Write an article based on this summary:

– Need a passport? Better find your birth certificate, because the State Department is considering a new, and nearly impossible to complete, form that would be required for those who can't produce one. In addition to "easy" questions like listing every residence and job you've had since birth and, of course, the personal details of all your siblings, Form DS-5513 includes such baffling queries as where you were circumcised and who was present at your birth. Reactions: On Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow notes that "the circumstances in which people unable to provide a birth certificate will be given this form (rather than the traditional bureaucratic investigation) are not spelled out; further, the form itself remains a Kafkaesque impossibility for most people to complete." "The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form," writes Edward Hasbrouck on Consumer Traveler. The Blaze points out that the document claims the questionnaire is voluntary, “but failure to provide the information requested may result in processing delays or the denial of your US passport application.” The questionnaire would be used "when the applicant submits citizenship or identity evidence that is insufficient or of questionable authenticity," according to official documents. On the Raw Story, David Edwards concludes that the form "would make it almost impossible for some people to get a passport." On Reason.com, Radley Balko calls the form "disturbing" and the questions "creepy" and "impossible to answer." Nick Greene concurs in the Village Voice, calling it "completely confounding" and noting that "a team of researchers is needed to complete it." See the form here.
State Department wants passport applicants to reveal lifetime employment history 
  
 By David Edwards 
  
 Monday, April 25, 2011 13:09 EDT 
  
 The U.S. Department of State has proposed a new questionnaire that would make it almost impossible for some people to get a passport. 
  
 The new document (PDF) would require that certain applicants submit a list of every residence and every job they’ve ever had since birth. 
  
 In February, the department published a request in the Federal Register allowing 60 days for comment before the new rules go into effect. 
  
 “The Biographical Questionnaire for a U.S. Passport, form DS-5513, is used to supplement an application for a U.S. passport when the applicant submits citizenship or identity evidence that is insufficient or of questionable authenticity,” according to a supporting statement (PDF) issued along with the request for comment. 
  
 “This form is used prior to passport issuance and solicits information relating to the respondent’s family, birth circumstances, residences, schooling, and employment,” the statement added. 
  
 “In addition to this primary use of the data, the DS-5513 may also be used as evidence in the prosecution of any individual who makes a false statement on the application and for other uses as set forth in the Prefatory Statement and the Passport System of Records Notice (State-26).” 
  
 The document also requires some applicants to submit information about the mother’s pre-natal and post-natal care, the mother’s residence one year before and after the birth, the persons in attendance at the birth and religious or institutional recordings of the birth. 
  
 “The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form,” Consumer Traveler’s Edward Hasbrouck noted. 
  
 The Consumer Travel Alliance opposes the new form as “exceeding the statutory authority of the DOS, unconstitutional, and in violation of U.S. obligations pursuant to international human rights treaties to which the U.S. is a party,” according to draft comments (PDF) prepared by the group. 
  
 “[C]hoosing to require an applicant for a passport to complete the proposed Form DS-5513, which few if any applicants could complete, would amount to a de facto decision to deny that applicant a passport. And that decision would be standardless, arbitrary, and illegal,” they added. 
  
 The State Department had not returned a call asking for comment at the time of publication. ||||| State Dept adding intrusive, semi-impossible questionnaire for US passport applications 
  
 Olga sez, "The U.S. Dept of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for passport applicants: proposed new Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history, personal details of siblings; mother's addresses prior to your birth; any "religious ceremony" around time of birth, circumstances of birth including names (as well as addresses/phone numbers) of persons present, & more. Failure to answer can mean denial of passport, & govt reserves right to use this info for 'routine uses.'" 
  
 Update: Commenters note that this form is specifically intended in lieu of a birth certificate with a passport application; but as the FA suggests, the circumstances in which people unable to provide a birth certificate will be given this form (rather than the traditional bureaucratic investigation) are not spelled out; further, the form itself remains a Kafkaesque impossibility for most people to complete. 
  
 It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will be required to fill out the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been made public for determining who will be subjected to these additional new written interrogatories. So if the passport examiner wants to deny your application, all they will have to do is give you the impossible new form to complete. It's not clear from the supporting statement, statement of legal authorities, or regulatory assessment submitted by the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) why declining to discuss one's siblings or to provide the phone number of your first supervisor when you were a teenager working at McDonalds would be a legitimate basis for denial of a passport to a U.S. citizen. 
  
 You've got the rest of today to submit your comments on this proposal. Lots of additional material at the link below. 
  
 State Dept. wants to make it harder to get a passport 
  
 (Image: US Passport, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from damian613's photostream) 
  
 report this ad ||||| If you don’t want it to get even harder for a U.S. citizen to get a passport — now required for travel even to Canada or Mexico — you only have until Monday to let the State Department know. 
  
 The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.” 
  
  
  
 The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form. 
  
 It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will be required to fill out the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been made public for determining who will be subjected to these additional new written interrogatories. So if the passport examiner wants to deny your application, all they will have to do is give you the impossible new form to complete. 
  
 It’s not clear from the supporting statement, statement of legal authorities, or regulatory assessment submitted by the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) why declining to discuss one’s siblings or to provide the phone number of your first supervisor when you were a teenager working at McDonalds would be a legitimate basis for denial of a passport to a U.S. citizen. 
  
 There’s more information in the Federal Register notice (also available here as a PDF) and from the Identity Project. 
  
 You can submit comments to the State Dept. online at Regulations.gov until midnight Eastern time on Monday, April 25, 2011. Go here, then click the “Submit a Comment” button at the upper right of the page. If that link doesn’t work for you, it’s probably a problem with the javascript used on the Regulations.gov website. There are alternate instructions for submitting comments by email here. 
  
