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27 août

The mark of the beast? Prologue

Revelation 13:16 & 17

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.

And that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

The following blogs on my site deal with a document dated March 1, 2007 issued by the Department of Homeland Security. It wants all Americans to carry ID. But not just any ID. One that has a chip inplanted in it that hold all the details of that person. This way they can track you wherever you are or whoever you are. There will come a time when this ID will only entitle someone to buy and sell or do transactions only if one has it. It is not a big step from there to enable such a card to have GPS on it too.

One more step to enslaving the people of The land of the Free. Can Europe be far behind? Or am I already behind, and such technology is in use allready?

If you can stand going through all the bureaucratese and legalise of the documents, see the following 4 part blog on this issue.

Cheers.

The mark of the beast? Part 1

Privacy Impact Assessment for the

REAL ID Act

In conjunction with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Minimum Standards for Driver’s Licenses and Identification Cards Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes

March 1, 2007

Rulemaking Contact Point Darrell Williams REAL ID Program Office Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528 (202) 282-9829

Reviewing Official Hugo Teufel III Chief Privacy Officer Department of Homeland Security (571) 227-3813 privacy@dhs.gov

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 2

Abstract

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy Office is conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) on the rule proposed by DHS to implement the REAL ID Act. The authority for this PIA is Subsection 4 of Section 222 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, which calls for the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct a “privacy impact assessment of proposed rules of the Department.” This analysis reflects the framework of the Privacy Office’s Fair Information Principles, which are: Transparency, Individual Participation, Purpose Specification, Minimization, Use Limitation, Data Quality and Integrity, Security, and Accountability and Auditing. The Privacy Office conducts PIAs, whether under Subsection 4 of Section 222 or under Section 208 of the E-Government Act, to ensure that DHS is fully transparent about how its proposed rules, final rules, and intended information technology systems may affect privacy and to review alternative approaches and technologies that may minimize the privacy impact on individuals. This PIA examines the manner and method by which the personal information of American drivers and identification (ID) holders will be collected, used, disseminated, and maintained pursuant to the proposed rule issued under the REAL ID Act. This PIA will be updated, as necessary, when the rule is final.

Introduction

This PIA is prepared pursuant to Subsection 4 of Section 222 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, which calls for the Chief Privacy Officer of DHS to conduct a “privacy impact assessment of proposed rules of the Department.”1 Section 208 of the E-Government Act (Public Law 107-347) also provides for PIAs for all new or substantially changed technology that collects, maintains, or discloses personal information. Distinct from the PIA required under Section 208, Subsection 4 of the Homeland Security Act authorizes the Chief Privacy Officer to conduct a privacy impact assessment of proposed departmental regulations, which may or may not involve a particular technology system. The authority under Subsection 4 is significant since a proposed rule may raise privacy considerations regarding information practices that do not involve technology or a proposed rule may address technology systems that the Department does not own or control. Therefore, Subsection 4 provides the Chief Privacy Officer with the broadest authority to identify and comment on privacy matters resulting from proposed departmental regulations and to do so in a manner that is public.

This PIA examines the manner and method by which the personal information of American drivers and ID holders will be collected, used, disseminated, and maintained pursuant to the proposed rule promulgated under the REAL ID Act (the Act).2 This analysis reflects the framework of the Privacy Office’s Fair Information Principles, which are: Transparency, Individual Participation, Purpose Specification, Minimization, Use Limitation, Data Quality and Integrity, Security, and Accountability and Auditing. This PIA will be updated, as necessary, when the rule is final.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) establishes minimum standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards that federal agencies will accept for “official purposes” after May 11, 2008.

1 Homeland Security Act of 2002, 6 U.S.C. § 142(4), Pub. L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, 2155 (November 25, 2002), as amended (“(4) conducting a privacy impact assessment of proposed rules of the Department or that of the Department on the privacy of personal information, including the type of personal information collected and the number of people affected”).

2 Division B—REAL ID Act of 2005, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005, Pub. L. 109-13, 119 Stat. 231, 301 (2005) (codified at 49 U.S.C. 30301 note).

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 3

Specifically, the Act mandates minimum document and information verification requirements, security features, physical security standards for locations that issue driver's licenses and identification cards, and background checks for Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) employees who have the ability to affect the identity information that appears on the credentials, have access to the production process, or are involved in the manufacturing of the credentials (covered employees). In addition, the NPRM provisions call for security standards to ensure that the valuable information state DMVs collect will be protected and not used as a source for identity fraud or theft.

3 Pub. L. 109 -13, 119 Stat. 231, 302 (2005)(codified at 49 U.S.C. § 30301 note).

4 Pub. L. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638, 3827 (December 17, 2004)(codified at 49 U.S.C. § 30301 note).

The Act and its proposed implementing regulation will result in issuance of credentials that are tamper-resistant and better identity documents than the current driver’s license and identification card issued by the states. A better credential should help address the use of falsified credentials in perpetrating identity theft. In addition, as a result of the Act, state databases will contain standardized photo images that will allow law enforcement agencies to use facial-recognition technology to help apprehend criminals, and the state DMVs will be able to use the images and application data to prevent drivers whose licenses have been revoked in one state from obtaining them in another.

This PIA analyzes the major privacy concerns posed by the Act and addressed in the NPRM. The first and overarching concern is whether the Act and the implementing regulations will result in the creation of a national identity card or database. The second is whether and how the personal information associated with implementation of the Act will be protected from unauthorized access or use. The third is whether and how the personal information stored in digital format on the credentials will be protected against unauthorized uses. This PIA discusses several additional privacy issues that were not raised in the Privacy Considerations section of the NPRM, including the proposed requirements that a photograph and address appear on the credential and that DMVs conduct a financial history check on covered employees.

The Privacy Office strongly supports the application of the privacy protections discussed in the NPRM to protect the personal information associated with REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards stored in state databases and encourages public comment on the privacy and security issues posed at the conclusion of the Privacy Considerations section of the NPRM including: state comprehensive security plans; access to information collected by states pursuant to the REAL ID Act and the protection of such information stored in state databases; and the operation and governance of electronic verification by states of driver's license application information.

The Privacy Office recommends that the final rule continue to address privacy issues clearly and that it define sufficient privacy protections to ensure that DHS can audit and certify their implementation by the states. Moreover, as discussed below in Section II.C. of this PIA, to the extent technically and operationally feasible, the Privacy Office believes there is a strong privacy rationale for cryptographic protections to safeguard the personal information stored digitally in the machine-readable zone (MRZ) on the credentials.

I. Legislative History

The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 20053 contained the provisions for the REAL ID Act of 2005, which repealed the driver’s licensing section of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA).4 While the REAL ID Act does not contain an explicit requirement that DHS enact rules to protect the privacy rights of individuals

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 4

5 H.R. Rep. No 109-72 (2005) (Conf. Rep.)

6 Id. at 184. .

7Id. at 179.

who apply for and hold driver's licenses and personal identification cards, the legislative history of the Act supports the conclusion that Congress intended DHS to do so. The House Conference Report for the REAL ID Act includes several key statements of Congressional intent regarding privacy.5 For example, in its discussion of section 202(d)(12) of the Act, which requires each state to provide electronic access to the information in its motor vehicle databases to all of the other states, the Conference Report makes clear that Congress recognized the need for the regulations to address privacy and security and that those protections should be at least the equivalent of existing federal protections. The Conference Report reads in relevant part:

DHS will be expected to establish regulations which adequately protect the privacy of the holders of licenses and ID cards which meet the standards for federal identification and federal purposes.6

In addition, the Conference Report discussion of Section 202(b)(9) of the Act, which calls for using “a common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements,” clearly indicates that Congress wanted privacy to be a consideration in implementing the technology. The Conference Report states:

There has been little research on methods to secure the privacy of the data contained on the machine readable strip. Improvements in the machine readable technology would allow for less data being present on the face of the card in the future, with other data stored securely and only able to be read by law enforcement officials.”7 (Underlining for emphasis, not in the original)

This statement suggests that Congress wanted to secure the privacy of the data contained on the machine readable zone (MRZ) of the credential and make it accessible only to law enforcement officials. The current understanding is that a potential way to control access to the data on the 2D bar code by third parties, which is the technology DHS has selected to be used in the REAL ID credentials, is encryption. The issue of how to protect this information is discussed in Section II.C. of the PIA, below.

The Conference Report language described above, coupled with the requirement in Section 202(d)(7) of the Act to “ensure the physical security of locations where driver’s licenses and identification cards are produced and the security of document materials and papers from which driver’s licenses and identification cards are produced,” provide the legislative basis to include privacy protections and safeguards for both the personal information collected and used in connection with the issuance of REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards and the personal information stored on these credentials.

II. The Privacy Impact of the REAL ID Act and the NPRM

The public has long been accustomed to providing personal information for the purpose of obtaining driver’s licenses and identification cards. This includes having this information printed on the face of these credentials and, in most states, included in a machine readable technology (MRT), such as a bar code or magnetic strip on the rear of the credential. The enactment of the REAL ID Act increases the attention on the privacy ramifications of what information will appear on the driver’s licenses and identification cards issued under the Act and the privacy of the information that will be exchanged. Some privacy advocates and members of the public have raised concerns that the Act could create an increased risk of identity theft

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 5

8 DHS has taken steps to protect privacy pursuant to its authority under Section 202(d)(7) to address the security of the information DMVs will collect and use related to implementation of the Act and its authority to define the machine-readable technology. This is consistent with the House Conference Report (See H.R. Rep. No 109-72 at 179, 184 discussing section 202(b)(9) [the machine-readable technology] and 202(d)(12) [the state data exchange] of the Act.

9 Pub. L. 103-322 as amended by Pub. L. 106-69, 18 U.S.C. § 2721 et seq.

10 Section 1514 states the following: “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the development of a national identification system or card.”

and erode privacy or be a stepping-stone to a national identity card, because of the standardization of the information that will be presented on the credential, the uniformity of the process for issuance of the credentials, and potential federal access to the mandated information.

As described below, DHS has sought to address the privacy concerns within the limits of its authority under the Act.8 At the federal level, only the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA)9 addresses the privacy of motor vehicle records, but as described below in Section II.B. of the PIA, its protections are narrowly focused. It is therefore necessary to build federal protections into the REAL ID rulemaking to augment existing state administrative and statutory privacy protections. This section of the PIA summarizes the requirements of the Act that potentially have the greatest impact on privacy, the extent to which those requirements change current state driver’s licensing practices, and how DHS intends to address concerns that the Act will result in a national identity card or database and erode privacy. The privacy concerns surrounding a national identity card stem from the REAL ID Act itself and not from DHS’s proposed rulemaking, because DHS does not have authority to control third-party use or potential use of the REAL ID credential or associated identifier.

The PIA addresses the key privacy issues posed by the Act: (1) Does the REAL ID Act create a national identity card or database; (2) How will personal information required by the REAL ID Act be protected in the state databases; (3) How will the personal information stored on the machine readable technology on the driver’s licenses and identification cards be protected from unauthorized collection and use; and (4) Do the requirements for a photograph and address on the credential and the DMV employee background check erode privacy.

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The mark of the beast? Part 2

A. Does the REAL ID Act create a national ID or database?

The overarching privacy concern regarding the Act is that it will create a national ID or database on all driver’s license and identification card holders. The Privacy Office is mindful of Congress’s views on national identification cards, expressed in Section 1514 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.10 This PIA discusses both the issue of a national identity card/number and the issue of a national database, as they are related but not identical concerns. First, it is yet unclear whether a REAL ID compliant driver's license or identification card will become any more of a national ID than the Social Security Number (SSN) or existing state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards. An argument exists that both the SSN and existing state credentials already create de facto national identifiers. Nevertheless, it is likely that given the stringent verification process to obtain a REAL ID credential and the security features proposed in the NPRM to prevent credential counterfeiting and tampering, the REAL ID credential may soon be considered the most reliable credential to ascertain an individual’s identity.

Nonetheless, it is important to understand whether and how the Act may change the use of driver’s licenses by the public and private sectors Although the REAL ID Act will make the driver’s license and number a more reliable identifier, it is not yet clear to what extent it will expand the use of the license or number.

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 6

11 Section 7214 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638, Dec. 17, 2004) amended section 205(c)(2)(c)(vi) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)(VI)).

12 The risks associated with the SSN are increasingly being addressed through legislation to limit its use, such as Section 7214 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-458, December 17, 2004, preventing its display on driver’s licenses.

The REAL ID Act, however, does not limit the ability of Congress or the states in the future to restrict the use of the REAL ID or its unique number beyond the uses specified in the Act and the proposed regulations. Although DHS is mindful of these issues, the future use of the new credential by third parties and not this rulemaking will ultimately determine whether the REAL ID credential will become a national ID and whether further protections from Congress may be warranted.

1. Use of a Unique Identifier

Third parties such as financial institutions, retailers, hotels, health-care providers, and others may consider the REAL ID credential to be a more reliable identification card than existing credentials, including current driver’s licenses, and may begin to request this credential in conjunction with a wide variety of transactions, including applications for employment, opening credit or other accounts, making credit purchases, or other transactions in which it is necessary to ascertain the identity of the individual involved in the transaction. This could be helpful in reducing the incidence of fraudulent face-to-face transactions, but only if the third party actually compares the information on or associated with the credential with the individual presenting it, such as examining the signature or photograph of the individual. A REAL ID credential, however, cannot provide assurance of identity for transactions that take place remotely on the Internet or by phone.

The NPRM limits the scope of “official purposes” of the credential to the uses specified in the REAL ID Act: (1) accessing federal facilities; (2) boarding federally-regulated aircraft; and (3) entering nuclear power plants.

All identity systems trigger privacy concerns and extend not only to the use of a credential, but to the use of any unique number associated with the credential. Section 202(b)(4) of the REAL ID Act requires that each REAL ID driver’s license or identification card include the person’s unique “driver’s license or identification card number.” For privacy reasons, federal law already prohibits the display of an individual’s SSN on a driver’s license,11 but the unique ID number on a REAL ID credential, if left unregulated, could be misused in similar ways. This is a risk inherent to the law enacted by Congress and the proposed implementing regulations cannot ameliorate this risk. Thus, for example, if retailers, healthcare providers, financial institutions, insurers, and other private or government entities were to collect the credential and record the ID number whenever individuals engaged in a transaction, the REAL ID’s unique number could pose the same, if not greater, risks as experienced in the use of the SSN.12. As discussed in Section II.C. below, the collection of personal information from the credential could be further facilitated by the skimming of the digital information stored in the MRZ if it is not encrypted or such actions are not prohibited by law.

Our system of government with its checks and balances can prevent such an erosion of privacy and civil liberties, if protections are built into the identity system from the very beginning. Of course, unlike a SSN, a person’s driver’s license number may change over time if the person moves from one state to another. Moreover, even under the REAL ID Act, Congress and state governments always retain the ability to restrict the use of a REAL ID as a unique identifying number in the future if warranted.

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 7

13 See GAO Reports on SSNs: GAO-02-352, GAO-05-1016T,

14 Stephen T. Kent and Lynette I. Millett (Editors), IDs—Not That Easy: Questions About Nationwide Identity Systems, National Academy of Sciences (2002)

Some of the public concern about the REAL ID stems from the history surrounding the expansive use of the SSN beyond its original purpose of recording the information necessary to provide a public pension benefit. One of the lessons learned from the use of SSNs is that once an identification number is issued, it is very difficult to limit its use.13 A National Academy of Sciences National Research Council study of identification systems, IDs – Not That Easy: Questions About Nationwide Identity Systems,14 posed serious concerns about the desirability and feasibility of a nationwide identity system. The study noted that any identity system raises significant and challenging policy, procedural, and technological issues and urged policymakers to consider a set of key questions when contemplating an identity system. This study proposed the following questions, which are appropriate to consider at this early stage of addressing the REAL ID Act: What is the purpose of the system? What is the scope of the population that would be issued an ID and recorded in the system? What is the scope of the data? Who would be the users of the system? What types of use would be allowed? Would participation be voluntary or mandatory? What legal structures protect the system’s integrity as well as the data subject’s privacy and due process rights, and determine the government and relying parties’ liability for system misuse or failure?

Even now, over 70 years after the SSN was first introduced, the federal government is grappling with how to address the privacy and security interests surrounding the role of SSNs in facilitating identity theft. While DHS believes the issuance of REAL ID credentials can help reduce the incidence of identity theft, it is unclear whether a unique identifier associated with the REAL ID credential will over time suffer the same problems as those associated with the SSN. The only way to prevent misuse of any identifier is to establish enforceable restrictions at the time any REAL ID identifier is introduced. For a number of years, many bills have been proposed in the Congress to address misuse of the SSN; however, none have been passed because it is a challenge to limit the use of the SSN now that it has become such a common identifier in the marketplace.

