Question: I believe showing proof of principal residence is an additional requirement when renewing one’s driver’s license. Can you direct me to a list of acceptable documents for this?
Answer: For now, that information can be found at the bottom of the list of acceptable documents for getting or renewing a state ID card: tinyurl.com/btwwhxm.
Showing proof of principal residence — two documents needed — is a requirement for getting a state ID card but not yet for getting a Hawaii driver’s license.
Officials recommend you provide that proof now anyway for a driver’s license because it’s just a matter of time, as explained in a Jan. 15 column (is.gd/z4E6Rg).
The federal Department of Homeland Security is working to develop an enforcement schedule by early fall for states to comply with all the security requirements of the REAL ID Act.
Full compliance then would be enforced “at a suitable date thereafter,” said Sheri Kajiwara, director of the city Department of Customer Services.
“However, being proactive in making the move toward compliance in Hawaii, the state Legislature applied the federal document requirements to the issuing of Hawaii state IDs,” she said. No such legislation was passed for driver’s licenses.
“This was not a noticeable problem” when the state issued state IDs and the counties issued driver’s licenses, she said. But then the state ID program was turned over to the counties in January.
“For the public’s sanity, I would prefer to make the documentation requirements consistent for both state IDs and driver licensing,” Kajiwara said. “But that would require legislation for enforcement, and after due process, may come into effect at the same time federal (Homeland Security) deadlines are established. At that point, compliance will be required of all states for all IDs.”
So, while proof of principal residence is not yet required for obtaining a driver’s license, it soon will be, Kajiwara said.
There is a benefit to providing proof now, because those documents will be scanned into the system with all the required documents.
Scanned documents will be accepted as proof of identity, legal presence, residency, etc., at least the next time you renew your license or state ID.
Question: I renewed my driver’s license at the Hawaii Kai Satellite City Hall, and everything went fine but I noticed the clerk made copies of all the documents. These documents have sensitive information that should be protected as much as possible. Why do they need photocopies, and what do they do with the information? How can the public be assured that it won’t get into the hands of the wrong people?
Answer: The REAL ID Act has spurred all the new, confusing and sometimes cumbersome requirements for proving identity and legal presence in the U.S. for anyone getting a driver’s license or state ID card.
We asked the spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about security measures and was told to just look up the REAL ID Act.
We found a requirement for all states to digitally scan “identity source documents,” store those images electronically “in a transferable format” and to provide security measures.
“All driver license offices where personal information may be stored and the computer files where the scanned information (not photocopies) is stored must meet stringent federal security requirements similar to (those required of) banks,” said Dennis Kamimura, administrator of the city Motor Vehicle and Licensing Division.
There also are security requirements regarding access to the database and transmission of the scanned data to the database, he said.
Only driver’s licensing staff — no outside person or agency — has access to the database, he said.
All driver’s licensing staff, as well as staff of Marquis ID Systems, the driver’s license contractor, have “successfully undergone” federal and state name and fingerprint criminal background checks, he said.
Furthermore, “The transmission of the scanned data to the file server is encrypted and on a dedicated line,” Kamimura said.
Mahalo
To Officer Macaibay for coming to my aid on Easter Sunday, fixing my flat tire near the H-2 freeway onramp. He is one of HPD’s finest! — Ann
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