Alaska’s DMV Stealing Your Facial Biometric Data, Violating Privacy in Back Door Compliance With Real ID

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Alaska_License_Plate_10432My research began trying to determine if the DMV was actually using facial recognition software for the new Driver License (DL) photograph and if so, why? To me, this would be a violation of privacy rights if confirmed. Apparently, DMV chooses to call it “image verification” but it’s the same thing. Most people are not aware of this because DMV is deliberately not telling you, unless you ask. So what happens to the people who refuse to give them their facial biometric data? As of now, right or wrong, you don’t get a license.

At this point I knew very little about the REAL ID. When speaking with the DMV, they were the ones who kept bringing it up. They wanted to make clear that I understood this was not the REAL ID. So I looked into the REAL ID that Alaska supposedly didn’t have.

According to a Marketwatch.com story, the REAL ID Act “set standards, which include requiring applicants to provide proof of identity and legal U.S. residency, and requiring states to use counterfeit-resistant security features in the IDs.” The Alaska DMV website states, “The new card design and issuance process is part of a nationwide effort to make it harder for criminals to obtain your identity. The newly designed card will include numerous security features to protect your identity and reduce fraud.” What they are not telling you is the “issuance process” utilizes facial recognition “image verification” to prove you are who you say you are. I could find no difference between the REAL ID and the new Alaska DL.

Marketwatch.com also stated; “As of now, there are 23 states whose IDs are “fully compliant” with the REAL ID Act, and 27 states have received extensions. The only states and territories that are not compliant, and haven’t received extensions, are Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Washington and American Samoa.” Alaska must be on the extension list as their current process is a plan in place.

So who is actually making the new Alaska DL and has access to your data? DMV tells me it’s housed only in Alaska on Alaska servers. In 2012, Marquis ID System (MIS), located in the lower 48, won the contract. MIS stated in a press release that not only did they win the contract with Alaska, “The system will also incorporate new state-of-the-art Facial Recognition and Document Authentication Systems.” Shortly after MIS was awarded the Alaska contract, a company, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands by the name of Gemalto, bought them out 100%. Gemalto does business with over 80 different international governments. From this, more than Alaska has access to your data.

Is this Lawful? The new Alaska DL started in June 2014. In 2013, the state legislature passed HB 69 into law; Alaska Statute 44.99.040 Limitation on use of assets “ A state or municipal agency may not use or authorize the use of an asset to implement or aid in the implementation of a requirement of P.L. 109-13, Division B (REAL ID Act of 2005). If this is the REAL ID in disguise, this not only violates state law, but more importantly, your rights and constitutional protections; Alaska Constitution, Article 1, Section 22 (the Right to Privacy) and Section 14 (Searches and Seizures.) This also portrays a lack of moral and ethical behavior coming from the bureaucrats that seem to be running our state government and ignoring legislative restraint.

After 8-months, I have yet to receive the truth or even an answer that makes sense. DMV remains silent when asked what they plan on doing with all the people that want a driver’s license and refuse to submit their facial recognition biometric data. And what about those whose rights were violated and want their data back since it was taken without consent? Unfortunately, silence is consent. It is imperative for individuals to make a stand when rights are being clearly violated; absent of that, who would you have do it for you? The complaint form for the Alaska Ombudsman can be found online and submitted via email or post mail.

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Alaska Airlines and the Jews of Yemen

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maxresdefault (87)The story of the modern exodus of “Beta Israel” the Jews of Ethiopia during Operations Moses and Solomon, which together airlifted some 22,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, is well known. Less well known is the dramatic exodus of over 48,000 Jews from Yemen. Almost unknown is the role played by Alaska Airlines.

No one knows for certain when the first Jews came to Yemen. Local legend has them being sent as traders by King Solomon. In any event, Jews have lived in Yemen for many centuries. In that poverty-stricken country, the Jews were the poorest and lowest of citizens living in contempt and on sufferance as dhimmis. However, in their synagogues and schools, they taught their children to learn and write Hebrew. They never forgot their faith, protected the traditions, observed the Sabbath and passed the Torah and Talmud to each succeeding generation . . .

Alaska Airlines was founded in 1932 when Mac McGee purchased a used three passenger Stinson and started an air charter business in Alaska. With the arrival of James Wooten as president in 1947, the airline began to purchase surplus planes from the U.S. Government and within a year became the world’s largest charter airline.

The JDC approached Wooten and asked if Alaska Airlines would agree to accept the Yemen airlift. Wooten wanted Alaska Air to take on the mission of mercy but Ray Marshall, Chairman of the Board, was cool. Marshall felt the deal was a waste of the Airline’s time and money. It would take at least $50,000 to set up the charter, cash that the Airline did not have. Marshall insisted that Wooten front the funds himself.

