Privacy Commissioner wants off switch on new Ontario driver licenses

Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian says privacy concerns about the new enhanced driver's licences that will soon be coming to Ontario are valid. She wants a simple on/off switch added to the RFID chip in the licence.
1/9/2009 6:00:00 AM By: Brian Jackson

Ontario's Privacy Commissioner wants to give Ontarians the ability to turn off the RFID function on their new enhanced driver's licences.

More specifically, Commissioner Ann Cavoukian wants a simple switch added to the RFID chip in the enhanced driver's licence (EDL) that will soon be coming to Ontario. The new cards aim to meet new U.S. Homeland Security requirements that come into effect June 1, transmitting a unique number to border officials while drivers wait in line at the crossing.

The Ontario government passed the bill approving the EDL on Nov. 18. But now Cavoukian wants to revisit that legislation because of privacy concerns.

“The problem is that you'll be carrying these every day,” she says. “The risk is that a lot of private information might be broadcast to readers that could receive the information.”

RFID chip security has proved to be less than foolproof in the past and known to fall prey to hackers, she adds.

The ability for Ontarians to turn off the RFID function on their cards is a logical precaution.

Ontarians will have the option to use the RFID licenses or not. The cost of the license will be $40 in addition to the $75 cost of a regular driver's license.

Currently the U.S. requires that GEN2 vicinity RFID chips be used in the new licences. That type of chip can be read at 30 feet away with the right reader, and would speed up the border crossing process as officials would know who was approaching the border.

But Cavoukian plans to lobby U.S. Homeland Security to change that stipulation to a different method that will easily allow an on/off switch to be added. She plans to open up talks when the new administration takes power Jan. 20.

The GEN2 RFID chip standard was created by the non-profit global association GS1. Also the inventors of the barcode, the worldwide association plays a key role in creating inventory identification standards and its maintenance.

Officials from GS1 Canada downplayed the privacy concerns involved with the chip, saying these were due to public misperceptions about the technology.

“There's a lack of information and understanding, and a general resistance to the new technology,” says Eileen MacDonald, chief operations officer of GS1 Canada. “If I have it in my wallet at the grocery store, is there a way that someone can read it? Right now, the answer is no.”

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