Recently I renewed my New York State Driver License. Happens from time to time, no big deal. But I noticed an interesting thing when I received it in the mail: I had already signed the card.

      Or, to put it more accurately, the state had signed my name for me. Using my hand writing. Not as a photo copy, but an actual physical addition to the card.

      This means the state has my signature on record, and the ability to reproduce it as needed. As I am in no way special, we can assume they can do the same for everyone else with a state id (ie, nearly everyone).

      Perhaps making a mountain out of a molehill, but in this age of identity theft, I think it’s worth considering. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, the state will never do anything inappropriate with what they have. Probably a false assumption, but that’s a digression for another time. How secure is the states database of signatures?

      It’s only a matter of time (if it hasn’t already happened) until someone hacks in and steals the database (whole or in part). At which point, they too can sign my name to anything they want.

      While I am focusing on my signature, this could just as well apply to anyone in the state of New York (and presumably other states). We are at the point where, thanks to the combination of improved technology and the states desire to hold information, we are one accident away from anyone that cares being able to sign any New Yorker’s signature to any document. Making a signature trivially easy to forge. Yet that is still how many things are setup to run.

      Where does that leave us? Unfortunately, in a position where, if you didn’t personally watch the signing, it is reasonable to assume it was forged.

      In some ways, this is nothing new. People have always been able to write other peoples signatures. The difference here is that it’s recreating your signature. No more someone else trying to write like you. Instead a machine does write like you, at least in regards to your signature.