D.C. backs off on ‘One Card’

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The Fenty administration on Tuesday backed off plans to require that District residents use a new identification credential, a card that can track a person’s use of city services, to access D.C. recreation centers.

Ward 3 D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh sounded the alarm, she said, after angry constituents reported they were told they would need a DC One Card to enter the new Wilson Aquatic Center. Many didn’t have or want the ID, Cheh said Tuesday. Others were concerned about the potential for privacy invasion.

“It’s like Big Brother,” Cheh said.

The Department of Parks and Recreation was “looking at making it a requirement,” DPR spokesman John Stokes told The Examiner. But that plan has been tossed.

“While the DC One Card is an accepted form of identification for access to recreation centers, it is not a requirement,” he said in a statement. “Residents can also use their driver’s license to access D.C. government facilities.”

The identification, Stokes said, “not only saves taxpayer dollars and resources but also increases convenience and ease of access to services.”

The One Card was an invention of former Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra, now President Barack Obama’s chief information officer. Its purpose, according to an executive order issued in July 2008, is “as a citywide service access credential by all subordinate agencies of the District of Columbia government,” including public libraries, recreation centers, government buildings and the public schools. Each card also features a SmarTrip chip for use in the Metro system.

“Neighbors have raised concerns that the DC One Card is an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that will place personal information at risk,” Cheh wrote in a letter Monday to City Administrator Neil Albert.

The cards collect “limited identification data,” according to city documents, and allow the District to track how many people are using government facilities. The city does not trace what people do or where they go with the cards, the government claims.

In a June 2008 news release, DPR touted the fact that it has “began to track attendance and facility usage by use of the District’s ‘One Card’ and an electronic sign-in system at 17 of its largest and most popular locations.” That data, former agency Director Clark Ray said at the time, “will assist DPR in making information-based decisions about the programs and services we provide for our residents.”

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