact that we were able to mobilize and get this done when we did.” To keep business and tourism flowing freely between Washington and British Columbia, DOL officials knew they needed to have the project ready around the time the new proof-of-citizenship requirements took effect. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire supported implementing enhanced drivers’ licenses, which expedite border crossing, and boost trade and tourism with British Columbia. Quick Fix, National Model Making the EDL a reality required a massive reshuffling of priorities within the Washington DOL, new channels for personal and systems communication outside the department, and new technology in the license itself. “We got our marching orders from the governor to make this work,” Zenk said. “Our agency basically reorganized itself to make this a priority, because it was changing the way we do business.” Just developing a model for the EDL — including the features necessary to satisfy Canadian and DHS officials — was a monthslong process, but Bill Kehoe, CIO of the Washington DOL, said there was no way to proceed with the project without being sure all parties were satisfied with the plan. “That was a critical phase of the project,” Kehoe said. “We couldn’t have even gone forward without the approval of U.S. Homeland Security.” With a clear idea of the security features and procedures the EDL would require, Kehoe said the next step was building a project team that included some of his top management staff, and tasking them with an assessment of the DOL’s systems needs and a plan for making the project a reality. “We did a thorough requirements document, not just for the card but for all aspects of the project,” Kehoe said, adding that the project blueprint grew to 60 pages, and the EDL team eventually included 19 IT staffers and five more contracted programmers. 58 C O N T I N U E D O N PAG E 34 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - April 2008

Government Technology - April 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Freeze Frame How Safe Is Your Data? Easy Street Gadget Overload Indiana Overhaul First Person: A Better Bill Data Defense Strength in Numbers Public Storage Products Two Cents Spectrum Personal Computing signal:noise

Government Technology - April 2008

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