Photo ID Cards. Who Needs them Anyway?

It may shock you to find out how manycompanies providing these services are located
companies and even government agenciesoverseas and therefore not held to the laws of
outsource their identification card needs. Is it onlyour country. So accusing these providers of
due to the price tag of the equipment andbreaking the law or engaging in illegal activity isn't
software needed to allow an organization tothe case because of the fine lines drawn.
produce ID cards internally? ID cards are dictatedSo when you consider how easy it is to produce
by law in some cases and in others they bring anor purchase a fake id card, I have to ask myself
instant appearance of credibility to the carrier. Inif identification cards mean anything anymore.
any case, many organizations are no longerWell, just look around and you will find that they
purchasing expensive software and hardware toare simply required for even the simplest of
meet their requirements or wishes.services. Many banks require two forms of photo
Personally, since I've been in the identification andidentification to start an account or cash a check.
tracking industry for over 10 years, I haveThe airport requires a form of photo identification
worked with many different types ofand just about any type of secure area requires
organizations in helping them develop solutions forsome form of identification.
their registration or simply photo identificationRecently there was even a law passed that
needs. One thing that has become clear is theallows retired police officers to carry a firearm
providers of these services have either chosenanywhere in the country if that officer also
the high road or the low road. Many of thesecarries an identification card stating the officers
service providers have become self governing toretired status. Even bounty hunters and private
ensure only individuals that should carrydetectives are now required by many states to
identification proving the person is really a policecarry ID cards that indicate their status and
officer, EMT, or whatever the case may be. Whileorganizational affiliations. And guess what; there is
others have chosen a more profitable route ofnot a government agency to supply any of these
selling ID cards to anyone who is willing to pay therequired cards so these people have to seek out
price. You can search the internet for "Fake IDa provider.
Cards" and you will find a plethora of companiesEven if we go beyond the requirements of law, I
that will provide you a card that will cost as muchhave to admit that when a police officer or
as $30. When searching for a legitimate solutionfireman comes to my door it give me a feeling of
the range is commonly in the $4 to $8 range.comfort seeing them display some form of
Because of the high level of profit, it's easy toidentification. So I guess even when the cards are
understand why some would choose that morenot mandated by law, they are needed in many
lucrative path.other areas of our daily lives.
Simply saying the organizations that are selling IDSo, as long as our society doesn't trust someone
cards without principles are breaking the lawjust upon their word, I'm sure we will be in a
simply isn't the case in most instances. If youculture that requires some form of identification.
check out their disclaimers, or the "I Agree"Future technologies may change what is required
clauses on their sites, you will see that theyfor credentials, but in my observation, we will
actually only sell "Novelty" ID cards to anyonealways need some type of photo ID card even if
that is willing to pay their price. Again, checkingit's just for the latest book of the month club we
into the details you may find that otherjoined.