Although DHS cannot address all of these concerns about a national ID or the use of the unique identification number because DHS can only act within the authority granted under the REAL ID Act, DHS can play an important role in eliminating the concern that implementation of the Act would result in the creation of a national database. The NPRM does not propose to create a national database. This concern stems from the provisions in the Act requiring that the individual states: (1) electronically verify application information against federal databases; and (2) provide state-to-state access to verify that the applicant only holds a valid driver’s license or identification card in one jurisdiction. Furthermore, storing personal information in a uniform and standardized manner, such as the information on individuals possessing REAL ID credentials, poses a significant security risk given the value of this collection of information. Consequently, the Privacy Office recommends that states, with participation of the affected federal agencies, develop and implement a governing structure to devise the business rules and requirements that apply to the operation of both the state-to-federal data query and the state-to-state data exchanges. This concept would be substantially similar to current governance practice in the issuance and management of state driver’s licenses and identification cards.

As discussed below, an architecture for implementing the mandated data verifications and exchanges can be designed, governed, and operated to avoid the creation of a national database. The key will be to ensure that the states administer and manage the systems built to implement the Act. In addition, with appropriate

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 8

15 Note that the database connectivity mandated by the REAL ID Act is in addition to the database connectivity/functionality required to implement the Department of Transportation’s existing control over commercial driver’s licensing. In addition, law enforcement already have access directly to a state’s driver history via NLETS, which is the International Justice & Public Safety Information Sharing Network, a message switching system serving the criminal justice community.

16 The DHS Privacy Office is conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment for the SAVE program. It will be published on its website at www.dhs.gov/privacy.

17 “Privacy Considerations,” Section II.C.1(a) of the NPRM.

and necessary participation from the affected federal agencies, including DHS, the Department of Transportation, and the Social Security Administration, the states must be empowered to develop the business rules surrounding the check of federal reference databases and the state-to-state data exchange processes. State, rather than federal, operation and control of the systems not only minimizes the appearance of a national database, but also fosters the system of federalism upon which our country is based.15 The language in the Preamble of the NPRM supports the important role of the states.

2. The State Query of Federal Reference Databases

Section 202(c)(3)(A) of the REAL ID Act requires a state before issuing a driver’s license or identification card to verify with the issuing agency the issuance, validity, and completeness of each document required to be presented. It is difficult to validate that source documents, such as a birth certificate, Permanent Resident Card, and foreign passport with a valid unexpired U.S. visa, are genuine and have not been altered. The proposed regulation contemplates that certain identifying data contained in source documents will be checked electronically against federal reference databases. Specifically, states may be required to verify the data within the source documents against the following federal databases:

• Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database operated by DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS);16

• Social Security On-Line Verification (SSOLV) database operated by the Social Security Administration (SSA);

• Electronic Verification of Vital Events (EVVE) database, the birth certificate verification pilot operated by the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS); and

• Department of State systems for verifying data from U.S. Passports, Consular Reports of Birth, and Certifications of Reports of Birth.

Many state DMVs already access one or more of these databases as part of their current licensing process; however, the fact that this data verification will now be done by fifty-six jurisdictions – the fifty states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands -- heightens privacy concerns about how the data checks will be performed, who will administer and operate the state query of federal reference databases, how the query or queries will be structured, who will have access to the data, and what will be the business rules surrounding the check to protect the privacy of the applicants’ data. The NPRM addresses many of these issues by leaving the control and operation of this data check, including the development of the business rules, to the states. Additionally, the NPRM proposes that individual states document their business rules for reconciling data quality and formatting issues and urges states to develop best practices and common business rules by means of a collective governance structure.17

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 9

18 “Connectivity to Systems and Databases Required for Verification,” section II.E.6 (a)(ii) of the NPRM.

19 Founded in 1933, AAMVA is a nonprofit voluntary association representing the State and provincial officials in the United States and Canada who administer and enforce the laws that govern motor vehicle operation, the driver credentialing process, and highway safety enforcement. DMV administrators are appointed by their State governors and serve on the AAMVA Board of Directors and its committees. AAMVA has played an integral role in the development, deployment, and monitoring of both the commercial driver’s license (CDL) and motor carrier safety programs throughout the United States, and its members are responsible for administering these programs at the State level.

20 “Privacy Considerations,” Section II.E.6 (a)(ii) of the NPRM.

21 “Privacy Considerations,” Section II.C of the NPRM.

A very important example of how administration of the data check will be left to the states is the commitment by DHS in the NPRM to support the development of a “federated querying service” enabling the states access to federal reference databases in a timely, secure, and cost-effective manner.18 Most states query some of these federal reference databases either directly or indirectly today through a portal provided by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).19 DHS indicates in the NPRM its commitment to expediting the development and deployment of a common querying service to facilitate the state DMV queries for REAL ID data verification. Since certain databases will be connected, it will be critical from a privacy perspective to clarify which parties control the data systems and which parties have access to the data systems.

To address the privacy concerns posed by such a federated querying service, the Preamble to the NPRM contains a number of important statements. First, it sets forth the narrow purpose of the service: “The purpose of this federated querying service will be to minimize the impact of data verification on State DMV business processes and reduce the costs of data access.”20 Second the Preamble goes on to make the following commitment: “DHS will support the development of [a] querying service but will not operate or control this service.” And third, it states: “A frequently-heard concern relates to the amount of additional information the Federal Government will have about driver’s license holders and what the Federal Government will do with that data. In fact, however, neither the Real ID Act nor these proposed regulations gives the Federal Government any greater access to information than it had before. Moreover, there is no information about a licensee that the Federal Government will store that it is not already required to store.”21

The commitments made in the NPRM demonstrate that DHS does not intend to expand the purpose for which the querying service will be built and will seek to mitigate the privacy concerns. In addition, the NPRM states that use of this federated querying service will be voluntary and that states may choose to: maintain or establish direct access to the reference databases; combine direct access with partial use of a common service; or verify applicant data against the reference databases in some other manner. Leaving the control and operation of the licensing verification with the states helps mitigate the fears expressed by some that the REAL ID Act will result in a national database operated by the federal government.

Furthermore, as part of the state certification mandated by Section 202(a)(2) of the REAL ID Act, the NPRM proposes that each state prepare a Comprehensive Security Plan for its DMV facilities and the driver’s license information storage and production facilities, databases and systems. (See Proposed Rule § 37.41 and Preamble section II.K.) As part of this, each state will submit a privacy policy regarding the personal information collected and maintained by the DMV and will demonstrate how it will protect the information collected, stored, or disseminated for purposes of complying with the REAL ID Act, including procedures to prevent unauthorized access, use, or dissemination of applicant information and images of source documents, and standards and procedures for document retention and destruction. Also, the Privacy Considerations section of the NPRM notes that DHS expects that a state’s certification should demonstrate

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 10

22 The information available in each jurisdiction’s database varies, but generally they already store what is required by the Act.

23 See the Privacy Considerations section of the NPRM.

24 Commercial drivers licenses (CDL) are governed by the National Driver Register Act of 1982 and the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA), both implemented by DOT. (49 U.S.C 31311(a)) as amended.) The CMVSA requires that a commercial driver license (CDL) holder have one and only one driver license and driver record, meaning that a CDL license holder cannot hold a non-CDL from another jurisdiction. The Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) was consequently developed to enable the record checks of the nation’s professional truck and bus drivers, including drivers of HAZMAT vehicles. It is an enhanced, pointer system that requires the states to update records and exchange data. CDLIS maintains nine data elements on all CDL holders: name and aliases, date of birth, SSN, driver’s license number, state of record, gender, height, weight, and eye color. All other information is retained by the licensing state.

When CDLIS was first built, states were required to check CDLIS before issuing a CDL to make sure someone did not have a CDL in a previous state. That requirement was not enough, however, to prevent someone from obtaining a non-CDL license in a different state and using that license when driving his own car. As a result, the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) developed new regulations under the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act (MCSIA) of 1999 to require that ALL license applicants be run against CDLIS to address this loophole. (23 CFR § 1327.5) CDLIS is operated by AAMVA on behalf of DOT and is accessed through AAMVAnet, a network service operated by AAMVA.

25 The NDR/PDPS was established by the National Driver Register Act of 1982 and is administered by National Highway Transportation Security Administration (NHTSA) but accessed through AAMVAnet.

The PDPS is used to search the NDR and will “point” the inquiring jurisdiction to the State of Record, where an individual’s driver status and history information is stored. The NDR contains identification data for individuals under suspension or revocation, and/or who have committed serious motor vehicle-related violations. By compact or convention, every state respects every others state’s suspensions/revocations. The PDPS record contains five data elements: name and aliases, date of birth, driver’s license number, and State of Record. Jurisdictions have the option of also sending SSN, height, weight, and eye color. The 2003 Privacy Impact Assessment for the NDR is posted at http://www.dot.gov/pia/nhtsa_ndr.htm

26 A state may also send a query to another state for the full history of a driver without going to the CDLIS or PDPS pointer files. Only certain highway-safety related offenses are transmitted on a driver’s history obtained from PDPS.

that it has implemented best practices to protect the privacy of the license holder as guided by the fair information principles that underlie the federal, state, and international law and codes of practice. (See further discussion of the Comprehensive Security Plan in section II.B of the PIA, below.)

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The mark of the beast? Part 3

3. The State-to-State Data Exchange

Section 202(d)(12) of the Act mandates that states provide electronic access to information contained in the motor vehicle database of the state to all other states, and Section 202(d)(13) requires that the state motor vehicle database contain, at a minimum, all data fields printed on driver’s licenses and identification cards and motor vehicle driver’s histories, including motor vehicle violations, suspensions, and points on licenses.22 (See Proposed Rule § 37.33.) These two provisions mandate a state-to-state data exchange. The NPRM contemplates that the states will work collectively to determine the business process and data access rules necessary to implement these provisions prior to May 11, 2008.23

As described in Section II.E of the NPRM, although the REAL ID Act poses a requirement for this state-to-state data exchange, this exchange is already required and implemented under the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) existing rules and regulations governing commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).24 The DOT requires that states connect to the National Driver Register (NDR)/Problem Driver Pointer System (PDPS)25 and the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) in order to exchange information about commercial motor vehicle drivers, traffic convictions, and disqualifications. A state must use both the NDR/PDPS and CDLIS to check a driver's record, and also check CDLIS to make certain that the applicant does not already have a CDL.26 Under these programs, as well as under the REAL ID Act, the primary purpose of the state-to-state data exchange is to determine if the applicant is unqualified and if the application is fraudulent rather than specifically verifying the applicant’s identity.

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27 The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. §552a.

28 FMCSA’s Policy on Availability of Information From the Commercial Driver’s License Information System, 70 Fed. Reg. 2454, January 13, 2005.

29 Id. A federal agency is required to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with DOT and/or FMCSA before access to CDLIS data will be provided.

30 Pub. L. 103-322 as amended by Pub. L. 106-69, 18 U.S.C. § 2721 et seq.

The existing state-to-state data exchange among DMVs, while focused on commercial driver’s licensing, also impacts non-commercial license applicants, as states are required currently to run all license applicants against the PDPS and CDLIS, which are both pointer systems that collect limited information from each state in order to match against the incoming inquiries. Both systems offer certain mandatory privacy protections.

The PDPS is subject to federal regulations 23 CFR Sections 1327.1 et seq., which adopts the Privacy Act of 197427 principles of individual participation and collection, use, and disclosure limitation. On the other hand, CDLIS may be subject to more limited privacy protections, because DOT’s policy states that CDLIS is not a federal “system of records,” as defined by the Privacy Act since the records in CDLIS are not controlled by DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).28 Under DOT policy, drivers who wish to review and, if necessary, correct information about them in CDLIS must contact the state agency that issued their license. Access to CDLIS is limited to DOT, the states, an employer or prospective employer of a person who operates a commercial motor vehicle, and to federal agencies upon written request where there is a legal basis and need.29 DHS is not aware of any privacy issues with the CDLIS implementation.

The NPRM states that DHS intends to work closely with the DOT, AAMVA, and the states to fulfill the requirements for the state-to-state data exchange under the REAL ID Act, while also supporting privacy protections for this exchange. It has not been determined whether CDLIS or some other service will be the platform for the state-to-state exchange, but regardless of the platform, it will be necessary for the states, working with DHS and DOT, to define the privacy protections for any state-to-state data exchange, including how it will be operated and controlled and who will have access.

For example, with support from DHS staff, representatives of the DMVs of California, Iowa, Massachusetts, and New York formed a “Federation” in July 2006 to identify a collective governance structure for the state-to-state data exchange and to begin to develop business rules, including privacy protections. This Federation recently joined with the AAMVA REAL ID Steering Committee to develop an independent governance structure for the state-to-state data exchange. The development of privacy protective business rules and standards and a governance mechanism will be central to ensuring that the privacy of license holders is protected.

B. How will personal information required by the REAL ID Act be protected in the state databases?

At the federal level, only the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA)30 addresses the privacy of motor vehicle records, but its protections are narrowly focused. The DPPA addresses the use and disclosure of personal information stored in state motor vehicle records, but it does not prescribe privacy protections for the personal information stored on the credentials themselves nor does it set any security requirements for the motor vehicle databases. Rather, the DPPA simply prohibits DMVs from disclosing “personal

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31 The DPPA authorizes 14 permissible uses for “personal information,” which it defines to include “an individual’s photograph, social security number, driver identification number, name, address (except the five-digit zip code), telephone number, and medical or disability information, but does not include information on vehicular accidents, driving violations, and driver’s status.” 18 U.S.C. § 2725(3). It defines a “motor vehicle record” as “any record that pertains to a motor vehicle operator’s permit, motor vehicle title, motor vehicle registration, or identification card issued by a department of motor vehicles.” 18 U.S.C. § 2725(1).

32 The permissible uses are: (1) use by any government agency, including any court or law enforcement agency, in carrying out its functions; (2) use in connection with motor vehicle-related matters (motor vehicle or driver safety and theft; motor vehicle emissions, motor vehicle product alterations, recalls, or advisories; performance monitoring of motor vehicles, parts and dealers by motor vehicle manufacturers, motor vehicle market research activities, and removal of non-owner records from the original owner records of motor vehicle manufacturers); (3) use in the normal course of business by legitimate businesses, but only to verify accuracy of personal information submitted by an individual to the business and if no longer correct to obtain correct information but only for purposes of preventing fraud by pursuing legal remedies against or recovering on a debt or security interest against the individual; (4) use in connection with a civil, criminal, administrative, or arbitral proceeding; (5) use in research activities so long as the personal information is not published, redisclosed, or used to contact individuals; (6) for use by any insurer; (7) use in providing notice to the owners of towed or impounded vehicles; (8) use by any licensed private investigative agency for a permissible purpose; (9) use by an employer or its agent or insurer to obtain or verify information of a holder of a commercial driver’s license; (10) use in connection with operation of private toll transportation facilities; (11) any other use in response to requests for a record if the State has obtained express consent of the person; (12) for bulk distribution of surveys, marketing or solicitations if the State has express consent of the person,; (13) use by any requester, if the requester demonstrates it has obtained written consent of the individual; and (14) for any other use specifically authorized under the law of the State holder of the record, if such used is related to the operation of a motor vehicle or public safety.

33 Originally the DPPA permitted sale of record information for use in marketing activities if the individual was given an opportunity to opt out. In 1999, Congress amended the law to require that DMVs obtain express consent for sale of record information for marketing purposes.

34 18 U.S.C. § 2721(c)

35 See discussion in NPRM Preamble Sections II.K.4 and 5 and Proposed Rule § 37.41.

36 H.R. Rep. 109-72, at 183 (2005) (Conf. Rep.).

37 http://www.cdt.org/testimony/020805schwartz.shtml

information” contained in a DMV “motor vehicle record,”31 unless the disclosure falls within fourteen permissible uses,32 including disclosure to any federal, state or local government agency to carry out that agency’s legitimate functions. In effect, the DPPA serves only as a prohibition on the sale of the personal information found in motor vehicle records for marketing purposes.33 Consequently, the personal information found in motor vehicle records is widely available through information brokers for the enumerated uses including fraud prevention and insurance purposes. Moreover, the DPPA authorizes resale or redisclosure of the information so long as it is for one of the fourteen permissible uses, making abuses of the DPPA very difficult to monitor or, even, to trace.34 Therefore, DHS cannot rely on the DPPA to protect the privacy of the personal information required under the REAL ID Act.

Section 202(d)(7) of the REAL ID Act requires states to “ensure the physical security of locations where driver’s licenses and identification cards are produced and the security of document materials and papers from which driver’s licenses and identification cards are produced.” The NPRM relies on this provision as authority for DHS to define basic security program requirements to ensure the integrity of the REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards and to protect the security of the personal information stored in DMV databases associated with these driver’s licenses and identification cards.35 The NPRM notes that the House Conference Report discussion of this section of the Act expressed concern with the “growing problem of identity thieves and document purveyors breaking into state facilities and stealing driver’s license or identification card stock blanks, printing machines, and sometimes actual computer hard drives in which current driver’s license or identification card holder data is stored.”36 Also the NPRM cites to the number of state DMVs that experienced incidents of theft of personal information from their databases37

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38 See Office of Management and Budget Memoranda, M-06-15, M-06-16, and M-06-19.

