Chickenwing
Member
So after a quick search I couldn't find a thread about the new rule that DPS is only going to accept electronically submitted fingerprints for a NEW CHL applications from L-1 Identity Solutions starting March 1st 2011.
Has anybody else heard about this or have any details on it? My understanding is you will have to get a number from DPS for the application, schedule an appointment in between 9am-5pm to have them done at an L-1 solutions location. Also, L-1 Solutions is a privately traded company according to what I've been told. I don't know just how thrilled I would be by some company having my e-fingerprints on file. No matter how safe they say that stuff is the fact is, it isn't.
Now, this is just all stuff I have been told. I haven't seen any official announcements or anything but I trust the people I have heard it from. They have also spoken with TSRA reps about it, and those same reps don't seem to have a problem with it. Honestly? I do, and here is why:
1) This is a privately traded company dealing with my personal information that honestly has no damn business dealing with my fingerprints. If I want them rolled in ink by someone I know and send those cards in to DPS that should be my option.
2) If this is the only method to obtain fingerprints to send in to DPS and I lived in BFE, Tx and had to drive 2 hours on a work day between 0900 and 1700 hrs just to get fingerprints for my license from some company that has their hand in DPS' pocket I would be just on the short side of pissed.
3) I see this as a deterrent from people getting their licenses:
a) Because they may have to travel so far to an L-1 location
b) Because they don't want a private company to have possible storage rights to their fingerprints
c) Because after traveling all that distance let's say something goes amiss and you can't have them done that day (Lord knows DPS NEVER fouls anything up *sarcasm*), now you have to come back and you just don't care to make the drive again so you end up just carrying in your car and never getting your license because of the hassle.
4) L-1 Solutions can charge whatever they good and damn well please for the service because they are a private company, which is fine. However, want a license? You have to get them here, don't like it? Tough sh*t.
5) Again, (a little tin foil hat here) if they take your fingerprints to be submitted they may very well keep a copy of them on file for whatever reason. Sure they might keep a copy of the electronic record just in case DPS fouls up and doesn't get them so they have to send another copy, or they can do whatever they want with them because they are a private company. Sure there might be some regulations as to what they do with them but let's be real here, how safe is that information and what business is it of theirs to begin with?
If what I have been told (and in turn are sharing with you) is true, I don't know what in the hell DPS is thinking. Essentially they are creating a non competition, restrictive environment for license applications and in my opinion it crosses the line from regulatory (in the sense of allowing us to exercise our right to bear arms while maintaining order) to infringement. I know I don't know the whole story but what I've heard makes no sense to me. One reason I have been given for this is poorly ink rolled cards being submitted, but from my understanding there is something like a 99% success rate of rolled ink cards.
Like I said, I don't know the whole story. That is why I'm here. I don't want to jump to crazy tin foil hat conclusions, but I am confused. Maybe somebody out there can shed some light on the situation and explain what the hell is going on. I do trust the people who have told me about this, and believe they know what they are talking about. But if all this is true, I wanna know why there aren't some more pissed off people out there talking about it. Because it smells, and not of roses.
Has anybody else heard about this or have any details on it? My understanding is you will have to get a number from DPS for the application, schedule an appointment in between 9am-5pm to have them done at an L-1 solutions location. Also, L-1 Solutions is a privately traded company according to what I've been told. I don't know just how thrilled I would be by some company having my e-fingerprints on file. No matter how safe they say that stuff is the fact is, it isn't.
Now, this is just all stuff I have been told. I haven't seen any official announcements or anything but I trust the people I have heard it from. They have also spoken with TSRA reps about it, and those same reps don't seem to have a problem with it. Honestly? I do, and here is why:
1) This is a privately traded company dealing with my personal information that honestly has no damn business dealing with my fingerprints. If I want them rolled in ink by someone I know and send those cards in to DPS that should be my option.
2) If this is the only method to obtain fingerprints to send in to DPS and I lived in BFE, Tx and had to drive 2 hours on a work day between 0900 and 1700 hrs just to get fingerprints for my license from some company that has their hand in DPS' pocket I would be just on the short side of pissed.
3) I see this as a deterrent from people getting their licenses:
a) Because they may have to travel so far to an L-1 location
b) Because they don't want a private company to have possible storage rights to their fingerprints
c) Because after traveling all that distance let's say something goes amiss and you can't have them done that day (Lord knows DPS NEVER fouls anything up *sarcasm*), now you have to come back and you just don't care to make the drive again so you end up just carrying in your car and never getting your license because of the hassle.
4) L-1 Solutions can charge whatever they good and damn well please for the service because they are a private company, which is fine. However, want a license? You have to get them here, don't like it? Tough sh*t.
5) Again, (a little tin foil hat here) if they take your fingerprints to be submitted they may very well keep a copy of them on file for whatever reason. Sure they might keep a copy of the electronic record just in case DPS fouls up and doesn't get them so they have to send another copy, or they can do whatever they want with them because they are a private company. Sure there might be some regulations as to what they do with them but let's be real here, how safe is that information and what business is it of theirs to begin with?
If what I have been told (and in turn are sharing with you) is true, I don't know what in the hell DPS is thinking. Essentially they are creating a non competition, restrictive environment for license applications and in my opinion it crosses the line from regulatory (in the sense of allowing us to exercise our right to bear arms while maintaining order) to infringement. I know I don't know the whole story but what I've heard makes no sense to me. One reason I have been given for this is poorly ink rolled cards being submitted, but from my understanding there is something like a 99% success rate of rolled ink cards.
Like I said, I don't know the whole story. That is why I'm here. I don't want to jump to crazy tin foil hat conclusions, but I am confused. Maybe somebody out there can shed some light on the situation and explain what the hell is going on. I do trust the people who have told me about this, and believe they know what they are talking about. But if all this is true, I wanna know why there aren't some more pissed off people out there talking about it. Because it smells, and not of roses.
