When officials from around the United States meet with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators to discuss the possibility of government-issued national ID cards, it is imperative that they consider citizens’ privacy.

Debates about ID cards and their distribution have been steadily brewing since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in which the hijackers used fake identities and licenses acquired in Florida to board the planes.

Ideas such as these always decrease the privacy of American citizens said Henry Silverman, president of the Lansing branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The proposal has the potential to infringe on citizens’ civil rights and personal privacy. This is evident in the use of Social Security cards, which were not originally introduced as a form of identification. Now knowing someone’s Social Security number allows access - sometimes fraud and intrusion - to almost every aspect of that person’s life.

This is just another snowball bill that stems from the terrorist attacks - another attempt by the government to grasp something that can’t be grasped. It will be nearly impossible to fill all of the cracks in our system with new ideas and methods of protection, and even more difficult to make Americans feel secure without affecting their privacy.

Issues that will determine whether these ID cards restrict our privacy will include the information that is placed on them, identification they will replace and when it will be utilized most.

But while these issues will probably be addressed if national IDs are implemented, it is more important for our government to discover how people are slipping through the cracks and creating problems. Changes need to be made if terrorists are able to obtain fraudulent identification. Otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before people find a way to reproduce the new national IDs.

The government must investigate how to solve problems of the past, or else new solutions will only become the problems of the future.