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REAL ID guide: What it is and how to get yours<\/p>\n
REAL ID is becoming the nationwide standard for state-issued identification. Don’t wait. Learn how to get yours.<\/p>\n
The REAL ID<\/a> enforcement deadline will take effect in less than a week,\u00a0following years of delays.<\/p>\n Adults will need a compliant driver\u2019s license or ID to board a commercial domestic flight and enter certain other facilities on May 7 \u2013 though travelers can continue to use accepted alternatives<\/a> like a passport.<\/p>\n The roughly 20-year path to implementation<\/a> stemming from the 2005 REAL ID Act has been bumpy, marked at times by resistance from states tasked with issuing the documentation. Even after the law was passed, more than a dozen states opposed REAL ID, saying it came with high administration costs and would pose privacy threats. Advocacy groups have raised similar concerns.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what to know:<\/p>\n What are the privacy concerns around REAL ID?<\/p>\n Alexis Hancock, Director of Engineering at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the program \u201cpushes for regimes that strip privacy from everyone and further marginalize undocumented people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Real ID-compliant identification will soon be required to enter TSA checkpoints, there is no reason this can\u2019t and won\u2019t expand to include additional \u2018official purposes\u2019 with federal entities in the future,\u201d she told USA TODAY in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n Because identifying information is currently stored at the state level, Hancock added that the program\u2019s unified standards could make it \u201ceven easier\u201d to transfer sensitive information over state lines, such as when state DMVs have reportedly sold data<\/a> to third parties<\/a>.<\/p>\n The American Civil Liberties Union has similarly said the law would facilitate data tracking on individuals if fully implemented. \u201cBy definitively turning driver\u2019s licenses into a form of national identity documents, Real ID would have a tremendously destructive impact on privacy,\u201d the organization\u2019s website reads<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, told USA TODAY that \u201cthere have long been privacy concerns about having standardized identity systems.\u201d<\/p>\n