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House bill would make new ID cards illegal

A House committee passed legislation Wednesday that would render the Pentagon’s new ID cards illegal.

The Next Generation Common Access Card, developed to increase military ID card security and effectiveness, is currently given to service members and government employees only as old ID cards expire. Among other security improvements, the new CAC system removes the holder’s Social Security number from the card’s face and instead includes it in the magnetic strip.

But the “Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2007,” passed unanimously by the House Ways and Means committee, would prohibit the government from not only displaying Social Security numbers on any ID cards, but also embedding the numbers in card magnetic strips or electronic chips.

The bill contains no provisions or exemptions that would allow the Social Security number to be embedded or included on cards. The bill may be amended during floor debate to grant an exemption for military ID cards or allow the numbers to be included if they are sufficiently encrypted, committee staff said.

Pentagon officials declined to comment on pending legislation, but said Defense Department is working to remove the data from the cards.

Committee staff said the provision is meant to protect service members from identity theft. Even when placed in a magnetic strip, they said, the information can still be stolen.

Similar bills have cleared the committee twice in the past eight years but have never become law. The current legislation has 24 cosponsors and broad bipartisan support.