39 Proposed Rule § 37.41(b)(5)

40 Proposed Rule § 37.41(b)(1)(iii)

41 Proposed Rule § 37.41 (b)(8)

42 See NPRM section II.C.2.

and that federal and state governmental agencies have made security of personal information a high priority.38

Specifically, the NPRM proposes that each state submit, as part of the REAL ID Act certification process, a written document to be known as the Comprehensive Security Plan. This certification requirement provides an important safeguard for the personal information collected, used, and maintained by state motor vehicles offices and assures the public that the state handles personal information appropriately. As part of the Comprehensive Security Plan, states will provide a privacy policy;39 describe “reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the physical location and the personal information stored and maintained in DMV records and information systems”;40 and describe the state’s “standards and procedures for safeguarding information collected, stored or disseminated for purposes of complying with the REAL ID Act, including procedures to prevent unauthorized access, use, or dissemination of applicant information and images of source documents retained pursuant to the Act and standards and procedures for document retention and destruction.”41 In addition, Section II.K.5 of the NPRM encourages states to draft collective standards and best practices for the management of both documents and data proposed under the provisions of the rule.

The NPRM proposal for the Comprehensive Security Plan provides an important privacy protection, because the Plan will assist the states to address most, if not all, of the Privacy Office Fair Information Principles as described at the outset of this PIA. The Privacy Considerations section of the Preamble to the NPRM states that the plan “should demonstrate that it has implemented best practices to protect the privacy of the license holder as guided by the fair information principles, which call for openness, individual participation (access, correction, and redress), purpose specification, data minimization, use and disclosure limitation, data quality and integrity, security safeguards, and accountability and auditing, and that these principles are widely recognized and embodied in numerous federal, state, and international law and codes of practice.”42 DHS is requesting comments on recommended best practices for protecting the privacy of the personal information stored in the various state motor vehicle databases pertaining to the requirements under the REAL ID Act. The Privacy Office supports appropriate privacy protections and procedures to protect the personal information associated with implementation of the Act that are consistent to the greatest extent possible with the Fair Information Principles.

C. How will the personal information stored on the machine readable technology on the licenses and IDs be protected from unauthorized collection and use?

The implementation of any digitized collection of information increases the efficiency by which that information can be accessed. Records, which were once accessible only in human-readable format, in digital form can be readily accessed and then used in ways beyond the original purpose of the records. This inherent capacity of digital records requires closer scrutiny of which records and what information is accessible in digital form, because efficiency in access and availability for additional uses raises important privacy issues.

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Sections II.H.7-9 of the NPRM review the issues surrounding the personal information stored on the machine readable technology (MRT) on the REAL ID licenses and IDs. The REAL ID Act standardizes the minimum personal information on the ID and mandates the use of a MRT. The NPRM proposes that states use the PDF-417 2D bar code and indicates that DHS leans toward recommending that states protect the personal information stored in this 2D bar code by requiring encryption, if the operational complexity of deploying a nationwide encryption infrastructure to provide access to law enforcement can be addressed. The issue of encryption of the 2D bar code is one of software and infrastructure costs and not hardware cost, since the widely used 2D bar code reader can also be used to read the encrypted data.

The NPRM discusses the privacy concerns raised by the potential for unauthorized third parties to collect and use the personal information on REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards via a machine readable zone (MRZ). Although DHS lacks authority to prohibit third-party access to the information in the MRZ, DHS can determine to require technological protections to the MRZ, because the REAL ID Act gives DHS authority to select the technology and its implementation.

As discussed earlier in this PIA, the DPPA has not been interpreted to provide any privacy protections for the personal information stored on the driver’s licenses. Currently, most states use the 2D bar code recommended in the NPRM, exposing the information stored on the credential to unauthorized collection or “skimming,” the term often used to describe this sort of information capture by unauthorized third parties. Readers for the 2D bar code are readily available for purchase on the Internet and at a very low cost, which permits unauthorized third parties to skim the information for their own business needs or to sell to other third parties.

With skimming an existing problem, the REAL ID Act does not contain any statutory language to address the downloading, access, and storage by third parties of the information in the MRZ. Third parties, such as retailers, hotels, bars, and convenience stores, could invest in economical skimming devices to access information on any individual’s credential for unauthorized uses. Furthermore, the Act’s requirement that each REAL ID credential contain a unique identifier provides an opportunity for third parties to normalize data stored about individuals within large data warehouses. Like the situation with SSNs, this normalization would provide links between the identifier and the individual. Thus, if a retail entity were to collect just the unique identifier from the REAL ID credential and associate it with the transactional information related to the interactions the individual has with the retailer, this information could be useful to any third party. The REAL ID Act presents two risks in this situation. One, greater amounts of data about transactions could be linked to an individual. Two, third parties may assume that the credential holder was in fact the credential owner and so may not verify sufficiently the picture and/or signature on the credential, as often occurs today with credit cards. This could lead to the possibility of incorrect information being linked to an individual because of an incorrect recording of the unique identifier.

As usual, individuals will likely be unaware that their personal information on the credential has been retained by the third party, since individuals assume the third party to whom they gave the ID merely checked the information against a database for a valid purpose, such as validating an individual’s age. Moreover, when a third party appropriates the personal information, individuals are often unaware, and therefore do not associate the use of their ID with unsolicited marketing or identity theft or fraud.

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43 Confidentiality of Driver’s License Information, California Civil Code 1798.90.1 (Effective January 1, 2004).

44 Storage or Compilation of Information, Revised Statutes of Nebraska 60-4,111.01 (2001). The Nebraska law limits storage or compilation of information from the license or State identification card to the statutorily authorized purposes of the DMV, the courts, or law enforcement agencies. Violation of the law is a felony.

45 Drivers’ Licenses Prohibitions, New Hampshire Revised Statutes, Title XXI, Motor Vehicles, Chapter 263, Section 263:12 (Effective January 1, 2003). The law prohibits scanning, recording, or storing of the personal obtained from the license unless authorized by the department. Non-electronic transfer of the information on the face of the license is prohibited without the consent of the license holder, except to law enforcement.

46 Electronically Readable Information, Texas Statutes, Transportation Code, Title 7 Vehicles and Traffic, Chapter 521 Driver’s Licenses and Certificates, Section 521.126 (Effective September 1, 2005). The law limits access to law enforcement, to identify a voter, to financial institutions for identification purposes and only with express consent, and upon authorization of a maritime facility to secure the facility or port.

47 AAMVA 26-8.2-03, 2003. If the commercial user has a reasonable basis to believe that the identification card has been tampered with, or has been fraudulently issued or produced, the user may record and maintain the encoded information but only for the purpose of reporting it to appropriate administrative or law enforcement officials.

48 Although businesses and non-governmental entities may use the credentials for the purpose of identity verification, express prohibitions from collecting and storing the information help mitigate privacy risks. Retailers and financial institutions can continue to examine the name, signature, and photo on the credentials for purposes of identity verification and the date of birth to verify age.

1. Statutory Protections

A few states have laws that expressly protect the privacy and security of the personal information encoded on driver’s licenses and identification cards. For example, California,43 Nebraska,44 New Hampshire,45 and Texas46 have enacted laws to limit the skimming of driver’s license or identification card information. In addition, AAMVA has drafted a “Model Act to Prohibit the Capture and Storage of Personal Information Obtained from a Driver’s License or Identification Card,” which allows third party users to use a transaction scan device, like a 2D bar code scanner, on the driver’s license or identification card for the limited purpose of age verification. The Model Act, which prohibits any other non-governmental use of the information without the express written consent of the card holder,47 would provide legal authorities creating privacy protections. The Privacy Office strongly encourages that all 56 jurisdictions consider and enact laws that expressly protect the privacy and security of information contained on their driver’s licenses and identification cards, because this will also help address the growth of the unique REAL ID identification number becoming a de facto national ID by limiting its uses.

2. Ensuring Law Enforcement Access

Nonetheless, as described above in the Legislative History section of this PIA, the House Conference Report states that the overall purpose of Section 202(b)(1) is to “improve the ability of law enforcement officers at all levels to confirm the identity of the individuals presenting state issued driver’s licenses or identification cards.” The House Conference Report recognizes that financial institutions and even retail establishments may wish to use the credential to verify an individual; however, the Report indicates that such verification would be done using the person’s signature on the credential and not the MRZ. (See House Conference Report discussion of Section 202(b)(7)) regarding the requirement for a signature.) Neither the Act nor the House Conference Report support harvesting the information from the MRZ on the credentials.

For these reasons, to the extent permitted under the Act, the use of the personal information on the REAL ID credentials should be limited to identity verification and law enforcement purposes.48 Although there is no language in the REAL ID Act that limits how retailers, bars, banks or other third parties may use the personal information on the REAL ID driver’s licenses or identification cards, the NPRM invites comment

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49 For the machine-readable portion of the card, the proposed machine-readable technology standard is the PDF-417 2D bar code, although a State may use any other technology in addition to a PDF-417 bar code as long as the driver’s license or identification card complies with the PDF-417 2D bar code standard.

50 With 2D bar codes, a symmetric cryptographic key system would need to be implemented. With a symmetric system, a multi-key or single key implementation could be used. In a multi-key implementation, although a larger the number of keys creates a more secure the system, because a single key compromise does not compromise the entire system, this large number of cryptographic keys would need to be accessible to the law enforcement personnel wherever they would be reading the driver’s

on ways to enable law enforcement officials to have access, while limiting access to unauthorized third parties for inappropriate uses.

3. Technological Protections

Further, in order to address both privacy issues and law enforcement needs, the NPRM asks for comments on means and methods to limit unauthorized third parties access to the digital information49 on the credential. As noted above, the mandatory data elements to be included within the bar code are, as proposed by the NPRM: expiration date, holder’s name, issue date, date of birth, gender, address, unique identification number, revision date (indicating the most recent change or modification to the visible format of the license or ID), and the inventory control number of the physical document. Because 2D bar code readers are extremely common, the data could be captured from the driver’s licenses and identification cards and accessed by unauthorized third parties by simply reading the 2D bar code on the credential. For example, a bar that required a license could quickly scan the 2D bar code to prove that a person was 21 or over to enter the bar, but at the same time conceivably obtain the person’s name and address and compile a list of names and addresses of its patrons, along with the other encoded data, including the unique identification number, which the bar could subsequently sell or use.

Encryption can help mitigate this privacy risk because it would prevent the downloading of the information on the MRZ into a database. Of course the encoded data remains available and accessible on the face of the card in human-readable form; however, encryption lessens the likelihood of the collection, because it would reduce the efficiency of the digital information on the credential by limiting access to only those parties, such as law enforcement, that require the information, but retains efficiency for parties permitted to access the information. Even if a third party compromises or breaks the encryption, which would be difficult, the encryption would still protect against most skimming, as most third parties would not have access to the compromised key. Further, at that point, the cryptographic key could be modified to protect credentials issued after the compromise of the encryption.

Because encryption of the data necessitates access to the cryptographic key required to decrypt the data, employing encryption in the 2D bar code would require having a key infrastructure allowing permitted parties access to the secured key information. The need for a key infrastructure to support access to encrypted 2D bar code data raises an important challenge for implementation of encryption.

In the NPRM, DHS asks for comment to determine (1) if implementing encryption is feasible from an operational and cost perspective and (2) if encryption can be deployed in a manner ensuring access to the information by law enforcement. It is recognized that implementing encryption would likely require a complex and comprehensive exchange of encryption keys among all fifty-six jurisdictions involved in issuing and accessing REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards. Building such an infrastructure would have certain complexities that, if not addressed appropriately, could reduce the utility of creating such standards for encoding data into the 2D bar code.50

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license. A single key implementation would avoid the complexities of needing a key infrastructure, but this greatly increases the risk that this single key could be compromised. Although employing a single key greatly simplifies the procedure to make available the cryptographic key to law enforcement personnel, the compromise of this single cryptographic key would compromise all driver’s licenses created with it. In this case, encryption could create a false sense of security if a license holder thought his or her information was truly secure and it was not, because an unauthorized third party compromised the key. Not only do these implementation operations present operational and security risks, they also factor into the privacy risks with the selection of an implementation.

Encryption is increasingly being used in the private sector to protect against unlawful access and possible identity theft. In the public sector, encryption will be used to protect the personal information stored on the HSPD 12 federal identification cards as well as on the DHS Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) IDs. While there are costs to encryption, the DHS Privacy Office believes the benefits of protecting the personal information could outweigh these costs, if it is feasible to use encryption within the necessary operational context.

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The mark of the beast? Part 4

4. Data Minimization Protections

The NPRM mandates that the bar code include a significant number of data elements: the expiration date, holder’s name, issue date, date of birth, gender, address, unique identification number, revision date (indicating the most recent change or modification to the visible format of the license or ID), and the inventory control number of the physical document. If the operational and cost hurdles of implementing encryption prove too high, DHS could request states to leave the proposed federally-required elements unencrypted, while permitting encryption of only the “state-specific” elements. For example, if a state wished to include a digital photograph in the MRZ, it would be free to do so and encrypt it, as the photograph is not currently one of the mandatory REAL ID data elements. Another option would be for DHS to omit the address information from the MRZ, making skimming less attractive to third parties. In this regard, the NPRM seeks comments on whether a demonstrable law enforcement need exists to include the address on the MRZ portion of the REAL ID driver’s license, such that address should be included as a mandatory data element on the MRZ. One specific option to preventing not only the efficient use of the skimmed information, but also preventing the establishment of a national ID, would be not to place the unique identification number in the MRZ. The number could still be on the face of the credential for use by law enforcement, but not including it in the MRZ may lessen its attractiveness for collection by unauthorized parties. These options would limit the type and amount of information available in digital form.

Further, if it is determined that the data elements cannot be encrypted, it will be critical to inform driver’s license and identification card holders about their need to monitor carefully the handling of the REAL ID credentials when physically providing them to third parties. The more sensitive the personal information elements maintained on the REAL ID credential, the more likely unauthorized third parties will target this information to engage in data aggregation, marketing, fraud, theft, or other illegal activities.

Good privacy policy supports limiting the data in the MRZ to the minimum personal data elements necessary for the intended purpose of providing access to law enforcement personnel. This minimizes but does not eliminate the opportunity for unauthorized third parties to use personal information for unrelated, secondary purposes. Thus an unencrypted MRZ should have fewer data elements and more limited personal information, especially the credential holder’s address. In its discussion of section 202(b)(9) of the Act, which calls for using “a common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements,” the House Conference Report clearly indicates that Congress wanted to address privacy by minimizing

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51 Italics for emphasis, not in the original. H.R. Rep. 109-72, at 179.

52 DHS is proposing that digital photographs comply with current ICAO standard 9303 Part 1 Vol. 2, specifically ISO/IEC 19794-5 - Information technology - Biometric data interchange formats - Part 5: Face image data, which is incorporated into ICAO 9303. This calls for a full face image from the crown to the base of the chin and from ear-to-ear (unless the State chooses to use profiles for licensees under 21), and images with no veils, scarves or headdresses to obscure facial features, or eyewear that obscures the iris or pupil of the eyes.

53 See Proposed Rule § 37.11(a)

54 See NPRM section II.H.3.

exposure of the information: “There has been little research on methods to secure the privacy of the data contained on the machine readable strip. Improvements in the machine readable technology would allow for less data being present on the face of the card in the future, with other data stored securely and only able to be read by law enforcement officials.”51 This statement suggests that Congress wanted to secure the privacy of the data contained on the MRT and make it accessible only to law enforcement officials. The only way currently available to control access to the data on the MRT is to encrypt it. Strong privacy and security concerns exist regarding the selection of a MRT because, if not done right, the MRT could facilitate identity theft and unauthorized collection of the personal information on the REAL ID credential. Therefore, encryption standards can control and limit who has access to the information encoded in the 2D bar code in the MRZ to prevent unauthorized parties from harvesting the information and reselling it.

Lastly, to reiterate an earlier point, the DHS Privacy Office is hopeful that the states will take action similar to that of California, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Texas to prohibit non-governmental entities and individuals from harvesting the information on driver’s licenses or identification cards for any purpose whatsoever. Retailers and financial institutions should be able to continue to examine the Real IDs for purposes of identity and age verification, but should be barred from downloading the information from the machine-readable zone.

