E-Verify System Stokes Privacy Issue
The U.S. government’s effort to reduce illegal immigration and employment has generated yet another privacy issue. A bill that would force employers to have new employees go through the E-Verify system is now in the making. Different privacy groups reacted against this proposed legislation. The ACLU, EFF, and other civil liberties, labor and privacy groups have openly opposed the Legal Workforce Act of 2011.
The E-Verify system is a kind of employment eligibility verification that is internet-based. Its proponents describe it as a system that will screen those who seek employment in the U.S., which will make it simple for the government to identify illegal immigrants. It will guarantee employers that they only employ those who are lawfully qualified to get a job in the U.S.
Employers who refuse to use E-Verify face penalties of up to $25,000 and imprisonment of at least one year. Upon hiring, the law would require that employers compare their employees’ records in the DHS and SSA databases with the information that these employees supply. Comparison of Social Security numbers provided by the new hires with those on record will also be done. In addition, the proposed bill will require employers to obtain the fingerprints of employees as a pilot biometric authentication program.
Those who oppose the bill consider this procedure as a risk to all employees’ privacy. They argue that the verification system would generate a database that holds highly sensitive information. It would be so large that it would be difficult to handle and protect well. Unscrupulous individuals or groups could exploit it and make it open to misuse. Given the size, openness and accessibility of this database, identity theft is most likely to happen. Critics have voiced their apprehension that even intelligence and law enforcement agencies could use this database for other purposes.
The risk to individual privacy is very high according to the coalition of civil rights and privacy groups.
They explained that the benefits of the proposed bill could not compensate for the damage that it could cause to people. It seems that the opposition succeeded in getting the government’s attention because there is now a proposition to improve the E-Verify system. Hopefully, these improvements would focus on addressing the issues of individual privacy.