Wooten raised the $50,000 by borrowing it from a travel agency associated with the JDC. The contract was signed and Operation On Wings of Eagles, more popularly known by its nickname, Operation Magic Carpet commenced. (Read more from “Alaska Airlines and the Jews of Yemen” HERE)

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Reported Abortions at Record Low in Alaska

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Alaska saw a record low number of reported abortions last year. According to the state’s Bureau of Vital Statistics 1,334 abortions were performed in 2015, the fewest since 2003 when Alaska began recording data.

Last year’s figures represent a 12 percent drop over 2014 and a nearly 32 percent reduction from a decade ago when 1,956 abortions were reported. The state’s statistics are based on forms submitted from across Alaska by abortion practitioners who are required by law to report the procedures.

The decreased abortions reflect a larger trend across the nation. In December the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that the U.S. abortion rate has dropped by more than one-third during the two decades between 1990 and 2010.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion 43 years ago in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, there have been more than 58 million abortions.

CAUSES OF ABORTION DECLINE

While difficult to pin down the exact reasons why abortion numbers appear to be dropping in Alaska and across the nation, some pro-life leaders point to legislation protecting the right to life, as well as a larger cultural shift in which younger Americans are increasingly standing up for unborn babies.

“People’s attitudes and actions regarding abortion have changed,” Randall O’Bannon, director of education and research for the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund, told CBS News.

According to a 2015 report from LifeSiteNews, more than 230 pro-life laws have been enacted across the United States since 2010.

In 2005 Alaska approved a law requiring the state to maintain an abortion information website and abortion practitioners to provide women with information on fetal development and possible risks associated with abortion. The state website includes information about the abortion-breast cancer link.

Additionally, in 2010 Alaska enacted a parental notice law that requires an abortionist to notify the parent of a minor before performing an abortion, unless the minor is the victim of abuse, there is a medical emergency or she obtains a court order. Consent of the parent is not required before the minor’s abortion.

Additional laws recognize the humanity of the unborn in Alaska. The state allows for “Choose Life” specialty license plates, and under Alaska’s criminal law an unborn child may be considered a victim of murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Alaska also criminalizes nonfatal assaults on the unborn and allows a wrongful death lawsuit if an unborn child is born alive following a negligent or criminal act and dies thereafter.

Also, Alaska provides immunity for parents who leave an unharmed newborn with police, medical personnel, emergency services personnel or any person the parent believes will act in the baby’s best interest.

In the case of a stillbirth, Alaska law requires that parents be advised that they may request a “Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth.”

TEENS & THE UNMARRIED

Of the 1,334 Alaska abortions in 2015, there were 42 performed on teens, ages 15 to 17 — a drop from 68 in 2014. There were four abortions on girls under age 15, compared to six in 2014 and nine in 2013. Overall there were 110 teen abortions last year, down from 145 in 2014.

Alaska’s figures mirror a decrease in teen abortions nationally. The latest CDC figures show declining rates for teenagers 15-19, a group that saw a 12.3 percent drop in one year. All together, teens 15-19 saw a drop of 40.4 percent between 2003 and 2012.

Alaskan women in their 20s were, by far, the largest group to obtain abortions. They accounted for 806 abortions or nearly 60 percent. Unmarried women were more likely to get abortions than married. More than 80 percent of women who obtained abortions in 2015 were unmarried, while 18.5 percent were married. Across the U.S., the most recent information shows 85 percent of women who obtained abortions were unmarried.

RACE & ETHNICITY

As in past years, minorities in Alaska are over-represented in the state’s latest report. Black, Asian/Pacific Islander and Alaska Native women are more likely to undergo an abortion than their white counterparts.

Asian/ Pacific Islanders accounted for 8.6 percent of Alaska abortions in 2015 but only comprised 7.4 percent of the state’s population according to the latest U.S. Census figures. Similarly, black Alaskans account for 7.6 percent of abortions, while making up only 3.9 percent of the population. Nearly 19 percent of abortions take place on Alaska Natives, while this group makes up fewer than 15 percent of the overall population. These trends are reversed when it comes to white Alaskans which make up nearly 67 percent of the population but only procure 60.7 percent of the abortions.

Pro-life advocates have long pointed to the high number of minority abortions as a reason for greater outreach and support for these groups.

“More pro-life outreach clearly needs to be done to these minority communities,” Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said earlier this year. “The availability and awareness of realistic alternatives to abortion are critical to these communities.”

AGE OF UNBORN BABY

According to the state’s report, the vast majority of abortions last year took place from the fifth week through the fourth month of pregnancy. As in recent years, more than 25 percent of those abortions were performed using RU-486. The high-powered mix of synthetic hormones causes the unborn baby’s nourishing placenta to detach from the uterine wall and induces contractions.

