From the Register-Herald:

Just how much personal data on American citizens does the federal government need in its vast network of computer files to safeguard the homeland from terrorists and keep track of illegal aliens?

For two men generally on opposite sides of the political spectrum, that is the heart of their opposition to Real ID.

“The issue is still the issue of privacy,” says Sen. Clark Barnes, a conservative Republican who represents Randolph County in West Virginia’s 15th senatorial district.

“The issue hasn’t changed.”

To Seth DiStefano, field organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union in West Virginia, the right of individual privacy, free of unwarranted government intrusion, is likewise a key point in his group’s dissent with Real ID.

Congress mandated the program that calls for a national identification card using a driver’s license.

While the stated intention was to crack down on illegal aliens taking up residency in this country, and to provide more security against terrorists, men such as Barnes and DiStefano see disturbing elements at play.

Barnes sees a parallel in the so-called “fusion centers,” designed to be criminal information banks shared between police departments. In that concept, the senator has no problem.

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