New Hampshire has a commitment to privacy. In the 1990s, we enacted protections for our driver’s licenses. We uniquely have the right to ensure our home address and SSN are not stored in a database.
Former Sen. Larsen helped champion these measures, which protect some of our most vulnerable citizens, such as victims of stalking and domestic violence. Those protections are in conflict with “Real ID.” Thankfully, Gov. Lynch chose our privacy over promised security. He further signed a bill forbidding automated license plate scanners. Alarmingly, in just the last session, all this has been eroded. We let in Real ID. License plate scanners are now a reality. Lawmakers have been sold a bill of goods by corporations.
As a director at the largest database company in the world, I am alarmed. As you read this, the Department of Homeland Security is installing covert microphones in thousands of public transit systems. License-plate recognition will soon be “enhanced” by face recognition. Your life will be recorded, analyzed and profiled. I am not worried about the current administration. I am worried about the next one and the one after that.
Is it so unthinkable, when there are calls to prevent Muslims from entering the U.S., that this surveillance might be turned against people with an unpopular religion? Who speak the wrong language? Listen to the wrong music? Unless we relinquish this surveillance arms race, we are in danger. I am running for state representative because we need legislators who understand both the history and the technology.
DENIS GODDARD
Hopkinton