Homeland Security offers details on Real ID

States have until 2013 to federalize licenses; rules don't require encryption on new IDs to protect drivers' privacy.
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: March 1, 2007, 11:05 AM PST

Hundreds of millions of Americans will have until 2013 to be outfitted with new digital ID cards, the Bush administration said on Thursday in a long-awaited announcement that reveals details of how the new identification plan will work.

The announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers a five-year extension to the deadline for states to issue the ID cards, and proposes creating the equivalent of a national database that would include details on all 240 million licensed drivers.

According to the draft regulations (PDF), which were required by Congress in the 2005 Real ID Act and are unlikely to assuage privacy and cost concerns raised by state legislatures: Click here for more.