Government Security Requires Advanced ID Cards

Although the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 standards were laid out 5 years ago, the actual implementation is still ongoing. The HSPD-12 is designed to provide a high level of certainty regarding an individual's identity before allowing access to sensitive locations and information. As the name of the directive suggests, the government is extremely concerned with this issue and how it affects the security of the U.S. This regulation requires switching out the IDs of every federal employee and contractor (over 5 million individuals).

Such a massive change over will take time and extraordinary coordination efforts. As of 2008, only a tiny fraction of these new cards had actually made it into the hands of employees. Initial attempts to roll out the technology suffered a number of setbacks. Incompatibility with existing software and other issues continue to impact the overall cost of the program. Any small change to the ID card formatting standards previously decided upon has the potential to keep delaying progress.

On top of this, the backlog of background checks that must be completed before the cards can be issued to all recipients is still huge. To make matters worse, some contracted workers are objecting to what they view as the intrusive nature of the HSPD-12 review process. Concerns regarding the privacy of the data collected raise serious concerns in the minds of many employees. Contactless smart cards use wireless communication, but it is encrypted. A lack of understanding regarding how these devices work has left many people feeling that their private data is simply being broadcast for anyone to intercept. The government has attempted to assuage these fears by requiring carriers to keep the cards in protective sleeves. Needless to say, this "wrap it in tin foil" approach is not instilling confidence among those prone to paranoia.

The cost and time involved to actually put the HSPD-12 card program into service has left many agencies feeling frustrated. A gradual implementation with priority determined by security clearance is the answer for many applications. Other agencies are choosing to issue the first cards to employees at their central locations and worry about distant branches later. Many are turning to authorized consulting firms to streamline the process. Procuring FIPS compliant ID card printers is an important step. Appointing official Sponsors who are responsible for issuing each Personal Identity Verification (PIV) badge is another. As with any agenda decided upon by bureaucracy, there are lots of rules that bog down all but the most determined organizations.

However, this doesn't mean the ideal presented by the HSPD-12 is on the wrong track overall. As a matter of fact, private industries are bringing smart chip encoded cards online at a remarkably swift pace. It appears that the federal government is actually finding itself playing catch up with the civilian world at this point. The technology is not prohibitively expensive. And, since the average company doesn't have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get enrollment started, this is becoming a very popular option. Adding biometric data and access control features is possible with many mid-high volume printers. Lamination and holographic marking offer additional security without significantly increasing the cost per unit. Contact and contactless smart cards are definitely proving to be the wave of the future.

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