D. How do the requirements for a photograph and address on the ID and the DMV employee background check impact privacy?

1. Requirement for a Photograph on the REAL ID

Section 202(b)(5) of the Act requires that the state-issued REAL ID driver’s license or identification card include a digital photograph of the individual. In addition, Section 202(d)(3) provides that the state shall require that each individual applying for a driver’s license or identification card be subject to mandatory facial image capture.52 These provisions form the basis for the photograph requirements set forth in Proposed Rule § 37.11(a). This statutory requirement applies whether or not the person ultimately receives a driver’s license or identification card, since the Act refers to “each person applying” for a driver’s license or identification card. If a driver’s license or identification card is not issued, the NPRM proposes that states dispose of the photograph after one (1) year. In addition, the NPRM proposes that DMVs update the photograph in the event the applicant reapplies and to discard prior photos. If the DMV does not issue the driver’s license or identification card because of suspected fraud, the DMV would be required to maintain the record for ten (10) years and reflect that a driver’s license or identification card was not issued for that purpose.53

The NPRM acknowledges that some individuals who apply for a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card may oppose having their photograph taken based on their religious beliefs;54 however, the REAL ID Act requires a facial photograph to enhance security. DHS therefore has no option other than to propose

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55 Title VIII, Subtitle C, Sec. 827 (Pub. L. 109-162, 119 Stat. 2960, 3066, Jan. 5, 2006)(Protection of domestic violence and crime victims from certain disclosures of information).

that states that issue non-photo driver’s licenses or identification cards based on an individual’s religious beliefs do so as long as those driver’s licenses or identification cards are issued in accordance with the rules for non-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards.

Prior to issuing the NPRM, the DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties facilitated a meeting with civil rights and citizen representatives at which DHS staff heard specifically about the concerns of the Amish and Muslim faith with regard to requiring a photograph on a REAL ID Act credential. These groups argued that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1, states that “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability” unless the application of the burden “is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest” and “is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling government interest.” Since the REAL ID Act mandates the photograph, DHS has no flexibility to address the legitimate concerns of such groups, other than to permit states to provide individuals with non-photo driver’s license and identification card as long as the states issue such credentials in accordance with the rules for non-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards.

2. Requirement for Address of Principal Residence

Section 202(b)(6) of the Act requires that the driver’s license or identification card include the individual’s address of principal residence. The NPRM proposes to exempt certain individuals from this requirement consistent with (1) existing state laws and current exceptions processes by states to protect victims of domestic violence, judges, protected witnesses, and law enforcement personnel, and (2) Section 827 of the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005,55 which amended the REAL ID Act 2005 (49 U.S.C. 30301 note) to protect against disclosure of addresses of individuals who have been subjected to battery, extreme cruelty, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking. Consequently, the NPRM proposes to exempt the following from the address requirement: (1) an individual enrolled in a state address confidentiality program; (2) an individual who’s address is entitled to be suppressed under state or federal law or suppressed by a court order; or (3) an individual protected from disclosure of information pursuant to Section 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

Most states retain the “actual” address in their database, but often protect it so that only authorized personnel have access to the “actual” address. In addition, most states do not have the “actual” address in the MRZ on the credential. Rather, the MRZ contains only what is on the face of the driver’s license or identification card. Therefore, the NPRM proposes to exempt individuals who are entitled to enroll in state address confidentiality programs, whose addresses are entitled to be suppressed under state or federal law or by a court order, or who are protected from disclosure of information pursuant to Section 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 from the requirement to have their address displayed on REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards. The NPRM also notes that other categories of individuals, such as federal judges, may also require that their addresses remain confidential to protect their safety and invites comment on how these categories of individuals can be protected, while remaining consistent with requirements of the Act.

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56 The NPRM defines a background check as an investigation into someone’s past history to permit them to either gain a security clearance or pass a suitability screening. It notes that a security clearance is the end result of a background investigation whereby the government makes a determination that someone may be trusted with specified levels of information, such as “classified” information. While section 202(d)(8) of the Act uses the term “security clearance,” DHS concludes that the intent was to conduct background checks, as DMV employees do not need clearance to handle “classified” information.

57 H.R. Rep. at 183.

58 See definition of “covered employees” in the Proposed Rule Definition § 37.03 and the discussion of this provision in NPRM Section II.K.1.

59 See 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3).

60 See 49 CFR 1572.103 and the final rule on TWIC (72 Fed. Reg. 3492 (Jan. 25, 2007).

Section 37.45 of the NPRM defines the offenses as follows:

In addition, the NPRM acknowledges that some people do not have a fixed address and that states have exceptions processes in place to address this situation. For example, in some states homeless people may use addresses of accredited organizations. The NPRM provides a mechanism by which states may continue to address these situations through a written and documented exceptions process. Exceptions processing is referenced in Proposed Rule § 37.11(h) and discussed further in section II.F of the NPRM.

The approach provided in the NPRM addresses the legitimate privacy concerns associated with disclosing addresses of these individuals. The Privacy Office believes the disclosure of addresses in the MRZ of all other REAL ID driver’s license and identification card holders is better addressed by encryption as discussed above in Section II.C of the PIA.

3. Requirement for DMV Employee Background Check

Section 202(d)(8) of the REAL ID Act requires that “all persons authorized to manufacture or produce driver’s licenses and identification cards” must be required to undergo “appropriate security clearance requirements.” Proposed Rule § 37.45 addresses the requirements of Section 202(d)(8) of the Act by identifying which categories of DMV employees must undergo “background checks”56 and the nature of the background checks. The NPRM discussion of the mandated background check states that Congress made it clear that Section 202(d)(8) was intended to address cases of insider corruption,57 and therefore, the NPRM proposes that background checks be required for “DMV employees or DMV contractors who have the ability to affect the recording of any information required to be verified, or who are involved in the manufacture or production of driver’s licenses and identification cards, or who have the ability to affect the identity information that appears on the driver’s license or identification card.”58

The NPRM recognizes that each state’s DMV has a unique organization and structure, and leaves it to each state to identify the “covered positions” that would fall under this definition. Also, the NPRM proposes that the state DMVs provide employees and prospective employees selected for placement in a covered position with notice that a background check is required for employment in a covered position and what that background check will include. Such notice is consistent with federal Privacy Act notice requirements.59

With respect to the type of background check required, the NPRM proposes that states collect fingerprints for individuals who seek employment in a covered position, in order to conduct a “criminal history record check” (CHRC) on those individuals through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and state repositories. It also specifies a list of disqualifying offenses, based on current federal requirements, that mirrors requirements for DHS Transportation Security Administration’s Hazardous Materials Endorsement program (HAZMAT program) and Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) program.60

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 21

(i)Permanent disqualifying criminal offenses. An applicant has a permanent disqualifying offense if convicted, or found not guilty by reason of insanity, in a civilian or military jurisdiction, of any of the felonies set forth in 49 CFR 1572.103(a).

(ii) Interim disqualifying criminal offenses. The criminal offenses referenced in 49 CFR 1572.103(b) are disqualifying, if the applicant was either convicted of those offenses in a civilian or military jurisdiction, or admits having committed acts which constitute the essential elements of any of those criminal offenses within the seven years preceding the date of application; or the applicant was released from incarceration for the crime within the five years preceding the date of application.

(iii) Under want or warrant. An applicant who is wanted or under indictment in any civilian or military jurisdiction for a felony referenced in this section is disqualified until the want or warrant is released.

(iv) Determination of arrest status. When a fingerprint-based check discloses an arrest for a disqualifying crime referenced in this section without indicating a disposition, the State must determine the disposition of the arrest.

(v) Waiver. The State may establish procedures to allow for a waiver of the requirements of (b)(1)(ii) of this section under circumstances determined by the State.

The NPRM states that this list of crimes is sufficient as a federal minimum; but that states may add additional disqualifying offenses to this list for their covered employees and invites comment on whether the proposed list of disqualifying offenses is appropriate, too large, or insufficient as it concerns REAL ID.

In addition to the criminal history record check, the NPRM proposes that states perform a “financial history check” on individuals seeking employment in covered positions in a manner consistent with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Although a number of states already collect fingerprints of their employees and run criminal history record checks, it is not clear how many currently perform financial history checks. Although many employers, including many DMVs, already conduct financial history checks as one indicator that an individual may warrant additional scrutiny or supervision before assuming responsibilities that raise security risks, concerns exist about how such a check may be applied by the states under this regulation. The NPRM states that while questionable financial history would not be considered a federal disqualifier, the information should be used by the states in making their own determinations on how or whether particular individuals should be employed at the DMV.

The NPRM acknowledges that the proposed requirement for a financial history check is not a feature of the TWIC or HAZMAT programs, but states that DHS believes that it is warranted in this case, due to the sensitivity of the personal information that will routinely be handled by employees at state DMVs and the fact that a driver’s license or identification card serves as a key source document in securing other forms of state and federal identification. The NPRM persuasively states that “[i]f the DMV personnel issuing and authenticating the driver’s license or identification card are compromised and issue genuine REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards to individuals who are seeking to mask their true identity, those individuals can obtain additional identification using that false identity and thwart the Government’s and law enforcement’s ability to identify accurately individuals lawfully stopped and screened.”

Employees who are susceptible to corruption should not be hired for covered positions, but it will be critical that DMVs assess the financial history information fairly and take extenuating circumstances into consideration when making this determination. It is not clear what financial difficulties a state would use to disqualify an individual from employment.

Although the NPRM does not propose to preclude a DMV from hiring any individual based on the results of the financial history check and does not propose to preclude the DMV from placing the individual in a covered position based on that check, because financial history records can include inaccurate or out-dated information, it is not clear that DMVs will be able to evaluate the information appropriately. From a privacy and security perspective, the criminal background check provides the best understood indication of whether or not an employee may pose a security risk. Importantly, the NPRM states that individuals denied

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 22

employment based on the background check must be given notice and an opportunity to appeal to the state.

The NPRM also proposes that states conduct a lawful status check on covered employees through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program run by DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to verify that the individual has lawful status in the United States.

States may grant waivers allowing individuals to maintain their positions under particular circumstances as authorized by the states, for example, where an individual has made full disclosure of his or her criminal history to the state DMV. Appeals based on the lawful status check will be appealed to DHS.

III. Conclusion

The REAL ID Act implicates a number of significant privacy concerns for the American public. This PIA seeks to identify the concerns and describe how the Department’s NPRM has addressed them. In the key areas, the NPRM proposes important privacy protections in furtherance of the authority provided to DHS under the REAL ID Act and further clarification in the final rule will ensure their implementation and enforceability. These privacy protections should include: (1) providing for state control and operation of the state query of federal reference databases and the state-to-state data exchange; (2) requiring states to submit a Comprehensive Security Plan, including a privacy policy and plan to protect the personal information associated with implementation of the Act; and (3) employing encryption to protect the personal information stored on REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards, while ensuring appropriate law enforcement access.

These protections serve as a floor and do not prevent the states from using their own statutory or executive authority to provide additional privacy protections for the personal information stored on the REAL ID credentials and in the state databases. The Privacy Office believes that protecting the privacy of the personal information associated with implementation of the REAL ID Act is critical to maintaining the public trust that government can provide basic services to its citizens and residents while preserving their privacy. The public is encouraged to comment on the NPRM and on the privacy issues associated with implementation of the Act in order to ensure that the final rule reflects robust public input on these important issues.

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 23

Rulemaking Contact

Darrell Williams, REAL ID Program Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528 (202) 282-9829

Reviewing Official

Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security, (571) 227-3813.

Privacy Impact Assessment REAL ID Act Proposed Rule March 1, 2007 Page 24

Approval Signature Page

________________________________

Hugo Teufel III Chief Privacy Officer Department of Homeland Security

22 août

My first concious memory

My first conscious memory.

There are quite a few, but most vivid is that I used to put my head between all sorts of objects. Went in ok, but pulling back was not so easy. I remember that my grandfather's father-in-law had just finished hand carving the railing that went up to the second floor of our house.
Beautifully done, exquisite carving, took him the best part of 7 months. Then yours truly comes along, 3 years old, sticks his head between the wooden (spokes??) railings, and after a lot of swearing the old man was finally persuaded to saw off the part where my head was stuck. I remember mutterings of sawing my head off to save further damage in future.
I then proceeded to the living room after my hard won freedom. While my family members were trying to talk sense into the old man to "lay down the claw hammer" or such and trying to keep me from being brained, I gleefully proceeded to stick my head between the first wooden chair, where I promptly got stuck again. Now, it wasn't just any chair mind you, it was one of a set of 12 which was set around a long table which was an heirloom of my father's and had been in the family since the 19th century. All oak, and yes, you guessed it, carvings. I was again freed, but I think that by then everyone agreed that I should have been drowned at birth.

My next vivid image is also of trouble. I must've been 4 or slightly older (4.30??? ) Since our family business was very successful, we decided to upgrade the house and do a lot of repairs and such, adding a 3rd floor. All the trappings of a major building and engineering undertaking. This was nearing its end when finally the painters came and really went all out to brighten the place up.
Such was my family's standing that my grandfather and my father were constantly invited for banquets. Not suppers mind you, no way, banquets man.
They dressed me up in a mini tuxedo, bought shiny new shoes etc.. I looked really smart. Ok that done, my parents now go to get ready upstairs and they tell me to wait for them. So I sit in the chair and half an hour passes.
Now doesn't this look inviting? The cellar door has been left open. Wonder what'll be there. What wonders await me there? So off I go. The fearless explorer. Lo and behold!! It’s paint. Wonderful. About an hour later, finally ready, my parents all dressed up........with nowhere to go!!!
Because, little leopard has found a new way of entertainment. Quite the little Picasso too. The whole room is full of wonderful colors, one on top of the other. And the painter?…. well, what can I say? The Tux? Oh, I'm sure it'll come out. In a fit, my mother picks me up, slams me in the bath, clothes and all and proceeds to remove the (ohum!) garments with a scissors.
I am bathed in Turpentine as my hair is all caked to my skull with dry paint. Wonderful colors mind you, but paint nonetheless. Amongst all the screaming, swearing and threats of permanent removal from this world, I am being washed. Scrubbed more likely. Well, needless to say there were people missing from this banquet. Not my grandfather though, he managed to slip away and go, and only returned the next day.

Talking of banquets, since they were not few and far between for my family, the opportunity presents itself when once again; my father wins the trophy of agent of the year from the Brewer's Association of Belgium. This is a few months after my introduction to the fine arts. This time however, there will be no fuck-ups and I get to sit on my parent’s bed while they dress, after which it's my turn. New outfit et al. (Wonder what happened to my other one??)
Ok, we're off to SPA, a resort for it's mineral springs, and of which the English word is also derived. These days it’s also famous for it's Grand Prix circuit. Those days, it was just a posh resort, 5 and more star hotels, fit for all manner of high society and film stars. And amongst this lot a young leopard cub will find many things to "enjoy". The banquet was fine, but as a nearly 5 year old, the droning of speeches means little, even if it is delivered by the Minister of Finance on behalf of my dad. Still, it's boring. I manage to slip away. (How does he do that???).
So I wander through the magnificent hallway, with its paintings, ancient tapestries, works of art. Beautiful hall. Italian Marble I believe. At least that's what I found out later. For now, I found something to do though. The drive up to the entrance is white sand. Not sea sand, but pure white sand. Wow!!! A giant sandbox. This is more like it. Unfortunately the weather in Belgium is quite unpredictably and not long after I start playing, it rains.
Damn!!! Where to play?? Oh, I got it. I can stay dry inside the entrance. Good idea. Carry some sand inside, some of which is now little more than white sludge, but hey, who cares. Funny enough nobody sees me do it and I play merrily on, dry and cozy. My mother unfortunately spotted my disappearance and found me. I get a beating and get dragged along to the hall again. Amazingly, no-one else has observed my little attempt at building a sandcastle on marble floors. That is until a wail comes from that direction. It's the director, and he nearly has a coronary. His “magnifique’ hallway, which barbarian can mess up a hallway. Allez Vite, clean it up. Oh, God!!! etc.. I think he was a bureaucrat or such. I still think my sandcastle looked fine where it was.

And then of course when I was 5 they showed something on TV about flying saucers. This of course was pure speculation, and I don't think the producers wanted a 5-year-old cub to try and experiment with real saucers. I found out that, real French Crystal 72 piece dining room dinner sets are entirely unsuited, and aerodynamically unsound, for flying. I, on the other hand, did take off for a number of yards when my dad gave me a swift kick in the seat of my pants.

We lived in a village. At least around the beginning of the 60’s it was still a village. Everybody knew each other. The city was encroaching, but it would take 2 more decades before it would encircle our village. Since a long time, our village had been on a crossroads between major cities, and it was therefore normal to have a big market place. Over the centuries and decades the market grew. When I was born the market, was a huge vegetable and meat warehouse, entirely covered. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, truck after truck arrived from all over Belgium and the surrounding countries like Holland and France and Germany. All converged on the market.
It was a cold day, just after Christmas. I had received my presents, and was a happy kid. My parents let me play quietly as they went about the business of running the business. An hour later or so, there is this almighty squeal of tyres and blaring car horns outside. Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma and some of our employees rush out to see what disastrous accident has taken place now. With all these trucks, we had so many accidents a year, we were used to it.
Accident? No. Here’s yours truly, standing in the middle of the road, dressed in a cowboy suit which I had received for Christmas, pointing a toy gun at the truckers and telling them it was a “stick up”.
I got a good spanking in the middle of the road amongst laughter from the truckers and the neighbors.

