Grace Ross: Outsourcing Your Identity + Ability To Vote

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Grace Ross, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Closing the state's RMVs can only end badly, believes Grace Ross.

I try to stay on top of important policy proposals in our state, but I was shocked to hear that the Governor was pushing through getting rid of almost all of the Registries of Motor Vehicles in our state.

My best friend’s immediate reaction was perhaps more insightful. “What, are they trying to just get rid of more jobs?” I only figured out the two real kickers later–read to the end of my realization below!

Saving money?

Fifteen years ago, folks might have argued that this proposal–to get rid of almost all of the Registries of Motor Vehicles and replace them to a limited extent with the AAA-run, private little registries–was an attempt to save the state money.

The evidence of the last decade or more is that while in theory outsourcing government services is supposed to save money that in fact (1) we usually pay more and (2) even when we pay less, we get even less than what we got when we paid directly through the government.

Business is not more efficient than government when you add in the profit margin. We end up with less than what we had when the jobs were being done by direct employees of our government. So no matter what’s being said, whatever promises are being made, theories being put out there, how this proposal is supposed to save money rarely, if ever, turns out true.

Unnecessary?

No doubt, another explanation will be that so many folks use online access that we don’t need our RMVs. Similar arguments no doubt are behind the closing of the claims desks across the state for those trying to access their unemployment benefits. While routine stuff may be able to be handled by some automated system on the phone, real people with real problems–especially given the glitches in automated systems–cannot be handled only through automated systems.

The unbelievably bad if not potentially malicious timing of the closing of the unemployment claims desks (taking place the day after the state had redone and rebooted its entire unemployment intake system) left people who worked hard for their money, deserved their money, have been approved for their money dealing with a new system with all the inevitable glitches without a local human being to help them! Folks on unemployment are often with very limited income. Those who could ill-afford to need to get to Boston if there was a real problem getting their check suddenly had no place to go. In fact, the very folks who had a new problem with the new system so they could not access a check they’ve been depending upon were the very ones who could no longer reach a human being.

Were they warned the state was rebooting its unemployment electronic system? No. Were they further warned that if anything failed in that system that they were no longer going to be able to reach a human being at their local claims office? No. Were the phone lines for addressing a problem completely swamped between the inevitable glitches of a new, just rebooted system and the inevitable problems of people used to going to the local claims office suddenly closed with no warning? Of course!

People literally went without food, lost their housing–God only knows what else–because the state decided that cutting jobs and centralizing the system that people’s lives honestly depend on (and which they’ve already paid for) was not the priority.

If it ain't broke...

Back to the stupid proposal about doing similar things with our Registries of Motor Vehicles.

If you have lived in this state over the last 15 years, you know that our RMVs have become amazing systems of customer service efficiency, clarity, and, in general, an overall really positive experience. In fact, you can now look online and see how long the wait time is at your local registry!

Why would you shut down a system that is a customer service model? Probably does business more efficiently any other governmental system in our state.

This proposal was put forward by our Governor; when he ran in 2006 admitted he had spent almost no time in our state for the 17 years previously. Perhaps he himself has never used our RMVs? Has he sent others to renew his license? Perhaps he himself does not realize how useful, efficient, and well managed they are nor how much money has been put into ensuring they are.

If the Boston area has the only remaining state-run registry, as usual, this proposal makes the rest of the state second-class citizens–leaving us to only a AAA-run, privatized office.

Get this

First, this means that a private institution will have your social security number, all of your relevant contact information, your picture and an electronic version of your signature. One enterprising AAA employee will be able to do identity theft with an ease and reach that perhaps surpasses what the NSA data mining our emails could do. At least the NSA is on our government payroll and at some point is within our reach as part of our elected government.

AAA won’t be. Their employees will now have all of the information necessary to grab anybody’s identity and take any action legally claiming anything they need, given they have your electronic signature as well. I don’t even want to think about that.

Second, many of us spent many, many years, fighting for the rights of folks to register to vote when they renew their license. There has been NO discussion that this registry change creates another barrier to people being allowed to have a voice and participate in their government.

The topper? AAA will have not only all of your contact information, your social security number, and your signature, they’re literally going to be in a position to change your voter registration or even set up so someone else can claim to be you to vote!

AND we can ill-afford more job loses and privatization does not save money for us the tax-payers (can we get them to pay our taxes when they grab our identity?)

Certainly if we even want to pretend to still be a democracy, this is not a function of government that legally, ethically, or ever should be able to be outsourced.

Grace Ross is a former Gubernatorial candidate and author of Main St. Smarts.