Entering the Era of Smart Card ID

By Stephen Barr
Washington Post
Oct. 28, 2006

The government begins issuing a new identification card tomorrow, the kickoff of a multiyear effort to provide all government workers and many contractors with a "smart card" that can be used to verify their identity when they enter a building or log onto computer networks.

In addition to showing a person's name and agency, an electronic chip in the card will contain personal data, such as images from two fingerprints, a special identification number and digital certificates that permit access to places and systems.

President Bush issued a homeland security directive in 2004 requiring that agencies issue the cards and install software that will allow them to be recognized across the government. The goal is to have government employees carry one ID card, replacing the multiple cards many employees must use to get into offices or obtain sensitive information.

Issuing the cards and upgrading equipment to read them will probably take three to five years, said Karen Evans , the administrator for electronic government and technology at the Office of Management and Budget. The ambitious effort, she said, will improve national security and ensure "that we give access to who we should."

Groups concerned about privacy rights and database security are watching the Bush administration's card project, in part because it may provide lessons for ongoing debates on whether Americans should carry a national identification card.

Evans said personal data on government employees and contractors would not be compiled in one vast database. However, it seems likely that some large records-keeping systems will be created or expanded with the advent of the new card.

There is no tally of how many smart cards will be handed out across the government, but they will number in the millions. The Defense Department, for example, has 3.2 million "common access cards" in circulation and will replace them as they expire -- a five-year project that includes deployment of new software.

There's also no estimate of how many federal employees will be issued the new smart card tomorrow.

Officials at the Office of Management and Budget hope to see the cards roll out tomorrow in cities with large numbers of federal employees, such as Washington, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle and New York. OMB has asked agencies to send in a photocopy of a card they have issued, with appropriate privacy redactions, so that the White House knows they have put a smart-card program in place.

The General Services Administration and the Interior Department are issuing the smart cards on behalf of numerous agencies and departments. Some, such as Defense and the Social Security Administration, will run their own card programs.

The Social Security Administration said it issued a smart card to Jo Anne Barnhart , the agency's commissioner, last week, and plans to issue about 100,000 of the cards over the next two years.

The Defense Department issues about 10,000 ID cards every day. Matt Boehmer , director of the joint advertising market research and studies program at the Defense Human Resources Agency, has volunteered to take on the ceremonial role of first Defense recipient of the next-generation ID card, said Lynne Prince , acting director for the department's access card office.

Bush called for "secure and reliable forms of identification" to be developed for government workers as part of the administration's efforts to stop terrorists, criminals and unauthorized persons from getting into federal buildings and hacking into computer systems.

Employees receiving the smart card undergo a credit and criminal background check.

The process set up by the GSA, which is providing card services to 38 federal agencies and departments, takes a person's fingerprints, checks them against FBI records and enters them into a database, along with a photograph and other personal data.

The GSA had enrolled more than 70 people as of yesterday, an official said.

"We have assured our clients that one person from every participating agency will receive a credential on Friday. We probably will be issuing more than one, but that is our minimum target," said Michel Kareis , the GSA program manager.

Kareis said the GSA smart-card database will cover at least 400,000 people, and probably more because information on how many contractors will need the card is incomplete.

The GSA cards will cost the agencies $110 for each initial issuance and $52 annually for card and database maintenance. If more than 500,000 cards are issued, the GSA will be able to take advantage of the volume and lower prices, Kareis said.

She said the GSA plans to set up about 200 enrollment stations throughout the nation, starting next year, to get the new ID cards out to federal employees.

Diary associate Eric Yoder contributed to this report. Stephen Barr's e-mail address [email protected].