18:44 | Ajouter un commentaire | Lien permanent | Ajouter au blog | Personal

21 août

Letter to the medical fund

To Ms Inge Vervotte, Minister of Health

Marleen Van Heef, Employee of the Ministry

Paul Callewaert, Secretary "De Voorzorg" Medical fund

Peter Rabay, Director Vlaamsezorgkas

July 4th, 2006

Dear Sirs and Ladies,

Yesterday, July 3^rd, 2006 I received in the mail two letters from De Voorzorg dated June 26^th, 2006 asking me to pay the contribution for the period 1/1/2006 to 31/12/2006 which I did today.

There was a second letter asking me to make a further payment for the period of 1/1/2005 to 31/12/2005.

If you take the time you will notice from my State Register Number that I was registered in Belgium as of November 15^th, 2005.

I took the time to phone De Voorzorg to explain that I could not be required to pay for services before that date as I believe I should not do so for services not rendered.

After all, I pointed out; you would not pay an invoice from a company if you never received the services that are appearing on it.

The people I spoke with could only tell me in parrot fashion that it was “The Law” and if I didn’t pay I would get “Blacklisted".

I then insisted to speak with someone who I could take my grievance to, and that eventually let me to speak with Mr. Peter Rabay of the Vlaamse Zorgkas who in true “Ambtenaar” (bureaucrat) way told me exactly the same, but added that I could face sanctions.

He did not specify which ones. But I told him that if he wanted to take me to court he could.

I also obtained from information (1207) the telephone number from Ms Inge Vervotte, and I phoned that number. Since I could not get hold of Ms Vervotte, I spoke to Ms Marleen Van Heef, who, God bless her, explained in detail and with enormous patience how the law worked and why I should pay the €25.

Mr. Peter Rabay, the Flemish word “Ambtenaar” in English is “Public Servant”.

Perhaps you should take note that you are there to serve the public and not the public you. Don’t let your position go to your head.

Take a leaf out of the book of Ms Van Heef, who I wish the best in her career as she truly is an asset and not a liability.

Mr. Rabay, I spent the last 25 years in the lawless continent of Africa. I’ve been shot at, attacked with machetes and knifes, targeted for assassination, have had an AK47 shoved in my face and threatened with dead numerous times. I spent 10 months in a hell hole prison in the Southern United States accused of a crime I didn’t commit, I was deported in chains like a common criminal and in the process lost my possessions, everything I owned, my children and my wife, and you threaten sanctions?

Tell me Mr. “Ambtenaar” what could you possibly do to mess up my life even more than it is?

It wasn’t about the €25; it was about the principle of not paying for services not rendered.

Thanks to Ms Van Heef, I will pay them within 2 weeks from this Email.

So, yes, I believe I may have made myself quite unpopular these last few days, and some more people I may have pissed off to them I say “Live with it”, not everyone quakes in their boots for your laws and sanctions. To that I say in the immortal words of the Vietnam tunnel rats: Non gratum anus rodentum.

I am not a sheep who follows the herd. In future explain exactly how everything works, that way you avoid misunderstandings and irate people like me.

To Ms Vervotte, please take note of the excellent example set by Ms Van Heef, and I hope you will see to it that she gets my regards and gratitude.

Best Regards,

Dirk

18:19 | Ajouter un commentaire | Lien permanent | Ajouter au blog | Health and wellness

20 août

Mozambique Memoirs Part 1 (2000 to 2002)

Mozambique Memoirs

If you are about to read, you will find that I refer frequently to a place named “Biques”. That is the Ex-pat Bar where I used to hang out. Mainly Zimbabweans, South-Africans, a few Ozzy’s and Pommies (also known in America as Limeys) and a New Zealander.

Bush Business Deals

January 2001. The rainy season had just started to come down good. But not as much as what would happen in February and March with the floods. (Did I tell you about them???) If not I'll give you a breakdown later.
OK, back to the deal.

I was stationed in Beira and our factory project was in Marromeu 300km (200 miles) north. On a good day, with a good driver and a good 4x4 AND in the dry season it would take at least 18 hours to drive there. One road, sand only and mines both sides. Not to mention Renamo rebels in the bush and rogue lions too. (2 off them, man-eaters. Finally shot in august 2001. At least 15 they got). So you can imagine you need to double the driving time in the wet season, and just hope the bloody landmines haven't washed onto the roads. Most of them were Eastern Block plastic or wooden ones. Back to my story.

I met with a guy from Mannesmann Demag, one of the biggest crane companies in the world. Remember, at that stage, we had 50% completed the project, but we needed to find a way to offload the containers off our barges when they arrived at Marromeu via the Zambezi on the barge. The initial idea was to have a 6o ton ordinary lifting crane perched on the riverbank. However I pointed out that this would eventually soften to such a degree that the crane would topple. I proposed a "gantry" crane. 1 leg in the river, 1 leg on land and the barge could float under the crossbeams, crane lowered, crane moving the container to the banks or further.

He promised to do some calculations (it was by now 1am and Biques was closed, we got chased out) and come back to me. He set off to Marromeu hoping to reach it the next day. 1st February, around 2am I get a call from him in my flat. Can I drive over and check out the logistics. It's pissing with rain outside. I say, “:tell you what. I start now if you start now and we meet halfway.” Done, so around 3am I leave. Can't even see the front of my car. Anyway, around 12 hours later I see his car on the road. I get in his car and we go over the rough drawings.
I make some suggestions, he makes some, we run out of paper but I have a napkin in my pocket. We sketch something on it. I ask, what would it cost to get the spares, the motors, the steel etc AND then move it to Marromeu for assembling. OH, he says, I guess 2 million $$$. Done I said, and we shake. You get me a correct price, meantime start getting the spares together and I make out an order when I have the figures.
No quibble, no objections, no docs signed in triplicate. My word was enough for him to start. Eventually it ended up being a couple of thou over 2 million, but hey, who's counting when your budget is 286 Mil??? I eventually arrived in Beira around 1am on the 3rd of Feb. by the way. What roads?????? Rivers yes.

Mozambique floods Feb to April 2001 (northern Moz)

Well, you probably heard about the girl who gave birth in a tree. Well, that wasn't "my" flood, that was the Southern Moz floods of March 2000.

"My" flood started on 30th of January 2001 and carried on until end April 2001. How do I remember that? easy. On the 27th of Jan I had a supplier from Pretoria, SA come to Beira. He had an appointment to fly to Marromeu on the 30th. No room in Beira, so he slept over at my flat. You must remember, those were the hectic days of at least 3 or 4 different companies a day flying in from SA or even UK to do business with yours truly. Well, not me, but Sena. and since I was 2IC to my boss, I got to do all the lunches, suppers and booze every day. Dirty job, but somebody has to do it. A sacrifice on my part, you understand?

Anyway, our airplane was an 18 seater Czech made airplane, twin engine with actual fans rotating a few inches from your face as opposed to real aircon. No insulation to speak off, and seats, which probably were, rejects from Noah's ark. He was due to get to Beira Airport to meet up with our transport guy at 6am. sure enough at 5.45 someone upstairs opened the tap on full blast. I drive him to the airport regardless.

Afternoon, he gets dropped off at the office. He never got off the ground. Can't blame him, it was still pissing with rain. I organise for him to be on the "Beira Bullet" (also known as the "suppository") a sleek jet that travels Beira-Jo'burg - Beira. Anyway, they manage to take off in this weather. A 16 seater. When you get in, you have to duck and walk stooped. very cramped. I'm 5'9", but he's 6'3". wonder how he felt. Anyway, he phoned me later from Pretoria. The plane managed to shoot through the clouds, but it was rough flying all the way to Jo'burg apparently. Cloud cover all the way, and bumpy. Well, little did we know that this was not another rainy season shower, but the start of the Mozambique floods of 2001.

Fast forward to Mid February. By now the Zambezi has burst it's banks and is 43 miles wide. Millions of acres under 8 feet of water. It's raining in Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. The Zambezi winds it's way from Angola to Zambia to Zimbabwe. There it is dammed by Kariba dam. They are 110% full and are opening door after door to let the water out and save the dam. Then it winds passed Zimbabwe and Malawi to Mozambique where it is dammed again by the Cahora Bassa dam (pronounced Cabora Bassa). Now they can't cope either because they are also 110+% full. They have no choice but to open doors too. The Zambezi meanwhile can no longer cope and burst its banks. Don’t forget, in all neighbouring countries all rivers run into the Zambezi as well, so it's a nightmare. However, Sena has build earthworks of 24 feet high around the fields (100 000 Hectares). BUT.....the water level is 2" below the lip of the earth works. We decide to evacuate the women and kids and succeed. the men......well they are tough bastards, they'll survive. We hope.

We by now monitoring the rising levels from Kariba and Cahora, and of course the Zambezi at Marromeu.

You must understand something. If Kariba opens 1 door, millions of gallons go through Kariba gorge and is channelled in the Zambezi at high speed. Makes a 6 foot bow wave. It takes 2 days to reach Cahora, and they better have a door open before the wave gets there. The water from Cahora will take another day or so to travel to Marromeu. We expect the worst. Once flooded, our project will come to a crashing halt and all money invested will be lost. Our guys are working around the clock, making the earthworks higher and plugging leaks. Marromeu is now effectively an island in a floodplain.

The SA Air force shows up in Beira with their Helicopters. Mozambique has only 3 working helicopters.

The flyboys land in Biques eventually. And then I happened to be there too. Small world. Anyhow, I hear their Colonel talking to the Captain. "Any news from the governor as to the water levels?" "No Sir, they haven't replied for 3 days". Bring on yours truly. I walk over to the table. "Excuse me, I overheard your conversation. You don't need that wanker. I work for Sena and I am monitoring the river levels every 6 hours from Kariba to Marromeu and to the sea." The Colonel asks, "Want to work for us too?" "You bet" I say. So I fax extra copies to the SA Air force every 6 hours too. And I get to play with their helicopters and I get free booze and free meals. All on the SA taxpayers bill. About time I get something back from the taxman.

Along the way, I off course manage to piss off the international Red Cross and The United Nations Monitors.

How? Well, I do seem to have a knack for that.

First. The UN. Mostly woosies from Scandinavia who've never been in Africa and can't find their backsides with 2 hands. They drive around in the latest Toyota Landcruisers and Landrovers and looking important. Work is a 4-letter word to them. Of course by now, the media circus has also descended on Beira, and therefor Biques. The boss of the UN wankers is giving an interview in Biques. Looks so important. Until of course this one voice comes out of the blue and calls him a lazy wanker and he should go home because they do absolutely fuck all for all the money they are paid. "He's never been out of Beira", the voice shouts. "He has absolutely no clue what he's talking about. Go home, you cunt." Of course, as one, the reporters try to get a handle on who shouted this, but it could be anyone because Biques is so crowded. However, the boss man has actually seen who shouted this, and from that day the UN is not a good place to forward a job application to.

Same story with the Red Cross. Blind as bats and cowardly too. Their boss actually gives interviews from the hotel room at Beira Port. doesn't even leave the hotel. He "co-ordinates" and "delegates". Wonder who that masked man was who gave that anonymous interview to "The Guardian". Wonder if it's actually published.

But their hostility towards me comes from a clash of personalities. (DUH). We have 2 barges, which can take 1000 tons each out to sea and be towed into the river mouth to Marromeu. Now, we still have stuff going to Marromeu, mostly heavy machinery to help in pushing the earthworks higher. The Red Cross, asked our project boss if we could make space for 3 containers of emergency aid. Granted. Now 2 hours before our barge is towed out, we get a call from the tugboat captain. The Red Cross has halted the proceedings because they insist on taking a 4th container. The tide is coming in, and we have to go. "Right, put him on". A German accent. "Ve vant zo load a 4th container. Ve insist." Diplomatically, I point out that we have filed a petition with the harbour master to go out to sea as is, with whatever is on. If we take anything off, we have to file another request and by then the tide is out, and 24 hours would be lost. "VE vant to load now!!!). I sigh, and diplomatically tell "Ze Jerman" that the other option is to "go fuck himself" and "put on the captain ". "Captain, you are free to proceed.". The captain does. A few hours later I am called into the office of the big chief. Jeez, I didn't know a face could get that red without a sunburn. Must make a note. "Dirk, I have with me the director of the Red Cross, who you evidently told to go perform an unsavoury act upon himself, and you refused to load another container." "That's correct". I see that smug German with a smirk on his dial sitting there. Maybe I should wipe that off his face. Ok, so the boss man goes on. "We could have taken the fuel bowser off and easily loaded another container. Not so??" My answer. "Yes, sir, absolutely. However, I'd like to point out the method in my madness. You see Sir, Director (nod at the SOB), a fuel bowser sir, is a MOBILE fuel container. Now suppose we left it off the barge and put on another container. What would be the outcome? Well let's see if I have this right. We offload the barge just before Marromeu, and then the trucks pick up the containers and move them to where they are supposed to go. Correct??" Nods all around. "Well Sir, the trucks are running on fuel. Have I got this right?" More nods. "Suppose, the trucks need fuel, I suppose they pull into the nearest petrol station in the bush??" OOOPS. No more nods. "You see Sir, the fuelbowser can then get to the trucks to fill them up" Now it's me that smiles. I walked out there with the biggest smirk I could get away with. So the Red Cross is not a good career move for me either.

Anecdotes

There are fucking anecdotes??? Who in his right mind could laugh at shit like this???

We (SA Air force and me) get a call that people are stranded 3 miles from the nearest high point. They have a patch of ground they refused to leave previously because they had planted corn. We fly out there. Ok, we spot them and land (actually hover). "No, we don't want to leave. Please bring some food." Ok, we fly away. We load food and return. Ok, here's your food. Their reply? "How much are you going to pay us to offload that??"

"What? Fuck off!!!" We take off again. We land, and the colonel tears the pilot a new asshole because the food is still on board. "Go fucking offload that shit. NOW". We fly back. We circle those clowns, pick the right time, and lean right and let the bags drop out. Well, don't look at me. It's offloaded. Right? Right? Say something.

End March 2001. Another bunch of clowns refuses help from our Marromeu guys in boats to leave their patch of land. It’s all they own, they say. Hey, our guys say, the river is rising and by tomorrow this will be under water. Right, well if that happens you guys are only 300m away and we'll wade across. Sure enough, next day, the patch is under water and 6 rocket scientists (4 men and 2 women) set off towards Sena. Only one thing they forgot. If the river rises, the crocs can swim on what was previously dry land. Let's just say they didn't make it. Lunch for the crocs came early that day.

Maputo, 1200 miles south of Beira. The capital and seat of Government. Dry in 2001. A British ship wants to offload 10 brand spanking new Landrovers. A gift from the British Government to the Mozambique government to help in the floods. Bureaucracy creeps in. Customs point out that they have no manifest and no import licence. The captain "does his nut" (another SA expression meaning, going mad). He loses money if he stays in port and he has other harbours to do. No dice. No import licence, no cars offloaded. "But I need the space'. "So what?" is the reply. 'No import licence." " But it's a fucking gift from my government to yours for God's sake." Like a mantra, "no import licence, no cars". Ok, by now, the captain needs to leave if he is to make his next port of call. He leaves. Inside Mozambique territorial waters he DUMPS the Landrovers overboard. 'Well, I was told to give 'em to Moz, mate, and that's exactly what I done." That's how there are 10 brand new landrovers now forming a new reef just off Maputo.

Sena. Same problem. 5 containers of Potatoes are send to Maputo as emergency food aid from the government of Mauritius to Mozambique. Same story. No import licence. Containers are confiscated as they are illegally offloaded. By the time I left in April 2002, they were still standing there. In that heat and tropical climate, it must be a brave soul who dares to open those containers. I just bet they have their own eco system by now.

