March 12, 2007 4:06PM 

# The Smart Card Alliance Thinks Privacy Is Bunk 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

A spokesman for the [Smart Card Alliance](http://www.smartcardalliance.org/) says:

> Privacy concerns are all perception and hype and no substance but carry considerable weight with state legislators because no one wants to be accused of being soft on privacy.

That’s Randy Vanderhoof, the Smart Card Alliance’s executive director, quoted in a [Federal Computer Week article](http://www.fcw.com/article97874-03-12-07-Print) on the collapsing REAL ID Act/​national ID plan. He was speaking of Congressman Tom Allen’s (D‑ME) [bill to restore the 9/11 Commission-inspired ID provisions](http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_1117.html) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

Mr. Vanderhoof and the Smart Card Alliance couldn’t appear more dismissive, ignorant, and unserious about issues that are a core problem preventing uptake of its products.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).