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Real ID the Latest Step Toward a ‘Total Surveillance Society,’ Critics Say
As Americans adapt to new regulations requiring Real ID to board flights, critics assert that these documents are more than upgraded driver’s licenses; they are the latest component in the creation of national biometric databases and surveillance systems.
“Most people look at the card and they say, ‘This is just a driver’s license with a star,’ but that’s not true,” Twila Brase, president of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, told The Daily Signal. “It is a federal ID masquerading as a state driver’s license.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., posted on X in April that “Real ID is a national standard and database of IDs that is primarily a tool for control of Americans.”
Originally passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, the 2005 Real ID Act states that Real IDs are required for boarding commercial flights, entering federal buildings, “and any other purposes that the Secretary [of Homeland Security] shall determine.”
The collected data for Real ID, which could include photographs, passports, social security numbers, and birth certificates, must be digitized and retained in databases that are accessible by all other states.
On May 6, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that more than 80% of Americans had already complied with Real ID, and that airline passengers who did not have Real ID or U.S. passports would be subjected to extra security steps—and potentially fees as well. Real ID advocates say it is necessary to fight terrorism and illegal voting, but critics dispute this.
Former Rep. Ron Paul wrote in April that “REAL ID does nothing to protect the American people’s safety. It does, though, do much to endanger their liberty. REAL ID could even be the final piece of the transformation of America into a total surveillance society where government monitors, and thus controls, our actions.”
Paul added that the DHS secretary could require new biometrics in the future, including retina scans, fingerprints, and DNA.
On Oct. 27, Homeland Security mandated those biometrics plus palm prints and voice scans for immigration applications to “help DHS transition towards a biometric based system for identity verification and management.”
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration routinely captures facial images of airline passengers. As of October, Americans traveling to Europe now undergo digital facial imaging and fingerprinting upon entry, and non-U.S. citizens traveling to the United States will do likewise starting Dec. 26.
“The government has claimed a right to collect and catalog the coordinates of your body for its control and surveillance,” Brase said.
Previously, governments would have struggled to process such a deluge of data on their citizens. But Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison told the World Governments Summit in February that AI models enable unprecedented sifting and analysis of data, provided that governments collect it.
“The first thing a country needs to do is to unify all of their data so it can be consumed and used by the AI model,” Ellison stated.
Companies involved in building the data collection infrastructure include Idemia, a biometric-based security systems company based in France, which states that it currently serves 600 government agencies. The company has installed its SMART-E kiosks, which collect biometric data including fingerprints and 180-degree facial scans, in Pennsylvania and Colorado, with plans to expand to 10 U.S. states in 2026.
When the Real ID Act became law, 25 states refused to comply. Homeland Security responded this by barring Americans from boarding flights without compliant ID, while providing grants to state motor vehicle departments to encourage compliance.
“It’s a novel way of commandeering the states,” Scott St. John, an attorney who wrote an analysis of Real ID policy, told The Daily Signal.
“Rather than holding a gun to the head of the state, it’s holding a gun to the state’s populace,” he said. “That is novel, but it’s no less a gun to the head.”
The next phase, analysts say, will likely be digital IDs, which are currently voluntary in the United States but mandatory in countries like the U.K. and China, and which could also allow for tracking via cell towers.
“You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared in October, sparking scattered protests.
In July, China passed a National Network Identity Authentication law requiring digital ID for internet use.
Twenty U.S. states now allow digital ID, and companies like Apple feature digital IDs on phones and watches. Currently, 10 states— Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Montana, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, Iowa and South Dakota—are considering legislation to cancel Real ID or provide noncompliant alternatives.
In May, Michigan State Rep. James DeSana introduced a bill to end that state’s participation in the Real ID program.
“My belief in less government carries through into keeping the government from intruding into into your life when it’s not necessary,” DeSana told The Daily Signal.
Oklahoma State Sen. Kendal Sacchieri will sponsor a bill this year to allow residents to get a noncompliant state ID.
“We’re adopting the federal Real ID, but we’re still going to allow an opt-out option for our citizens,” Sacchieri told The Daily Signal. “We’ve been getting tons of emails from our constituents that they don’t want this [Real ID] anymore.”
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
The post Real ID the Latest Step Toward a ‘Total Surveillance Society,’ Critics Say appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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