My plane ride from Hell

Ok, for info. end of July, sort of 3^rd week of July 2001 I was send over to JHB to work with Manica transport for a week. I actually lived ate and slept in the warehouse. Our dead line was "opening august 2001" Ok, so we had big shit at the Zim border because it was slow and we needed stuff in a hurry, so we charter a plane which can take 20 tons of goodies. Ok, so in that week I get everything together and delivered to the airport for loading. That done, I show up at 3.30am on the date of departure. The plane is the Russian equivalent of your American army planes 130C "starlifter". I wait for the crew, and they are all Russian, so is the plane. But, no worries.
Actually, the crew "acquired" the plane when they were supporting the war in Angola and decided to "borrow" it and fly to Zimbabwe to join the free enterprise system. There was one SA guy who knew russian and flies with them. So around 5am we take off. ETA Beira is 7.30am.
Smooth flight, but slow. About 300km out of Beira we are told there is ground fog and visibility is nil. We decide to circle Beira until it lifts. We circle for 2 hours. Then we are told to come in, visibility is 700 feet, so we dive down, nose first through the clouds. And it goes on and on and on. All over sudden we break through the ceiling and we are just near the ground. About as high as your roof. I see the concrete come up very fast and my last thought is. "oh fuck". The pilots (there are 2) manage to pull up before we slam 20 ton of cargo, 27 tons of airplane and 20 tons of fuel into the ground at oh, 400 miles an hour or so. God, we made it only just. I know that if I had a chance to stick out my hand I'd
have been able to touch the bushes. Ok, so now we fly away to Tete, which is about 500 miles northwest. It is nice weather there so we land and have to wait for a phone call from Beira. At around 2.30pm we get the call that Beira is clear. We go in the plane. The Russian tells me in broken English. Better strap in because the runway is too short for take-off.
Oh yeah, I needed to hear this. We taxi, we rev and we're off, and we're off, and we're off. All right already, get up to speed you mother. But we are rolling and we are rolling but nothing is fast enough and the runway is getting smaller too. Eventually he lifts the nose and we are airborne. I just see bushes touch the wings underneath, that's how close. Then it's an uneventful 2 hour flight and a nice landing in Beira, but I just left them to their own devises and collected my car and drove to Biques where I consumed in the space of 10 seconds 3 double vodka's neat. Of course, then
you will also read of my other aerial acrobatics the following December further on. So all in all 2001 was not a good year for flying for me. BTW, visibility was 70 feet, not 700. OOops the guy in the tower made a mistake. Yeah right.

Footnote: This was the same Russian plane and crew who had the accident in May 2003 where 160 people got sucked out of the plane over Congo. Lucky I only flew with them once. But even so, that was enough.

Safari 10 to 13 August 2001

Rogue hippos can ruin a day for sure. Fortunately for me that didn't

happen. I flew to our estate on Saturday, borrowed a 4x4 and drove 20

miles into the bush (that took 3 hours). Somebody's vehicle was stuck in the

mud, so I had to pull them out. By then it was 4pm. I left at 9am that

morning. Then we came to a bridge that was either half build or half destroyed,

so we had to leave the vehicles there and wade across the swamp. (Later

they told me it was the home of an elusive 20ft crocodile) We (me + the

people I'd pulled out of the mud) then had to wade through waist high grass

for 3 miles before the camp was reached. By then I was soaking wet and

pissed off. I'd lost a day.

Had a choice between a shower or the river to wash in. Either way, it

was river water. Even the shower. So I declined. We build a fire and dried

out as best we could. The hippos were out that night but we didn't see

them, only heard the call of the hippo bull. We could hear the crocs too in

the water. My meal was cold spaghetti with cheese pieces washed down with

Gin. Not a great start.

Sunday 12th dawned misty and mysterious. 6am saw me, a hunter and a

guide climb into a boat, cross the Pungue river and start walking. Within 6

feet we were wet. Also the mozzies (mosquitoes) were thick on us. I could

see the backs of the guys in front and it was carpeted with mozzies. My

back must have been the same. These things even bit us through our jeans.

Not even repellent kept them away. We saw a variety of game, warthogs,

waterbuck, springbuck, bushbuck, baboons, vervet monkeys etc.. But the

scariest part was when we nearly stepped on a 12-foot long python

basking in the sun. It's head was 2 hand spans wide, and it's body as thick as

my leg. This thing can provide a nasty bite.

I wanted to take a picture but it had other ideas, and I obliged and

let it pass. We then went through another swamp, black and green and slimy

and I was sure there were crocs lurking somewhere. I never saw any big cats,

but that's not unusual, as the floods of march/April had chased them out.

Cats don't like water. We came to a section with 7 foot buffalo grass, and

that was the end of it. No way were we going through that. On the way back

we came across warthogs and took a shot at it but missed. From 30 yards

it was a miss. Shame but I was glad in a way. Another 2 hours saw us back at

the boat. We went looking for crocs but the light was failing. We made it

back to camp before sundown and another party had reach camp. They'd been

hunting buffalo without luck. The wind was wrong. They said there was

plenty elephants though.

We all ate buffalo steaks that night. The result of a previous hunt and

frozen for the occasion. It was absolutely delicious. Another wet

night by the fire, and then it was Monday and time to go back. Another 3 hour

drive to the estate and climbing aboard our plane to fly back to Beira.

I had had a great time. My fellow passengers however tried to avoid

sitting next to me. I wonder why.

Well that was it. It was something that reminded me of the colonial

Days, where you had to hunt on foot. That's real hunting. Not the landrover

air conditioned hunt they have nowadays. It was thrilling to sneak up

on wild animals. I was good at it too. Unfortunately when spooked they

are fast. So no pics of animals.

What a weekend I had. (29/30 December 2001) (copy of an E-mail of 31/12/01)

The things I do to pass the time!!!! One of our guys has got a Piper Seneca and was going to fly to Marromeu and then on to the Malawi border. So, to pass the time I flew with.

Now, when we took off it was pissing with rain, so the pilot decides to fly over the beach all the way north to the mouth of the Zambezi. We flew at 250 feet because of the rain and the wind. We reached the Zambezi and started to follow it. Then there was a metallic sound, oil all over the wing and black smoke. One of the engines had given in. So we turn around and fly all the way back on one engine. At one stage we were only 30 feet above the deck. There is no way to land, as it is all mangroves and swamps. We have to make it to Beira. So we fly on, the rain comes pouring down and we get thrown around by a strong wind. Some 20 miles outside Beira the pilot asks me to be ready for emergency landing. He tells me to watch for his signal to unlatch the door, but to stay with the plane whatever happens until it stops one way or another. Remarkably, I am calm. We get to Beira and we see the fire engines waiting, the engine coughs a few times, but he manages to set it down and coast to the entrance.

I get out, climb in my car and drive to Biques for a double gin, ask my pal Ray to take a picture of me just to see later what I looked like after all this.

This is the 2nd time this year I nearly go down .

Then on Sunday morning I drive to a town called Muanza, which is about 100km (65 miles) north of Beira.

The “road” is a mud bath after all the pelting rain we ‘ve been having and it was still pouring yesterday. The drive took 4 hours just to get there. After I did what I came to do I return. Now the roads are even worse because the rain hasn’t stopped. There are “puddles” which are 15 feet wide and 30 feet long. Some are 2 feet deep. Even in 4x4 I struggled. Anyway, the worst happens eventually. My wheel brace separated in the middle of nowhere. I look in the back, but my jack doesn’t work, and I have no tools. Meanwhile I am soaking wet and full of mud. Nothing to do but sit and hope someone stops. Eventually many cars stopped but none of them was mechanically minded or didn’t have the tools to do the job. And of course you have the usual cunts that just drive by and pretend they don’t see you even if you stand in the middle of the road waving your arms. The rain stops around 2pm and now it gets boiling hot and humid. After about 2 hours of this my tongue feels like leather and I am dehydrated big time. Around 5pm a trucker stops and gives me a gallon of water, because I promise you, by now the muddy puddles start looking mighty appetising.

By 5.30 the sun is going down when another trucker stops, and luckily he is a mechanic too and has all his tools. It took him 20 minutes to fix it so I can get my ass to Beira, which I did at 10 miles an hour.

I left at 7.30am and only managed to get home at 8pm.

PS Footnote: I met the pilot last night too and asked him how close we were. He said we were a hair’s breath away from ditching in the sea or crashing. He recons either way, It would’ve been bad or fatal.

Funny, to think before we took off I still asked him if he was a good pilot. Guess he proved that.

And as a joke I still asked him if landing was on his training schedule. I must be jinxed.

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Mozambique Memoirs Part 2

Moz Memoirs, the early days

I came to Mozambique by invitation. I don’t know what the people thought they were getting, but they were getting a handful. At the time, July 2000, I was going through a rough patch with my then employer. I was at the time, the only white guy in a black trade union, and management wanted to make sure I was out of the way before I became too powerful. Up to that point, July 2000, I was advising the trade union shop Stewarts on wage negotiations, and damn if I wasn’t winning.

On July 11^th 2000, I received a call from a company in Mozambique by the name of Companhia de Sena. Could I fly out to meet them? Sure I said, let me get a visa and fly out. I flew out on the 11^th. I arrived in Beira that afternoon, together with another guy, also there for the meeting. I tell you, it was an experience. First thing, Beira airport is dilapidated. A real 3^rd world country broken down place.

Past passport control and out the door, you are struck with how demoralizing it is to have arrived from a luxury, well oiled, 1^st world country like SA to a dump like this. Ok, so we stand in the heat waiting for our ride. We waited 20 minutes for the guy to arrive. He then takes us through town. My first thoughts were: “Jeez, who in his right mind would want to even think about being here?” 90% of me screams that I need to get the hell out of there NOW, but 10% tells me, to at least listen to what the company has to say, after which I can then get the hell away as fast as possible. Well, if I had any illusions I’d be on the next flight out, forget it. Both of us were told the manager would only be there the next day. So they booked us into the hotel “Ambaxador”. It may have looked grant during the Portuguese colonial days, now it was just a shadow of it’s former glory. It wasn’t entirely neglected, but it was the sort of place you just wish there was enough soap around to wash your hands just after you touched something. Even the pen I used to register myself had this dirty feel to it.

The room wasn’t much to write home about, which I declined to do anyway J, but the worst was that the mattress was hard as concrete, the aircon unit in the room tried its best to keep up with the heat and humidity, and sounded decidedly asthmatic. No, more like a tractor. As soon as the sun went down, all manner of sounds invaded from outside. Drunkenness, fights, shouting etc… and sleeping was not going to be on the agenda. But, sleep did come eventually in the early hours of the morning, after the last of the drunks had either passed out or had dragged his or her ass home, wherever that may have been. Nearest gutter I suppose.

By 8am we were collected from the hotel, ushered into the “waiting room from hell” and told to wait. No, really, what did they expect us to do anyway? Put on a dog and pony show? Duh! We discovered it was decidedly more comfortable to walk around rather than to sit on the “couch.” I do not even want to try imagining where they dragged this thing into the building from. Works better than itching powder. Except for the fact that things don’t move all over your body after you use itching powder. I could see I was going to have to use a radioactive bath after I got back to the “hotel”. Just to nuke whatever it was that was moving around. Anyway, the guy with me turned out to also be there for the same job. But, he cannot keep his mouth shut. He’s telling me what salary he will be demanding (“good” I think, “thanks for the info, I’ll settle for just under that then”. He’s telling me he wants to get a house because he’ll move his family there, the company will have to move his stuff there etc… “well now..” I am thinking, “if I go for this job, I will not ask for what he’s asking, makes me more affordable”. Finally the time comes for one of us to get to meet the director.

“You go first” I said, and he goes. “Age before beauty,” I wanted to add, but refrained from saying it. This guy is in there for about 4 hours. Well, after lunch it’s my turn then.

So, later that day I am meeting the director in his office. Let’s see if I can describe this.

There is aircon. And it works, so that’s ok. As for the rest, the walls are bare and have mould on them, the roof has water stains on them, the floor must have once been white, however, with the best of my ability, I would never have guessed its original color. The table, well now, I don’t know what kept it from collapsing. I snap out of my thoughts when the director and the senior Purchasing guy walk in. first question. “Why do you want to become an Ex-pat? Am I hearing this right? Answer: “because I have been one all my life. The time I moved from Europe a few decades ago qualifies me as an Ex-Pat”. “Well, if we offer you the position, then you will have to manage this and do that and do the other”

At the time, I remember, I didn’t really care if I got it or not, so I answered truthfully.

“Sir, if you want a paper pusher, do yourself a favor and hire the other guy. However, if you want someone who works, you can get me.” The interview lasted another few hours, then it was time for all of us to head to the nearest restaurant. I spend the night and flew out the next day.

I did get the job, and I did get what I negotiated. I was there for nearly 2 years, and it was one of the times I will always cherish. My boss ended up the person I had enormous respect for, and I would go out of my way to make his load lighter. He had been in retirement when the company asked for his help. He always said he hired me to be groomed to take over when he would leave the next year in December. From August 2000 to December 2001 I would always ask him, “By the way, why DID you hire me?”, whenever he would comment on my unorthodox ways of getting things done. He’d just smile and say “Temporary insanity” and leave it at that. I did get to know the final answer the day he left.

He said, when I asked the same question again, “ Because with you, there was no bullshit. You were straightforward. You were a diamond in the rough.”

His name was Clive Currin, and I never had more respect for anyone in my line of work than for him, nor, I fear, will anyone else impress me like he did.

The first weeks.

I arrived back in Mozambique at the beginning of August 2000. First things first. Murphy had arrived before me. My flat wasn’t ready, so I had to go stay at my favorite hotel, Ambaxador. The driver who was supposed to have picked me up at the airport with my bakkie ( South African term for pick-up truck) managed to wreck my car before I got it, and to top it all, I was left most of the afternoon in the heat and humidity at Beira Airport.

Eventually I made it to Sena, only to find that most of management had flown to Marromeu, our project, and I was left to fend for myself. Well, I did manage, although I didn’t eat that night. I am declining to describe my stay at the hotel, as Parental Guidance would be required to filter the language. Age restriction applies from 2 to 80 and the latter only if accompanied by their parents. I ended up staying a month in that flea circus. The only contribution I ever made to “Beira night life” was to hurl the occasional empty bottle from my 6^th floor window to whoever was making a noise in the early hours, hoping to at least once getting the satisfaction of hitting whom I aimed for and cutting off the drunken sailor songs in mid sentence.

The day finally came when I had had enough of having to rely on Sena employees to get the flat organized. First few days of September, I couldn’t take the comforts of Ambaxador no longer. I walked to the office of “Admin” called the person responsible for getting everything sorted out, and said: “Right, this has gone on long enough. Here’s car keys, here I am, there you are, now lets pay a little visit to the landlord.” We did. This was some middle aged, half Portuguese, half Black chick who at the time (although I didn’t know it) was humping the Governor of Beira and had been handed her appointment in the “jobs for pals” programme so prevalent in 3^rd world countries. She thought she was so important and that she shit ice cream and farted daylight. But she had never seen anyone like me before. Ok, with my faithful “Admin” chick in tow to translate, I started. “I was supposed to move in here beginning August, it is now 4^th of September, what gives?” “Still cleaning” “Bullshit, cleaning, that doesn’t take a month.” Next question. How many Sena employees live in your flats?” Answer: “6”. “Ok, well then you know how your bread is buttered. I want the keys now” Guess what? I got them. Apart from dirty looks, she just capitulated. I moved in the same day. That’s when my Beira life really started.

5^th September 2000

After a good shower, and an uninterrupted sleep, the 5^th of September arrived. Now you may think, that nothing ever happens on a day like this, but this one would make history according to the locals.

I was called in by my boss and told that a representative of a very big Pump company whom we happened to buy from in a big way, was due that afternoon, and could I handle it as second in command? Sure, I said. His name was Peter, and I collected him from the airport at 2.15pm. Didn’t say much other than answering the small talk questions I asked him Seemed a bit stuck up. Went to Sena, and had a serious business meeting and negotiation.

Dropped him off at the best hotel in town called “Tivoli” (he could afford it at $75 a night) and I told him I’d pick him up for supper later. Drove back to Sena thinking “what a wanker” and forgot about it. I picked him up at 7pm. He insisted we go to a place called “Biques”. Now, you must remember, this was before I became notorious in that place, and at that stage, I had only visited there once before. That’s when the shit really hit the fan.

Peter wasn’t a wanker after all. He’d been hung over from the night before when he arrived, but his shower had revived him and now he was ready. He was 28, I was 41 but damn if we didn’t hit it off in a big way. There was more noise from the two of us than from the rest of the place. Captain Morgan Rum was flowing like water, and we also made our acquaintance with some-one named Jack Daniels. Of course, like in every port there are “ladies of the night” and they took a passing interest in us, but, hey, we were on a roll and didn’t need company. One chick I never forget. Her name was Sabina, she was a Mullata and she came right out and propositioned me. I turned her down. “Nobody, but nobody, has ever refused my charms” she said, crossly. “Well, get used to it girl” was my reply. And we continued until we were the last customers in Biques. Eventually, around 1.30 we were unceremoniously evicted on unsteady legs, belting out Afrikaans drinking songs.

“I have an idea” he said, but it came out more like “I hic haf hic annnnnn Ideash hic”. “leave your car and jushsht get into minesh, and we dri-hic, drive to Oceana.”