RU-486 is typically used for up to about two months gestation. According to the state’s report, 341 abortions were done using this method which requires at least three trips to the abortion facility. After the first round of drugs is administered in the clinic, up to 30 percent of women abort later at home or work, and as many as five days later.

There are serious and well-documented medical side effects of RU-486 abortions, including prolonged, severe bleeding and life-threatening systemic infection. According to a 2011 FDA report, 14 women in the United States have died from using the mifepristone abortion drug and 2,207 women have been injured by it.

Despite these dangers — which increase with the age of the unborn baby — the increased use of RU-486 across the nation coincides with a push by Planned Parenthood for its expanded use.

PAIN OF ABORTION

In most cases — 936 — abortion practitioners in Alaska report using suction curettage or vacuum aspiration. In those surgical abortions, an abortionist vacuums the unborn baby from womb with a high-powered suction machine. In the process, the baby’s body is torn apart and he or she dies.

According to the 2015 report, there were 52 dilation and evacuation abortions in Alaska. In D&E abortions, the abortionist, using a long clamp, grasps the limbs of the unborn baby and tears them off, and the baby dies.

Increasing awareness of the methods of abortion and the unborn baby’s capacity for pain has led to legislative efforts to safeguard women and children. For instance, there are federal and state bans — including in Alaska — on partial-birth abortion, and some states have enacted laws allowing women to choose anesthesia for their babies being aborted.

PUBLIC FUNDING OF ABORTIONS

Alaska taxpayers are required by court order to fund “medically necessary” abortions for women eligible for public assistance through Medicaid. This requirement essentially equates to funding abortion-on-demand for any reason. Legislative efforts to limit and specify what constitutes “medically necessary” were struck down by the Alaska Supreme Court last year. In 2015, 438 of all Alaska abortions (33 percent) were paid for through state Medicaid funds. (For more from the author of “Reported Abortions at Record Low in Alaska” please click HERE)

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CDC: Potentially Zika Carrying Mosquitoes Could Inhabit All but 10 States This Summer

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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated a report last week illustrating on U.S. maps that the two mosquitoes with the potential to transmit the Zika virus, as well as other viruses such as dengue and chikungunya, could inhabit areas this summer that include parts of all but ten states in the United States.

The report on Zika and pregnancy also states: “Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals in the world because of the diseases they spread.” (but see recent article debunking the pregnancy defect link HERE)

Much of U.S. territory–from California to Virginia to Maine–is in the potential range of the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which have the potential to transmit the Zika virus. Of the two, the CDC says, the Aedes aegypti mosquitos are the “more likely to spread viruses.”

The CDC also verified to CNSNews.com via email that the map of potential exposure includes all but 10 states in the United States.

Only Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, and Utah are outside the potential range of both of these mosquitoes. The highlighted areas of the map, the CDC stressed, “represent CDC’s best estimate of the current potential range” of the mosquitoes and “are not meant to represent risk for spread of the disease.” The maps have been updated from “a variety of sources.” (Read more from “CDC: Potentially Zika Carrying Mosquitoes Could Inhabit All but 10 States This Summer” HERE)

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UPDATE: Alaska Air Responds to Story Regarding AK Air Customer Service Manager ARRESTED for Child Sex Abuse

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(Editor’s update: Alaska Airlines contacted Restoring Liberty on 4/6/16 and stated that it has no record of the person described below being employed or otherwise working for them) Candy, condoms, and narcotics were some of the items that suspects brought with them when they traveled to have sex with children, according to detectives who recently conducted an undercover online child sex sting that targeted child sex predators.

17 people were arrested during “Operation April’s Fools” which was conducted March 29 through April 4 in Polk County. An arrest warrant was issued for an 18th suspect.

Among those arrested were a Walt Disney World Security Guard, a Discovery Cove theme park janitor, a technician at Florida Hospital, a football coach, an Alaska Airlines customer service manager who brought LSD and cocaine with him, according to investigators . . .

During the operation, undercover detectives posted fictitious ads or profiles on various social media platforms, websites, and mobile phone applications, posing as children, or as custodians of children.

Detectives say that despite the repeated warnings and media coverage of past operations, numerous men responded to the ads and then proceeded to chat online, email, text, and talk on the phone with the undercover detectives who posed as children or custodians of children online. (Read more from “AK Customer Service Manager ARRESTED for Child Sex Abuse” HERE)

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After Rapper Says Palin Should Be Gang-Raped by Black Men, Sarah Shows Her Why You Don’t Mess With Alaska

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In a series of tweets that have since been deleted, Rapper Azealia Banks called for the brutal gang-rape of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. It was all supposedly a response to an article that quoted Palin as saying “African Americans accepted slavery willingly.”

