Universal Biometric Identity

During the past week, I have traveled through airports using TSA Pre and Clear and plan to travel internationally soon using the Global Entry system. I have recently renewed my TSA Pre and Trusted Traveler accounts.

I am also in the process of renewing my NY State Drivers License and am going through the process of getting an “Enhanced” one.

Here is what one needs to do to get an Enhanced NYS Drivers License:

Enhanced

• is Federal REAL ID compliant
• costs an additional $30 on top of the regular transaction fees
• requires an office visit to prove your
  • identity- *if your name has changed bring in marriage certificate(s), divorce decree(s) or court order document(s)
  • NY State residency
  • U.S. citizenship
  • date of birth
  • Social Security status
• shows your full legal name (first, middle, last) as listed on your legal documents
• shows your residential address (where you live)
• has an American flag displayed on the document

And, because I am an investor in a friend’s bar and restaurant businesses, I am in the process of submitting a NY State Liquor License application which requires the following:

• a photocopy of BOTH your driver’s license and your passport
• a fingerprint ID card which is obtained at your local precinct
• two passport photos
• three months of recent bank statements

In each and every experience, I am doing much of the same work over and over again. Copies of passports and licenses. Bank statements and utility bills. Fingerprints (digital or ink-based). Retina scans. Social security cards. Birth certificates. Marriage licenses. Completing questions about bad behavior (or lack thereof). Etc. Etc.

It makes me want some sort of identity service in the cloud, that I control, not a third party, and not the government, that I could authenticate with using fingerprints, retina scans, or two/three factor logins, and then digitally “sign” all of these forms.

My fear is we will get there but it will be the government or Facebook or Google or Apple that builds this. It would be quite useful but also quite scary for a single entity to control all of that information for each and every one of us.