Done. So we weave our way to Oceana. Now Oceana is a disco/nightclub. But the moment you enter, you know it’s more than that. Looks more like a whorehouse than anything else. So the two of us finally half drag, half walk in there, and we are only a few white faces in a sea of black. Naturally, the girls immediately clutter around us, but as usual we wave them on. And we continue our quest to get to know all there is to know about The Captain, Jack and someone named “Bacardi”, must be Italian. Finally, at 6.30am we are also evicted from that place. So, I just realized that I start work at 7, so I make it on time. “Well’, Peter says, “I’m off to bed now, have a good day.” Bastard leaves me at work in my condition. Shows up at 2pm fit as a fiddle and announces, “tonight we go again.” Sure as hell, we did. Worse this time, if that were at all possible. The locals whispered long after the event about us 2 guys’ night out and the memorable drinking spree not seen in Beira for a long long time.

Lucky for me, I have to go to Zimbabwe with one of our guys the next day. 3am I say goodnight to Peter and climb into the Sena car complete with driver for the 300km drive to Zimbabwe. I think I made the 1^st km ok, after that I was out of it until the border 4 hours later. Didn’t get to see Peter in Beira again until April of 2002 although we met up in Jo’burg a few times with a more subdued result as his girlfriend kept him from excesses.

I didn’t know it would be that long before we met up in Beira again, but when he did arrive, I was myself by then notorious and everyone recognized the guys who nearly drank Beira dry. Another thing happened in Oceana, but that is covered in another chapter.

Zeto

During our memorable contribution to the local economy, both at Biques an at Oceana, I ran into a character named Zeto. It started like this. Around 3 or 3.30am in Oceana, I volunteered to go to the bar and get our drinks, as the waitress had given up trying to keep up with us. By now, the place is packed. I leave Peter to guard our seats, because by now, there are none available. I go to the bar. It’s packed there too. I worm my way in and eventually manage to give an order to the bartender for 4 Captains and 4 Jacks and 4 cokes. No use going for one only and then having to return a minute later. Right? Anyway. It takes a while, but it gets delivered. As I am about to turn around with 8 glasses in my hands, and four cokes under my arm, some big huge black dude forces his way through the crowds, bumps me and I spill one of the drinks. He stares down at me like “what you going to do about it white boy” expression. I stare right back at him, furious that I have rum all over me. He turns away from me like he lost interest. This guy is huge. 6ft something, makes Rambo look like a weeny. His arms alone are bigger than my legs. Big guy. Huge mother. Anyway, not wanting to create a scene (ya! Right!!) I move back to my companion and the rest is history. Now, Biques is fast becoming my home away from home. I live alone, come home around 7 and not wanting to cook, go to Biques for a meal 500 yards down the road. What could be easier. Anyway. First time this happens, I run into the black dude again. He has a bunch of hangers-on with him, and again, he stares at me. As before, I stare right back. This goes on nearly every night I get to Biques. By now I have found out that he is the bouncer as well as the body guard for the owner.

Finally, 2 weeks later, he walks over to me one night when I arrive for my meal.

“My name is Zeto” he introduces himself. “Dirk” I reply. We shake. “You work for Sena” he says. An observation, not a question. Must be a job description of a body guard to know everyone. “That’s right” I reply. So he continues. “Have to tell you man, you scare me.”

I look at him as if he was demented. “What??? Scare YOU??? Shit man, I can fit into you about 2 ½ times, you are build like a shithouse door and if you hit me I’ll go down like a house of cards. Scare YOU??” He goes on. “I don’t think you’d go down so easy” he says. “I remember you. You were in Oceana that night” So I wait. There has to be more than this.

“ I spilled your drink and you didn’t cringe when I stared you down. You scared me man, there is something that told me not to tangle with you. Your eyes scared me. Besides, I have been looking at you every time you came to Biques. I was wary of you. You sit at a table and just observe everybody. Like they was prey.” On top of that, he orders me a drink. “To replace the one I spilled” he said. We became good mates after that. Zeto alone was scary, never mind when we hit town together. Shit man, everyone made way for us. Good mate.

He eventually left Beira in February 2002 to get married to a German chick. Pity I don’t know where he is now. Zeto, wherever you are. Have a drink on me mate.

Attitudes.

The first 8 weeks of my stay in Beira were not the happy times which would come later.

No, apart from work, Peter, and the conversation with Zeto, most Ex-Pats ignored me. It was lonely. It was hard on me. First week of October, I flew to Jo’burg for a week’s leave. When I came back, reluctantly, I went to Biques for my customary meal. As I walked in, I was greeted by the Ex pat community. “Welcome back” “Come sit here” “what do ya drink” “How was Joeys” etc… I couldn’t believe it. I was welcomed like I had been gone for 3 years or something. I asked. The answer couldn’t have been simpler. It was explained to me that the first 6 to 8 weeks are the hardest. Most guys leave during that period, never to return. There even had been one or two suicides. So the guys don’t want to make friends with you until you passed the test. When they heard that I’d gone to Jo’burg they had written me off as “another weakling, running to mamma”. Ok, so they didn’t know I was due a week’s leave. But they hadn’t counted on this boyo. As of that day, I became a “local”. And I can promise you, a better bunch of guys I have yet to meet. They look after you, they watch your back, they go out of their way to help others like them. You are never alone. Their motto is “anywhere, anything, any time”, and mean it.

Mantenga.

Early in my time in Mozambique, I aquired the African name, “Mantenga”, which means Leopard. I am not sure if the language is Swazi, Matswa or Ndau, suffice to say, I liked it.

How I got it is a matter of speculation. It has been said it’s because I have green, predator eyes like the leopard. It was mentioned that it was because I was always straight, and never changed my spots, and it was whispered that I could approach anyone silently and stand next to them before they even had an inkling I was around. Especially silent in the dark.

Like Mantenga. And I love my name. Well, who wouldn’t? I could have had a more unfortunate name like “dung beetle” or “warthog” or something. No, I guess, Mantenga is right for me.

Malaria

Mid November I traveled back from Zimbabwe to Mozambique after a brief working visit to the border town of Mutare. It was getting hot. Summer was near. Half way through the journey, I felt a bit sick, but dismissed it. Later that evening, I didn’t have the strength to go to my usual haunt, and next day I just felt plain miserable. But nevertheless I went to work.

About 10am, I couldn’t take it any longer and was send to Sena’s clinic. They diagnosed Malaria. Not much at first, but enough to book me off. I had an old man working for me at the time. He is crucial to the story. A week after my return from Jo’burg I had employed him to look after the filing, do my washing, odd jobs like that. I felt sorry for him because he had worked for a company for 35 years in South-Africa, then come home to Mozambique and worked for another company for 15 years before they went under. He had lost his house and was living in a shantytown. He had a wife and 12 kids. Two of which were married.

Every day, I would give him a lift to the other side of town so he could catch the bus, even though that was out of my way. This day, he drove me home for a change. I was getting very sick by now. When we reached my flat, I collapsed in the driveway. I pieced the story together later. He dragged me up the stairs to the first floor. Fished my keys out, opened the door and laid me on the bed. I was totally unconscious, but shaking with fever. He took my wallet, got out 50 Mets (from Meticais, the Moz currency 50 000 Meticais is referred to as 50 Mets to make it easy. It was 24 Mets to the US$), took the bus into town to the clinic to get medicine for me. The doc told him that if I had it it was to late to treat it and it had to work itself out. Besides, he had practically no supplies. The old man asked on of our drivers to take him to the shantytown. He got his daughter to accompany him to my flat. He took another 50 Mets, left his daughter, went to town and went to the market to buy “Kekana”, a herb. His daughter meanwhile, had undressed me, washed me, rolled me over so I wouldn’t unconsciously drown in my vomit, cleaned up the bed, cleaned up the vomit, washed me, and took care of me. The old man came back and gave her the Kekana. He left her in charge in my flat. Look after “Muzungu Ingles” he said (English white man). She apparently looked after me during 3 days and nights while my body fought Malaria. Wiped my sweat when I was hot, wrapped me in blankets when the cold shivers hit. Cleaned up my mess. After 3 days, I came out of it. She spoke only a few words of English, and I not much Portuguese, but we managed. She boiled the Kekana. Looked like a cup of green soup with the vegetables floating on top.

“Drink, esta bem” “Is good” So I drank. Boy!!!!!!! Was that not the vilest most disgusting thing that ever passed my throath. Immediately I threw up, violently. When I was done, she made me drink more. I was too weak to resist. And once again, same result. After 3 cups, and 3 violent explosions of throwing up, I was dry heaving. Eventually I fell asleep while she looked after me. Next day I woke up feeling great. This chick man, she saved my life. She and her old man. Damn right they did. I repaid that later by paying for her school. $ 125 per year. Damn right. She and her family became my pet project. I diverted some bags of cement and some corrugated steel whenever I could, and the old man improved his shanty.

On Christmas I bought them a goat and a bag of rice. Shit, my life was worth the expenses, however minimal.

Muzungu

One day in December 2000, I drove the old man to Manga, just outside Beira. He had some family there. Now, Manga is big. Bigger than Beira land-wise, because it’s spread out in the dense bush. As I drove up, switched off the car and got out, all the kids ran away screaming. Turns out that some of the kids had never seen a white man before. They would have, but a whole generation of Mozambiquans had missed that because they had been hiding during the 21 year old civil war, and most kids had never been more than 100 yards from their home. So I was the first they saw. I was there for about 15 minutes, but in that time, the mothers had warned the kids that I ate black children who were naughty, and I became substitute for the boogeyman. I later learned that mothers would threaten kids who were naughty that “Muzungu” would come and take them away. By the time I left, they had already made up a song about me. Every time after that, the kids would come and peek at me, and I would run at them so they could run away. It was a game.

The Scientists.

In 2001, I was well established as a local. Spoke Portuguese, not fluent, but passable, talked English with the Zimbo boys, Afrikaans with the “Serefricens (or Souff Efricens) and shit with everybody else. In 2001 Mozambique would experience a total eclipse of the sun.

As it happens the 100% block would be seen from Marromeu. Beira would experience only 90%. Of course there is always interest from the scientific community, and many traveled to Beira. And since Biques is the only place that offers camping space, they all ended up there.

Ray, Biques’ owner, was asked the best way to get to Marromeu. “Well”, he says, “there is only one guy in town who knows these roads like his back pocket. He’ll be here at 7pm”

“How can you be sure? “ they ask. “Because if he’s not he’s either dead or has been in an accident” Ray replies. You need to talk to him. 7pm on the dot, yours truly walks in. “There’s a couple of people who are asking for you” Ray says. I nod. “As long as it’s not the police or the taxman, I’ll talk to them” I reply. There were 14 of them. Some were university students, some were teachers. It was a collection of nationalities. Their leader appeared to be a tall American, then you had a British lady, 2 Germans, 2 Austrians, A Chech, 3 Frenchmen, 3 Hollanders and a Yugoslav. They all crowded around me at the pool table, because that was the best place to open the map completely. It turns out they had a map that was a few years old. Some roads didn’t exist then, others had washed away earlier that year during the floods. Now we had 2 options. They could go through Muanza and risk getting stuck on the road, blown up by landmines, or worse, get robbed. They had no vehicle, they were hitchhiking. OR, the could take the long road, past Gorongoza and have the same problems, minus the robbers, but with the wild animals of the old Gorongoza National Park. So we discuss this. I take my time to explain where they might find a bus, where they might want to approach bush truckers, where to stay away from, which “towns” on the way to avoid, which not to buy food from, etc…. By now, it is clear that the Yugoslav has been drinking too much, and there is some sort of power struggle going on between him and the American for leadership of the group. Well, not my problem. Not until, he shoves me that is. Ray sees it, and interferes. He guides the Yugo away, but he is still shouting. “We don’t need him, we can make it on our own. Fuck this guy” etc etc. “Right” I say, “seems we have a problem” and I fold the map and hand it over to the American. “But we need your help” he said. The Yugo is by now more drunk, shouts more insults and generally gets me more and more annoyed. Not a good thing. Eventually, Ray, walks over to the Yugo.

“No more drinks for you mate. And, Son, don’t piss off the locals. Especially not that one.”

Later, when the Yugo has collapsed on the beach I did agree to help them and they went to Marromeu armed with the lay-of-the-land I provided.

Salesmen 1

We do get a lot of salesmen during the time the Marromeu project was being build. There were flights from Jo’burg every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Always full. Some sales people even resorted to chartering their own airplanes, we were that busy. Which meant, I was busy. Biques used to have a Zimbo manager, together with Ray, or if he was not there, Ray’s Son. His name was Stuart, and he was from Mutare. We hit it off first time. He was the kind of guy where you start a story and he’d finish it. He could read my mind, and just go along with anything I started. Jeez, he was fun. Early December 2000. I arrive at Biques at 7. It’s packed. I mean, you had to walk on heads to get anywhere. 2 full plane loads of salesmen had arrived that day. Lucky, Stuart always has a special table with “Reserved for Manager”, so I have a place at his table. There is a TV on and the movie “Trial at Nurmberg” is on. All over sudden, 2 guys, out of the blue, just take the last two chairs and plonk themselves down. “You mind? “ “Shit man, you’re already sitting aren’t ya?” They ignore us, we ignore them. Stu and me, we just watching TV and I am making the occasional observation about the history of the event. Finally. One of the guys decides it’s time to needle me. “Think you’re clever? “ “No” I say, “just I happen to know a lot about this.” That was the start of an hour long needling session. He is constantly on my case, Stu keeps me in check, and we try to ignore the wankers. “With a general knowledge like you claim to have, you should get a job, you beach bum” he says. Friendly, but like ice, I ask where they are from. “Jo’burg” “Really? I’d never have guessed. And why are you gentlemen gracing us with your presence? “ Reply: “Oh, we phoned last week to Clive Currin at Sena and made an appointment. Went to see him, but he was unavailable and said we have to do business with his second in command, name of Dirk V. Know him?” Stu kicks me under the table. I say: “Yeah, I know him. Tough son of a bitch he is, not easy to do business with I believe, not at all a friendly character. Why do you need to see him? “ Reply: “ We have plans to expand Sena, and at much better prices, and we will lay in front of him a contract he cannot help but sign. We have it all figured out. “ Stu keeps on kicking me. I am straight faced. “Well, then, I suppose you need to find him.” He caries on: “Do you know where we can find him tonight” I shake my head. “Do you know where he lives?” Another shake. “Do you know anything you Mutt? Go get yourself a job. You look like you just came out of the bush. By the way have you got a job at all?” I nod. “What is your job? Collecting shit from the beach? “ and they laugh their collective heads off. I say: “no, nothing so grandiose, I am but a lowly second in command of Sena, and my name is Dirk .” Stu always said he had wished he had a camera when I said that. He said, the expression on their faces was comical. Stu by this time had gone to the ex-pats and correctly guessed what would happen. “Oh, by the way, don’t call us, we’ll call you.” I said and they red faced got up from the table and tail between their legs moved to the exit amongst applause from the locals.

“Well done boys, well done, come again soon” somebody shouted. But I guess they couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Salesmen 2

Later that month, Biques is full, but you can still find a table here and there. 2 salesmen walk in. You can tell, they’re the ones who wear suits and ties in 100 degree heat. They order food. Two local girls are playing pool, and the 2 guys want to challenge them, so they put coins down. The girls ignore them. They are annoyed. Their meal arrives, and they eat while staring at the pool table. One of them walks over and in a loud voice demands to play, as they have put down their coin. The girls don’t understand them anyway. He gets really annoyed. I am sitting at a table with 5 ex pats and we are watching this scene. He goes back to his companion. Both of them now have their coats off, their ties off and their shirtsleeves rolled up, and they are getting mad. In Afrikaans they let it be known that the locals are “kaffirs” (niggers) and they have the right as white men to play. They figure no-one understands Afrikaans. Well, they are right, apart from some of us Ex Pats, the locals do not understand it. But they get the meaning nonetheless, and trouble is brewing. The blacks are muttering. Ok, yours truly strolls over. “Boys, please, don’t use that language here. This is Mozambique, not SA and you don’t want to end up in “Tjuki” (jail) now do you?

Guys understand something, we live here, and if you guys start using that kind of remark, they will always use it against us and assume we are the same. So, please, refrain from doing that.”

Absolutely true. I can be diplomatic if I really try. But, it wasn’t to be. One of the salesmen, gets up and says “Ek sal jou moer, you Kaffir boetie” (I will fuck you up, you nigger lover) in Afrikaans. “Is that so, well then, let’s dance.” He comes from behind the table, but doesn’t get far. As soon as he moves, at least 20 chairs are being shifted and I hear somebody’s voice. “Having a problem Dirk?” I don’t turn around, but continue to stare at salesman of the month. “ I don’t think so Boet (Bro)” I reply. Still staring at sales jerk I say “Do I have a problem?” He shakes his head. “No, no problem.” And sits down. “Sorry, your welcome has officially worn out. Fuck off. I’ll pay for the meal. Just go fuck yourself” And they leave.

