You’re right. But if we could get to an appropriate balance of accountability and privacy, that would be a good thing. I’ve mentioned the idea of selective disclosure before (http://blog.jonudell.net/2007/03/02/a-letter-to-the-editor-about-real-id/). REAL ID with its 2d barcode can’t enable that kind of scenario. But if we handle its introduction properly, it could be a stepping stone to a world in which we understand identity cards as tools that empower citizens as well as governments.

It is, as you say, a relative thing. One relative advantage is that the digital photo will also be encoded in the 2d barcode, which will be signed. So relative to what we have today, it would be more resistant to forgery and tampering.

But even if we could solve all these problems, and within the putative $11 billion budget, we still wouldn’t be getting very much security. A reliance on ID cards is based on a dangerous security myth, that if only we knew who everyone was, we could pick the bad guys out of the crowd.