Contact: State Rep. Paul Wesselhöft
Capitol: (405) 557-7343
OKLAHOMA CITY –State Rep. Paul Wesselhöft said he has filed an “anti big brother, big government” bill.
House Bill 2569, by Wesselhöft, protects Oklahomans’ driver’s licenses from government intrusion by preemptively disallowing state and local governments from tracking a person’s location or obtaining personal information from an individual’s driver’s license.
“Through technology, governments, corporate and private entities can track a person’s location and personal information if one’s driver’s license is embedded with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip or special ink,” said Wesselhöft, R-Moore. “They can be tracked by satellites, radio towers and even through doors in buildings as ones walks through them.”
The Moore Republican said currently two states have passed such laws, and the U.S. Congress is considering S. 1261, the PASS ID act, which would “federalize” and make state driver’s licenses into a national ID card.
The Pass ID Act (S. 1261) also contains a provision for an “enhanced driver’s license,” which means, according to Wessselhöft, a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-embedded driver’s license.
If Congress’ bill becomes law, Oklahoma could be legally exempted by Wesselhöft’s bill.
“The legal issue would then be determined by the courts,” said Wesselhöft. “If the congressional bill is made into law, it would violate the 4th Amendment of the Constitution which states—‘the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated’.”
Wesselhöft believes a strong argument can be made that one’s driver’s license is a person’s “papers, and effects.” He also believes obtaining locations and information from one’s driver’s license constitutes an “unreasonable” search.
“If one breaks the law while driving, police can pull over and demand a person’s driver’s license, fair enough,” said Wesselhöft. “However, if one is not breaking the law, one’s location and personal driver’s license information is not the government’s business nor any other entities’ business, period! This would be big brother at its worse.”
“It is a state law that people cannot be embedded with a microchip or permanent mark,” added Wesselhöft.
Wesselhöft said his “preemptive” bill extends the state law to include a person’s driver’s license.