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Benefits of a Secure License
- Helps Prevent Identity Theft
- Reduces Underage Drinking and Driving
- Keeps Drunk Drivers off the Road
- Combats Welfare and Medicare Theft
- Reduces Voter Fraud
- Cracks Down on Dead Beat Dads
- Helps Protect Americans from Terrorist Attacks
Central Issuance: Good for Security
Under the old process, an applicant was able to obtain a driver license ‘over-the-counter.’ Fraudulent applicants sometimes claimed false addresses to hide where they actually live - often they were from another state. Under the Central Issuance program, applicants will be required to give a valid address in order to receive their driver license.
The old card will be hole-punched, and returned to the applicant along with an interim paper license that will valid for 30 days, and new licenses will be shipped to the applicant in a week to ten days. License holders can still use their old license for photo identity, however the interim paper document is not intended as anything but confirmation that the applicant is able to drive.
Under the new Central Issuance pilot program, driver licenses and identification cards will be created in a secure, off-site facility. Over the past several years, identity thieves have targeted remote driver licensing facilities, and stole computers, card stock, and other equipment necessary to create false identification cards. Central Issuance prevents that from happening by limiting access to the facility and personally identifying information.
In August, 2002 burglars used a truck to break through the wall of a Colorado DMV office, and stole the computers and card printing and personalization equipment used to produce drivers’ licenses and state issued identity cards. The equipment was never recovered, and it’s clear the only purpose to steal the equipment would be to use it to produce fraudulent licenses for people ineligible to receive a Colorado license.
In November, 2006, a similar heist occurred in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, when a major Driver License Center was burglarized. The thieves breached the multi-layered security at the site and stole two computers, which contained the personal information of 11,384 customers. The thieves also stole equipment and supplies that can be used to make fraudulent drivers’ licenses and photo identification cards. It’s a safe bet that the stolen equipment went into production shortly thereafter to issue fraudulent licenses to criminals and/or illegal aliens living in Pennsylvania. Had Colorado and Pennsylvania employed central issuance, neither theft would have occurred, the personal data of DMV customers in the two states would not have been compromised, and criminals would not have been able to issue fraudulent licenses using the stolen equipment and computers.
The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License endorses the Nevada DMV’s move to central issuance of driver licenses and ID cards. Central issuance is cost effective and protects Nevada resident’s personal data.