The problem is that the article in question was satire…

So, Sarah Palin took to Facebook to dish out an epic response:

Hey Female Rapper – listen up, little darling. No one has any idea what you're wigging out about in these bizarre,…

Posted by Sarah Palin on Tuesday, April 5, 2016

(Read more from “After Rapper Says Palin Should Be Gang-Raped by Black Men, Sarah Shows Her Why You Don’t Mess With Alaska” HERE)

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Alaska’s Religious Liberties Bill Frozen in Committee, Not Moving Forward

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In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last summer that legalized gay marriage across the nation, including Alaska, the Alaska Legislature has been moving a bill through various committees to protect clergy and others authorized to marry a couple in Alaska. Specifically, House Bill 236 clarifies that no one can be coerced into marrying a couple or facilitating a marriage or marriage celebration.

House Bill 236 is at a critical stage. Now in the House Rules Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Craig Johnson, the next step would be for Rep. Johnson to schedule the bill for consideration by the full membership of the House. As of April 4, the bill had not been scheduled for such consideration. If the measure passes the House it would then go to the Senate. The legislative session ends April 17.

The measure specifically states that there is no compulsion to “solemnize a marriage or provide services, accommodations, facilities, goods or privileges” for the purpose of celebrating a marriage. Any person who refused to marry a couple would not be subject to criminal or civil liabilities for their decision nor could they be penalized by having their tax exempt status, or state or local contracts and licenses revoked.

Juneau Bishop Edward Burns testified in favor of the bill last week. According to a report from the Alaska Dispatch, Bishop Burns said that following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states, his diocese ended its 75-year-old policy of allowing couples from other faiths to get married in its churches and chapels.

Bishop Burns said Alaska needs a bill to exempt clergy from civil or criminal liability for refusing to perform marriages for same-sex couples, the Dispatch reported.

Several states have made moves to legally protect clergy and others following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision. It was a ruling that religious liberty advocates say could impact the freedom of churches and clergy to refuse to perform or facilitate same-sex weddings and receptions. (For more from the author of “Alaska’s Religious Liberties Bill Frozen in Committee, Not Moving Forward” please click HERE)

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Alaska Air Expected to Announce Virgin America Deal Today

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Alaska Air Group Inc. is expected to announce Monday that it won the auction for Virgin America Inc., besting rival JetBlue Airways Corp. in a frenzied bidding process that culminated in a cash price of about $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

This new chapter in airline consolidation amid low-fare carriers comes at a premium. The deal signed Friday night, according to one of the people, was more than $1 billion over Virgin America’s VA, +0.88% market capitalization on Friday, which had started to rise last month on takeover speculation.

Bidding between Alaska Airlines’ ALK, -0.01% parent and JetBlue JBLU, +0.99% was feverish, this person said, with the price continuing to rise. Alaska prevailed in part because of its clean balance sheet, which will allow it to more easily borrow funds for the acquisition, the person said. (Read more from “Alaska Air Expected to Announce Virgin America Deal Today” HERE)

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Sarah Palin Just Gave Another Big Update on Her Husband Todd

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Less than three weeks after a severe snowmobile crash which sent her husband to the hospital, Sarah Palin posted an update on her husband’s condition to Facebook.

She began by saying, “So grateful for your prayers and support during Todd’s recovery! He’s in a good place – on the couch – insisting if there’s any good season for injury, it’s now.”

So grateful for your prayers and support during Todd’s recovery! He’s in a good place – on the couch – insisting if…

Posted by Sarah Palin on Thursday, March 31, 2016

In the post, Palin said NCAA March Madness and catching up on episodes of Deadliest Catch and Bering Sea Gold have been a great distraction for him, as well as awesome motivational therapy . . .

She continued, saying the kindness that has been shown during the days since the crash has greatly touched Todd.

He agreed, saying, “It’s overwhelming and I’m not worthy of these well-wishes. I wish I could repay people for caring. Makes me want to do more for others, especially when they’re down and out. Maybe that’s part of the purpose in all this.”

In an expression of his gratitude for the support and encouragement received, Todd Palin said, “I can’t thank you guys enough. The past few weeks showed us it’s not just family circling the wagons; I don’t think we’d ever realized that before. People out there who are hurting a hundred times worse than I was can use our prayers and any kind gesture. Maybe I can only repay by offering the same to you.” (Read more from “Sarah Palin Just Gave Another Big Update on Her Husband Todd” HERE)

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1st-Graders Suspended for Plotting to Poison, Kill Classmate

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A group of first grade students at Winterberry Charter School in Anchorage, Alaska, hatched a plan to poison and kill one of their classmates, according to the principal.

The three students, who have since been suspended, planned to use silica gel, thinking it was toxic, according to KTUU . . .

An email sent from the principal to parents read, “Three students in the class were planning on using the silica gel packets (these are not actually poison, but the students believed they were) from their lunchtime seaweed to poison and kill another student.” (Read more from “1st-Graders Suspended for Plotting to Poison, Kill Classmate” HERE)

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