Next day. Clive calls me. I am worried about this little scene, but he just asks to stand in for him that day, and to take care of about 4 or 5 appointments he has. I do so. Guess what? Next appointment, I ask one of my buyers to show them in. You guessed it. The 2 Jerks.

“ I know you, don’t I? “ I say. They nod. “Well, good day to you, Sena does not deal with guys like you. See yourselves out.”

Human Rights Lawyer

Early September 2001. For some reason, an American female Human Rights lawyer has found her way to Beira. Not in a personal capacity, but on holiday from SA. Well, good for her. She decides that us white boys must be good company, and besides, we seem to be speaking English. A good sign. But boy oh boy, is she ever obnoxious. We get lecture after lecture about “us white racists”. We remain polite to her, because we believe in “Ubuntu”. Showing hospitality, even if your guest is not altogether nice to you.

Eventually, one of our guys, Jonesy, says: “Ma’am, do you know the difference between a tourist and a racist in Africa? She shakes her head. Jonesy answers: “Two weeks”

Sure enough, before even two weeks were up, she had changed her stance big time.

She actually became good company, and we even took her through to Zimbabwe one weekend in convoy. She traveled in my car. I had a double cab Mitsibushi 4x4, and we were 4 in a car. We arrive at the Zim border. Now, the Zim border is in the middle of the bush, and as we are waiting, this dirty white bushman comes up to my car. “Howzit Dirk” and proceeds to share a bottle of vodka with us. She totally amazed with her mouth open just stares at this scene. “Isn’t there then nobody in this god forsaken bush that doesn’t know you?” She asks.

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Mozambique Memoirs Part 3

Moz Memoirs – Miscellaneous

Memoirs, like memories, over time tend to filter out the bad stuff and only retain the good ones. Never get the impression that there never were bad times. Of course there were. In countries like Mozambique it’s not unusual to lose people to Malaria, Aids, Black Water Fever, Bilharzia, Accidents, Shootings, Knife fights etc… just to name a few. These memories tend to fade as they are too painful to deal with. I chose, rightly so, to only mention the good times. Although, “good” mentioned in the same breath as floods, malaria etc.. is relative in itself. There have been many occasions where I could have lost my life. Just to think back, 2 averted plane crashes, driving on roads where landmines were a constant danger, hell even taking a leak would qualify you to get blown up, floods, human suffering, bush encounters with animals…….to name some.

Beira to outsiders is a fairly dangerous place. When I first got there, I knew I needed to be tough enough. Showing any sign of weakness would render your stay null and void, as the locals would have you for breakfast. Raw. In many ways, Beira sometimes was a blend of 19^th, 20^th and 21^st century Africa, and the boundaries were not always that clear.

Fairly early after the cease fire was signed, the UN really fucked it up for us Ex-pats who came later. How? Very easy. They would arrive in Beira and have to rent a house. The early days, the locals would charge them say $100 a month for a house. Of course, big mouths as they are, they would say “ 100 bucks, hell that’s cheap, where I come from they would charge at least 1000. “ And Bob’s your uncle. You can bet your fucking life that next time or next month your rent is 1000 bucks. Of course, by the time guys like me arrived, the damage was done. You cannot with the best of your ability, nor with the best optimism of which you are capable imagining paying 1000 bucks for a house that is not rainproof, where the walls are saturated with mould, where the toilets don’t work half the time, where the electricity supply is rarely available and where the outside walls are pockmarked with AK47 bullets or shrapnel from RPG’s. Most walls were not painted since the Portuguese left in 1975. Did you know, that to paint your house in Mozambique, you need to get a license?

Or that you need a license to paint the INSIDE? Or a license to put tiles on the floor? Each item needs a license. I was therefore pleasantly surprised that I didn’t need a fucking license to go to the crapper. Countries like Mozambique are so top heavy with bureaucracy it is hardly possible to function. Trying to get a car licensed for instance, is like trying to force wet spaghetti down a chicken’s ass. No wonder the following happens:

Stolen

Most cars and motorbikes in Beira, and I am talking about the newer models, are so hot you need to drive them with asbestos gloves. They glow in the dark.

A lot of cars and bikes get stolen in Johannesburg and driven to Maputo, from where slowly but surely and going through a few owners they make their way 1200 miles north to Beira and beyond. Others are stolen in Bulawayo, Mutare and Harare in Zimbabwe. One of our guys, a Mauritian, bought himself a car knowing well that it was stolen. How could we tell?

Well, for one thing, the OHIO license plate gave the game away. Don’t even ask me what that car was doing there, it just was. That car by the way was put in a container when his contract ran out and shipped as “household goods” to Mauritius, where at this present moment it may well still be doing its rounds on the roads in Port Louis.

How could we tell that a bike or car was stolen. Well, for one thing, the price in Jo’burg for say a brand new model Motorbike ranges between 10 and 15K. Now if someone approaches you and offers the same bike to you for 4K that may be an indication it’s not kosher.

The cops are in on it of course, otherwise there would be a crackdown on crime. But why bite the hand that feeds you? Sometimes, the SA police in conjunction with the Moz cops would do a joint exercise and arrive on the streets of Beira. But then, only “legal” vehicles would be there. The hot ones are in garages ranging from Beira to Chimoio 2oo miles away. Until of course the exercise is over, the cops found a few vehicles and everybody is happy. They go away, and it’s rush hour again. One exercise like that happened early 2001, and whomever the head honcho was that put this together must have been lacking in the brains department. Just after New Year 2001, joint exercise. They decide to raid the bikers.

It’s pissing with rain, the roads are mud baths. Now picture this. On the way out of Beira towards the airport some enterprising Moz guy has build a motor cross track so we can have some fun. A contest is on one Sunday afternoon on this track. Remember, it’s pissing with rain and mud is all over. The police raid the place unexpectedly. Of course they arrive on the tar road just off the track. In nice new Nissan road vehicles, not even 4x4. How many do you think they caught? If you answered zero, give yourself a cigar. These guys all changed direction and disappeared over the muddy roads and through the swamps faster than you could blink. Real clever that was.

Watering Hole

Just 50km outside Beira is another Sugar plantation. It’s called Mafumbisi. Whenever we drive to Zimbabwe, we pass it. But on the way back, it is customary and sort of a tradition with us to stop there. The outside wall has wooden plaques nailed on them. On those plaques individual names appear. And those names only get added to the wall after it is proven you have had finished at least 25 bottles of hard tack. Not all at once of course. Jeez I hope not. It took me a year and a half to get my name up there, but when it was done I had to take a picture. BTW, the 25 bottles? Well, YOU are the one that must finish it. You buy 2 bottles to start off. 1 bottle gets your name on, the other bottle is also marked with your name but No2. So whenever you get there and order, You get a drink from Your bottle only. If you want to buy a round, they get from bottle No2. To finish 25 bottles takes awhile, I can promise you. One thing is, you don’t want to drive the 50km to Beira after dark sober. Never mind pissed out of your skull.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an African word. Stands for a lot of things, but roughly translated it means hospitality, care for your guests, sharing etc….

Can’t remember exactly when, but it was in my first few weeks as an established “local”, this American chick ends up at Biques. Lost and broke. She was traveling the world on her own hitch hiking. She must have been no older than 21 or 22. She’d traveled Europe without a problem, gotten on a boat to Cape Town and hooked up with what seemed a nice guy, nearly got raped, was beaten and robbed and left by the roadside. While in an SA hospital, her visa ran out, and as soon as she was released she was escorted to the Mozambique border for which she had a valid visa, and evicted. So, she ended up at Biques, broke. She had not learned her lesson. Once again she had hooked up with a fellow traveler, white, and just because he was white decided he must be ok. Well, he skipped 700km outside Beira with all her money. Again. Ok, so we feel sorry for her and we stand her a meal. We, in this case, the Ex-pats. We pay Ray for the use of a tent and a camping space for 4 days @ $20/day. We tell Ray, to feed her and give her drinks too, and for that purpose, we each contribute another $20. Ok, this chicks parents are rich. She actually phones them to tell them she’s still alive. I get to talk to the old man on the phone, because “I am the most decent of the lot” according to them. She promises that daddy will send money across so she can pay us back. But as time goes on, we get to know her a bit better. There is a mean streak to her. She is totally rude to us, and to top it all, she ends up with the guy who robbed her when he shows in Beira. But, nice guys as we are we overlook it. She is hosting this guy with money we contributed. For 2 days when we get there after work we find out they both have been drinking themselves totally fucked up. The black waiters are telling us they abused them with their foul language (like we were any better! But I suppose they take it from us, but not from outsiders) So eventually, we are told by her that the money arrives on Wednesday, and she’ll pay us back. This was on a Sunday. By Monday of course, most guys went away to their jobs, and only 2 of us are left in Beira. Myself and a Sena engineer by the name of Hein. Tuesday night, we arrive at Biques.

Ray tells us the chick skipped with the loser, and unpaid bills for food and drink are 250 bucks. We paid Ray. We did. No argument. It was our duty. It was Ubuntu, she had embarrassed all of us, and especially Ray. We took care of the damage. Never bitched about it, never told the other guys, or asked for them to pay their share. The end came a week later when I got a call in my office from Mutare. He had found my business card on some girl who was dropped off at his clinic by this guy who then left, never to come back. He said she had cerebral malaria and needed to be airlifted to Malawi. Do I know her? Now, most people would have said “No”, but not me. Ubuntu was still in force for the lost soul. I immediately phoned Hein in Marromeu, he then under the guise of “aerial land survey” commandeered the Sena plane, diverted it to Zimbabwe with the co-operation of one of our guys in security, got the girl, paid the doctor, and flew her straight to Lilongwe in Malawi, then flew back and claimed his film got spoiled and there were no survey pictures. Management never found out. We got a call from her father 2 weeks later thanking us for saving her life. We never once told him what a little shit she actually was. We never even asked him for money to cover the mess she left behind. That’s us. We were like that.

Gunplay

Sometime end October 2000. I am on my way to work. Have picked up 2 of the secretaries from Sena, and am driving. A cop jumps in the road and waves me over to the curb.

No problem. Without a word, he starts writing a ticket. So I send one of the girls to find out what the problem is. She talks to the guy and returns. “Speeding” she says. Now, I need to find out what is going on here. She translates for me. “I was speeding.” “Ok, what’s my speed” Answer: 62 in a 60 zone. Ok, enough bullshit. I just know this is an attempt to earn a bribe. And if not, then it is an attempt to show the “white boys” who is in charge. Either/Or it is bullshit. I am attempting a conversation via the secretary. “How did you pick up my speed? “ He waves to his colleagues behind a tree with a radar gun. I walk over there. “ok, show me your calibration certificate” I say. “not with us” Fine. I try again. “Show me then your last certificate of compliance.” Again: “not with us” I am slowly losing it, because this is complete crap. “ I bet you that if you point that thing at the tree, you will find it is moving, because this junk hasn’t been tested since WW2” This is total nonsense.

The cop who has been writing comes up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder and shoves me. Ok, now I am done playing. I shove him back, and swear at him. Both secretaries are now in full retreat and hiding in the back seat. They have just been through 25 years of police state, and no-one in his or her right mind ever argues with cops. But I am from SA and arguing with cops is a national sport. Still I am fairly new in Moz and don’t really know what can and what cannot be done. I turn around and I get back in the car.

He’s still going on in Portuguese and I ignore it until I hear the word “pistola”. I stop, turn back and get in his face, nose tip to nose tip. “You have a pistola? Good. Pull it, pull it now, you fucker, and use it. Because if you don’t, I’m going to take it away from you, shove it up your ass and pull the trigger.” He backs off. I turn around get in my car, and swearing all the way go to work. So in a really black mood I get to Sena. It turns out that 6 of us have received fines, however, 2 black drivers didn’t. so this is a race thing. Ok, now, one of us claims to know the chief of police. He phones and explains the situation. Can we discuss a small business proposal? Ok, done. We all 6 with the guy in tow go to the “cop shop”. He goes in, negotiates the amount of the bribe, and then we are called in one by one.

Finally it’s my turn. I walk in, it’s the same cunt I had a “slight disagreement” with on the road. He practically has a coronary. “ Not him. He pays. He has no respect for authority, for the police, for the country, for the flag, for the president” etc…. So I just grin. “Ok” I say, “fine, I’ll pay. No problem. But hear this. Anytime I see you alone I WILL take you out. Just watch your back.” I think he believed me. I would have you know.

Beach Picnic

Some time in 2001, can’t remember when, but do remember the episode, I again had the pleasure of dealing with police matters. It’s evening. I go to Biques to eat. But, this time, it’s seriously packed. No place. None of our guys are there, but plenty out-of-towners. I give up, go to the bar and order 5 fishcakes for take-away.

Once I have them, I go sit on the beach and prepare to eat. Just then somebody slightly kicks my shoulder. I turn around and it’s a cop. They patrol the beaches after dark to prevent all sorts of criminals from using the dunes to stage attacks or from preventing amorous couples from, well, coupling. But, hey, I am sitting next to the wall of Biques, so I am not a criminal element. Besides, I am trying to eat. “Get up” he says. “Piss off, I’m eating” is the reply. For the uninitiated, fucking around with me when I have food and I am hungry, can cut your career short very fast. I am like a dog whose bone you are trying to take away. “Get up” and kicks harder. “I am warning ye, piss off.” I say.

He keeps at it, I growl. This guy has a death wish. He kicks again. Ok that’s it, and I get up spilling my food on the beach. He is going to be sooo dead. As I stand up, he all over sudden finds, hey, this guy is taller than me, and broader too. “My colleague is watching” he stammers. “Bullshit boyo, you’re on your own and you are trying to get a bribe from this estrangero, isn’t it. Well, bad luck you poes (cunt in Afrikaans). Guess what, I am not a tourist. I live here. So, I am now going to drown you in the surf. Come here you little shit.”

And I lunge at him. He apologizes profusely. I let him of the hook. It’s a bit tacky to drown a policeman after all. “Go on, get.” And as fast as he can, he runs away from there. Yes, I know, I do so have a way with authority.

The Divers

Some time in May 2001, the SA company SASOL, one of the big oil & gas companies has send divers to Beira, because they found offshore gas deposits. Ok, I never told you before, but apart from us male ex-pats, there are also 2 female ex-pats. They are considered “one of the boys” so that’s why the subject didn’t come up. But it does now. One of the females always sits with us, but on this occasion it’s just her and me and Ray at the table. Her name is Maria, she is a Portuguese South African who runs her own STEEL factory in town.

Tough as nails. It is said she can even play Rugby. Maria always has her dog with her. They always travel together. Yes, in Biques too. I know, in more “civilized” societies it would be unacceptable to allow a dog in the place where you are eating, but hey, who said we were civilized? Of course, we had an objection or two from non-locals some time before, but Maria handled that well. They left, the dog stayed. We need not discuss that in detail.

Anyway, back to the story. We are just sitting there and this SA diver, comes sit next to Maria, looks her in the eye and says: “Do you want to fuck?” Without missing a beat, “No, but my dog does” He pissed off very fast.

The Twins

Just in case you are wondering if we never have arguments amongst ourselves, well this is the place to discuss it. We do. And they are nasty. But after it’s over, win or lose, we drink together and forget it happened. I can’t for the life of me remember what started this one. Every weekend, we have Twins come to town. They live and work in Chimoyo, 200 miles towards the Zim border. They have their own logging company. We are good mates, and they arrive Friday evening and leave Sunday night. Always. Every weekend Biques is packed with local and non-local Ex pats who come from far and wide to watch the Rugby or the Cricket on TV. Some of us never get to see the end of the game anyway. Games are usually played at 2pm and Biques opens at 6am, so there has been a lot of liquid breakfasts and lunch between then and kick-off. I don’t know how it started but either I pissed of one of the brothers or they did me, and before you know it fists and glasses and feet are flying.

Ray shouts at us to go do that outside, because we are blocking the TV. So we go outside.

We face each other on the sand. All over sudden, the one brother grabs the other one’s T-shirt and says “ Ok, lets get out of here.” The other one says “ No, I want to fuck him up first” pointing at me. And he would have. I was no match for this guy and I knew it, but I could not back out. “No, we go now” Brother No 1 says. He persuades him to get in the car, and they piss off. We didn’t see them for 2 weeks. Finally, they get back. Grab a chair and come sit at my table. “Sorry mate, about last time.” I reply. “Forgotten, mate, no problem”

“ By the way, why did we have a go at each other? “ I ask. Shit amongst the three of us we can’t even remember why. Next question: “ So, Boet, why did you and your bro pull out? “

Brother No 2 answers that one. “We were ready to kick all colors of shit out of you, but I took one look at your eyes, and they were GREY man, really lifeless grey, and I thought Oh shit my brother’s going to die. That’s why. Shit man it was scary. “