Experts sound alarm as biometric data from driver's licences added to government database - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Experts sound alarm as biometric data from driver's licences added to government database - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

This report from Australia illustrates what Real ID is all about. Worries about your ability to get on an airplane was just leverage to get you to scream at your state legislators until they agreed to surrender your personal data to the Feds. (It worked!)

"Driver's licences will be added to the Commonwealth Government's already vast biometric databases after it struck an agreement with the states and territories, handing authorities access to an unprecedented level of information about citizens.

"A system known as "the interoperability Hub" is already in place in Australia, allowing agencies to take an image from CCTV and other media and run it against a national database of passport pictures of Australian citizens -- a process known as "The Capability".

"But soon driver's licences will be added to the system, allowing both government and private entities to access your photo, age and address.

"It is a $21 million system being sold as a way to tackle terrorism and make commercial services more secure.

"But experts warn people now risk losing control of their biometric identity entirely as commercial interests, governments and organised crime gangs all move to capture more personal metadata for their own gain."