Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Travel in the USA Requires ID

neil.fraser.name

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 144 posts

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#61

Post by krschultz »

lettergram wrote: post #40
smackfu wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the US is actually pretty good about not requiring you to always have Federal ID on you, compared to European countries.

I find it strange compare the laws of a state to others and say things like, "It's pretty good compared to..." They are different government types, founded on different laws, containing different people, and so on. The United States was founded on the idea of "freedom" so, it seems strange to require anything on you, unless it impedes others freedoms.

Technically the US was founded on that ideal, then the Articles of Confederation was seen to be unworkable, so they federalized a bunch of power in the Constitution, which was then amended with the original Bill of Rights because the Constitution without didn't really guarantee freedom.

It's important to not hand waive away that evolution, because the US is not run on the most-free system of government that could have been imagined in 1776. We ratcheted that down almost immediately, and to argue otherwise is incorrect.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#62

Post by chucksmash »

eli wrote: post #54
jasonpeacock wrote: post #35

There's a lot of FUD in the article. Most (all?) states have no requirement to carry or present ID to officers - you only have to give your name, and sometimes your address depending on the state. There's no Federal requirement to carry ID. To operate a motor vehicle you need a driver's licence...but your passengers don't. What about riding the bus? You can get on the local Metro, Bolt bus, or Greyhound w/o an ID. Hi…

As the blog states, you actually don't need an ID to fly, you just need to prove your identity (and be ready for a huge hassle).

It's been eight years, but in 2007 I was able to fly from Columbia, SC to Atlanta, GA without any personally identifying documents whatsoever - I showed up at the airport without a ticket, without a wallet, without anything.

I was flying home for a funeral and as such was fairly distraught, so perhaps they cut me some slack on that account. I don't remember any specific hassles though.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#63

Post by iak8god »

santaclaus wrote: post #4

Is the MTA in NYC still subject to random ID checks?

If it is (or was), I'm curious what happens if a person doesn't have an ID. As someone well above the legal drinking age who does not own a car, I often go about my day without carrying my Driver's License or other state-issued ID.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#64

Post by pseudon »

You do not need ID to fly intrastate within the US:

http://www.papersplease.org/wp/2015/04/09/why-did-the-tsa-pr...

However, you do need explicit pre-approval from the US DHS to fly, through the Pre-Crime surveillance and control regime of Secure Flight:

http://papersplease.org/wp/2014/09/22/gao-audit-confirms-tsa...

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#65

Post by thecopy »

smackfu wrote: post #26
MBCook wrote: post #12

> We used to make fun of the Soviet Union for its lack of freedom of travel ("papers please"). You only need ID not pre-authorization. You don't have to get Idaho to authorize your vacation and Nebraska to allow you transit.

And the US is actually pretty good about not requiring you to always have Federal ID on you, compared to European countries.

I cannot remember the last time i showed my ID to anyone when traveling/flying in Europe.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#66

Post by joshavant »

In the article, there's a link to a TSA Blog article that assures readers you don't need an ID to pass through security.

And, at the bottom of that article, there's a link to another TSA site, which lists acceptable IDs ('You can find a list of acceptable IDs here.', emphasis mine).

Hilariously, the first line of that page is: 'Adult passengers 18 and over must show valid identification at the airport checkpoint in order to travel.'

Mixed signals, TSA.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#67

Post by [deleted] »

eli wrote: post #54
jasonpeacock wrote: post #35

There's a lot of FUD in the article. Most (all?) states have no requirement to carry or present ID to officers - you only have to give your name, and sometimes your address depending on the state. There's no Federal requirement to carry ID. To operate a motor vehicle you need a driver's licence...but your passengers don't. What about riding the bus? You can get on the local Metro, Bolt bus, or Greyhound w/o an ID. Hi…

As the blog states, you actually don't need an ID to fly, you just need to prove your identity (and be ready for a huge hassle).

[deleted]

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#68

Post by nine_k »

saint_fiasco wrote: post #46

The author of the article implies that he used to be proud of not having to do so because it differentiates his country from the Soviet Union. How will having to carry ID turn a country into an authoritarian dystopia? Is it just an American thing? I ask because I live in a country with an authoritarian past and we still have to carry ID everywhere and people just don't see anything wrong with that. Should I try to pe…

There's a difference between requiring to identify oneself and requiring to get an explicit clearance to travel.

Last time I checked, air travel in the US requires a valid ID, but you're automatically allowed to travel, unless you're on some no-fly list or are a wanted criminal. (Last time I took Amtrak it did not require any authentication; I bought a ticket from a vending machine.)

The US system is built with certain distrust to the government, and with a number of checks and balances to prevent it from becoming tyrannical. Hence the idea of the government having no business to know my whereabouts unless there's a good reason to suspect me of some wrongdoing.

I personally don't see an excessively great trouble in anyone having my location data. Still, there are two good reasons for the government to collect as little such data as possible. First, the data may fall to wrong hands: fancy your house robbed when you're traveling? Second, it costs a lot of money to collect the data; if the data are collected "just in case", that money is wasted.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#69

Post by dublinclontarf »

pseudon wrote: post #64

You do not need ID to fly intrastate within the US: http://www.papersplease.org/wp/2015/04/09/why-did-the-tsa-pr... However, you do need explicit pre-approval from the US DHS to fly, through the Pre-Crime surveillance and control regime of Secure Flight: http://papersplease.org/wp/2014/09/22/gao-audit-confirms-tsa...

> Pre-Crime

Nice.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#70

Post by fit2rule »

MBCook wrote: post #12

> We used to make fun of the Soviet Union for its lack of freedom of travel ("papers please"). You only need ID not pre-authorization. You don't have to get Idaho to authorize your vacation and Nebraska to allow you transit.

ID is a form of authorization. There are plenty of people who can not get a valid ID in the United States, yet they wish to travel too. So, they walk.
Post reply on HN