The Department of Homeland Security posted its guidelines for the implementation of Real ID. Real ID is a set of standards for drivers licences and state ID cards proposed by the Federal Government that:

• Information and features that must appear on the face of the driver’s license or identification card, and inclusion of a common machine-readable portion of a driver’s license or identification card;
• Presentation and verification of information an applicant must provide before a driver’s license or identification card may be issued, including evidence that the applicant is a U.S. citizen or has lawful status in the United States;
• Physical security of locations where driver’s licenses and identification cards are produced, the security of document materials and papers from which driver’s licenses and identification cards are produced, and the background check of certain employees involved in the manufacture and production of licenses, and;
• Physical security of the driver’s licenses and identification cards to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, and duplication of the documents for a fraudulent purpose. 

Failure to adopt Real ID means that a non-compliant state's IDs will not be legal for use for any federal function, including air travel.

Highlights of the guidance include:

• Phase in of new IDs - all new cards issued after May 11, 2008 will need to be Real ID compliant, and all outstanding cards must be made compliant by May 10, 2013. This allows states to minimize the amount of cards that will have to be re-issued just to meet federal requirements.
• States can get rollout extensions to December 31, 2009 (a major concern for many states)
• A reiteration that no data that the govermnent will store as part of Real ID is beyond the current scope of information currently being stored (p23)
  
• A user's identity credentials (birth certificate, passport, etc) must be validated and the data on the credentials must be validated before card issuance - but that confirmation of certain information, such as birth certificate information, will not be required until the Electronic Verification of Vital Events sysem - a federal system that verifies birth information - comes online (p 47)
• Cards will have to have a 2D Bar Code (p76) for machine readability - RFID chips are not recommended under the guidance. Considering 45 out of 50 states use 2D Bar Codes, this significantly lowers the amount of re-work required by states

Implementation of Real ID is going to add a burden to all states, the benefit seems clear - it will truly allow state ID/drivers license to serve as the form of national identity card used by most other countries as the data collection and verification will be standardized.

Though privacy alarmists oppose Real ID (typically without sound argument) it is a reasonable approach to handling issues of illegal immigration and national security. The alternative is a federal ID card - which has its benefits as well: a common way to prove eligibility for employment, voting and social services.

There would be another benefit. Drivers Licenses are designed to be statements of a single credential: the ability to drive. It has quickly become a multi-use card - also establishing the user's address. Establishing a national ID card that proves citizenship and address would allow state DMVs could re-focus their efforts on focusing on someone's ability to drive. This would reduce cost and overhead for the states, and the federal government could use the infrastructure in place for passport processing (namely, the Post Office) for card issuance. It could be cheaper for the states and the federal government as well.