connected or not connected to the Internet,
"confirm" people operating under false iden-
because of remoteness, cost, or lack of busi-
tities. Doing so may well exclude from work
ness necessity. The compliance and accuracy
the people whose identities are being used.
rates experienced in an expanded program
Consider also how employers would pro-
would be lower than what exists now, and dis-
tect themselves. With illegal immigrants
crimination rates would be higher.
today coming predominantly from Spanish-
Known or unknown today, the infirmities
speaking countries south of the U.S. border,
in EEV and the counterattacks on a full-scale
identity fraud and corruption attacks on the
system would weaken it as a tool for reducing
EEV system would focus largely on Hispanic
illegal immigration. They would promote
surnames and given names. Recognizing that
wrongful discrimination. Moreover, they
Hispanic employees--even native-born citi-
would plunge a significant number of native-
zens--are more often caught up in identity
born American citizens into Kafkaesque feder-
fraud and tentative nonconfirmation hassles,
al bureaucratic procedures, denying them
employers would select against Hispanics in
work and money to feed their families until a
their hiring decisions. New hires from other
federal government database says they are
ethnic groups would be less likely to bring
allowed to do so.
employers such trouble--to say nothing of
the updated penalties previously discussed.
The wrongful discrimination that the Basic
EEV, National ID, and
Pilot program was supposed to suppress
Worker Surveillance
would increase under EEV because of coun-
terattacks on the system.
Shockingly, the current E-Verify program
People angered by illegal immigration are
has no process for appealing final nonconfir-
undoubtedly frustrated that internal enforce-
mations. The DHS Web page with informa-
ment works so poorly and that our systems
tion "for employees" provides no advice to
provide so little security against people enter-
workers who believe they have been wrongly
ing the country illegally. This is simply because
refused the right to work by DHS.40 A nation-
big, uniform identity systems do not work
well. As Phillip J. Windley, the former chief
wide EEV system would wrongly give thou-
information officer of Utah, observes in his
sands of eligible American workers final non-
book Digital Identity:
confirmations each year, with no apparent
appeal process, blatantly depriving them of
Visions that a centralized approach
due process and, of course, their livelihoods.
will promote security, cost savings, or
Not all the ills that EEV would cause
management simplicity are a mirage.
American citizens are easy to predict. Along
Centralized digital identity systems do
with those discussed here, others would
not scale. Identity relationships are
appear in any full-scale implementation. The
inherently web-like in structure, while
consequences of scaling up a small program
centralized technologies like directo-
like Basic Pilot/E-Verify should not be under-
ries are hierarchical.41
estimated. It has many flaws at its current size,
Shockingly,
but taking the program national would be a
change in kind, not in degree. It would create
In other words, identity works well in one-
the current
new and different problems.
on-one transactions, in groups, and in volun-
E-Verify program
The employers in Basic Pilot/E-Verify now
tary organizations. People and businesses nat-
has no process
are relatively well equipped and motivated
urally collect the identifiers and other infor-
compared to the variety of employers that an
mation they need for meetings, contracts,
for appealing
expanded EEV system would encounter. Most
dates, employment, friendship, and so on. But
final nonconfir-
small businesses have no personnel dedicated
people do not have a single identity that can be
to compliance. Many businesspeople are rarely
captured and applied to all their relation-
mations.
10