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American Morning

Interview of Kendall Coffey

Aired December 18, 2001 - 09:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN FINANCIAL ANCHOR: Computerized I.D. cards are something that are becoming standard issue for America's armed forces. The so-called smart cards are designed to track personnel world-wide, and now that military model is being proposed, perhaps, for the civilian population as well. Supporters of the idea say it could be an important weapon on the war on terrorism. People who are are opposed say that it's not such a good idea for a number of reasons. One of those who doesn't think it's a great idea is our next guest. Kendall Coffey is a former U.S. attorney, thinks the national I.D. cards could compromise your personal security. He joins us this morning from Miami. Mr. Coffey, nice to have you with us. What is the problem with these I.D. cards?

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, from law enforcement perspective, Jack, these are not the solution. Mohammed Atta and his colleagues did not conceal their identities. The problem is, we simply didn't know the terrible danger they posted before they came here, so the real focus in the war on terrorism has got to be advance intelligence so that we know who it is that needs to be on the watch list.

CAFFERTY: If these cards are not a good idea, why -- what is the difference between the way the military is using them and the way the civilian population supposedly will use them, if they're applied to the civilian population at some point?

COFFEY: Well, the military is using in narrow context at security checkpoints. What's being proposed is massive, and it really is a fundamental transformation in the way of how we do things in our society.

If you had 270 million Americans with this so-called "smart card" basically using it at every moment, every event, of their lives, first of all, there is now a diary of every American that is available electronically, everything you do each day that is available not just to the government, but to others who may get access to it, and let's not forget, there have been teenage hackers that got into the Pentagon, and there's no reason to believe that our enemies, including the terrorists, wouldn't at some point be able to either counterfeit these kind of cards, or access the information in there.

CAFFERTY: Isn't there a bit of a trail on most of us that exists anyway, in some form, whether it's through credit card transactions, or tax returns, or social security records, or real estate? I mean, as we go through this life, the dealings that we have with government at various levels creates a trail that is fairly easily documented, I would guess, for most of us. What would be the difference in these cards?

COFFEY: There's going to be a huge difference. First of all, because what you're doing is you are putting all the informational baskets in one technological -- or, all the informational eggs in one technological basket. Think of it as somebody breaking into your house. Right now, they'd have to look under the beds, they'd have to go into every room. Now, what you would be doing for the hackers or even the terrorists is putting all the information in one place, neatly assembled in the living room.

And, beyond that, the already daunting informational trail that we're exposed to is going to be vastly expanded. Think of, for example, showing up at CNN each day and using a smart card to record when you go and when you leave.

Whether it's punch clocks, whether it's garages, every element of every incident of every day is probably going to be subject to being tracked by these smart cards, and I don't think that's something that Americans, who have a long cherished history of respecting the right of privacy, need to subject themselves to, especially when there's simply no demonstrated basis to believe it would prevented September 11th, or that it would prevent future terrorist attacks against the country.

CAFFERTY: You mean cards like this one, perhaps, that I'm holding in my hand, which we do need to get into the building, to get from one floor to another, to go through offices. There are electronic locks all over the place, and, in fact, we have something like this. One last question. We have no more time, but over 3,000 people were murdered in this country. What would you suggest as some sort of an alternative to this idea that might address the kind of problem we had on September 11th?

COFFEY: Well, I think that first and foremost, let's never forget it comes down to advanced intelligence. Our intelligence network worldwide was something that had been dismantled, decayed, and that has to be rebuilt, and the administration is doing that. And, if you had a purely name, rank, and serial number type of driver's license card, that didn't include, for example, your life history, that didn't lend itself to chronicling every move of every day of every American, that might be something that could help without a massive invasion of privacy.

CAFFERTY: I got you. Mr. Coffey, it's been a pleasure. I appreciate having you on the program. Thank you for joining us.

COFFEY: Thanks, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Kendall Coffey, former U.S. attorney, joining us from Miami.

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