Today I read a great article about privacy activist John Gilmore. It constantly annoys me how your driver's license and SSN are being 'required' for more and more. Gilmore presents the argument that if we are truly a nation based in internal passports (you cannot travel within the country without a passport), it should be legislated for what it is, not via vague 'back door' requirements. The paradoxical point in his case is that the actual law that bars you from flying without showing ID is not viewable by the public. Maybe I'm misunderstanding this because it doesn't sound right.
UT still uses SSN for student ID's which has always annoyed me. Next week I'll investigate what it will take to actually change my student ID to a number other than SSN.
On a related note as luck would have it, Doug loaned me a copy of Catch Me if You Can. It is based off a true story of a con artist blowing through one high tech career after another (pilot, doctor, lawyer, international pilot). It is all possible due to technology hacks (fake ID's, counterfeit checks, etc). I won't spoil the end; the movie is well worth watching (DiCaprio, Hanks, Walken, M Sheen).
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