 (Note that the proposed form itself was not published in the Federal Register. The Identity Project was eventually provided with a copy after requesting it from the Department of State, and posted it here.) 
  
 Here are the comments (PDF) being submitted by the Consumer Travel Alliance and other consumer, privacy, and civil liberties groups and individuals, if you would like to use it for ideas for comments of your own. (They’re also available in OpenOffice format for easier editing.) 
  
 Extra points to the person who gives the best answer in the comments to the question on the proposed form, “Please describe the circumstances of your birth including the names (as well as address and phone number, if available) of persons present or in attendance at your birth.” 
  
 [Update: More than 3000 people and several organizations submitted comments opposing the proposal in the final days before the deadline. Those comments raise further concerns: It appears from some of the comments that the State Department is already using a version of this form, without the required OMB approval.] ||||| John GilmoreArchive-It Partner Since: Apr, 2007Organization Type: Other InstitutionsOrganization URL: http://www.toad.com John Gilmore is a private individual who cares about archiving the Internet for future generations. He is the first individual to join the Archive-It program, as a partner with the Internet Archive, to collect and index documents of interest. Mr. Gilmore also co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation. |||||
Skriv en artikel baserad på denna sammanfattning: – Behöver du ett pass? Hitta din födelseattest, för UD överväger en ny, och nästan omöjlig att fylla i, blankett som skulle krävas för dem som inte kan producera en. Förutom "lätta" frågor som att lista varje bostad och jobb du har haft sedan födseln och, naturligtvis, personuppgifter om alla dina syskon, Form DS-5513 innehåller sådana förbryllande frågor som var du omskärs och vem som var närvarande vid din födelse. Reaktioner: På Boing Boing konstaterar Cory Doctorow att "de omständigheter under vilka människor som inte kan lämna in någon födelseattest kommer att få denna form (snarare än den traditionella byråkratiska undersökningen) inte är utskrivna; vidare förblir själva formen en kafkaesk omöjlighet för de flesta att fullborda." "Statsdepartementet beräknade att den genomsnittlige respondenten skulle kunna sammanställa all denna information på bara 45 minuter, vilket uppenbarligen är absurt med tanke på den mängd forskning som sannolikt kommer att krävas för att ens försöka fylla i formuläret", skriver Edward Hasbrouck på Consumer Traveler. Blaze påpekar att dokumentet hävdar frågeformuläret är frivilligt, “men underlåtenhet att lämna den information som begärs kan leda till behandling förseningar eller nekande av din amerikanska passansökan.” Frågeformuläret skulle användas “när den sökande lämnar medborgarskap eller identitetsbevis som är otillräcklig eller av tvivelaktig äkthet,” enligt officiella dokument. På Raw Story drar David Edwards slutsatsen att formen "skulle göra det nästan omöjligt för vissa människor att få ett pass." På Reason.com kallar Radley Balko formen "störande" och frågorna "skäriga" och "omöjliga att svara på". Nick Greene instämmer i Village Voice, kallar det "fullständigt förvirrande" och noterar att "ett forskarlag behövs för att slutföra det." Se blanketten här.
Write an article based on this summary: – Do you need a passport? Find your birth certificate, for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is considering a new, and almost impossible to fill in, form that would be required for those who cannot produce one. In addition to "easy" issues such as listing every residence and job you have had since birth and, of course, personal information about all your siblings, Form DS-5513 contains such perplexing questions as where you were circumcised and who was present at your birth. Reactions: At Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow notes that "the circumstances under which people who cannot submit a birth certificate will receive this form (rather than the traditional bureaucratic inquiry) are not printed; further, the form itself remains a Kafkaesque impossibility for most to complete." "The State Department estimated that the average respondent could compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research likely to be required to even try to fill out the form," writes Edward Hasbrouck of Consumer Traveler. Blaze points out that the document claims the questionnaire is voluntary, “but failure to provide the information requested may lead to processing delays or denial of your U.S. passport application.” The questionnaire would be used “when the applicant submits citizenship or proof of identity that is insufficient or of questionable authenticity,” according to official documents. On Raw Story, David Edwards concludes that the form "would make it almost impossible for some people to get a passport." At Reason.com, Radley Balko calls the form "disturbing" and the questions "cut" and "impossible to answer". Nick Greene agrees with Village Voice, calling it "completely confusing" and noting that "a team of researchers is needed to complete it." See the form here.
Utrikesdepartementet vill att passsökande ska avslöja livstidsanställningshistoria Av David Edwards måndag 25 april 2011 13:09 EDT USA:s utrikesdepartement har föreslagit ett nytt frågeformulär som skulle göra det nästan omöjligt för vissa människor att få ett pass. Det nya dokumentet (PDF) skulle kräva att vissa sökande lämnar in en lista över varje bostad och varje jobb de någonsin haft sedan födseln. I februari publicerade avdelningen en begäran i Förbundsregistret som gav 60 dagar på sig att kommentera innan de nya reglerna träder i kraft. “Biographical Questionnaire for a U.S. Pass, formulär DS-5513, används för att komplettera en ansökan om ett amerikanskt pass när den sökande lämnar medborgarskap eller identitetsbevis som är otillräcklig eller av tvivelaktig äkthet,” enligt en stödjande uttalande (PDF) utfärdas tillsammans med begäran om kommentar. ”Detta formulär används före utfärdandet av pass och begär information om svarandens familj, födelseförhållanden, bostad, skolgång och anställning”, tillägger uttalandet. “Utöver denna primära användning av uppgifterna, DS-5513 kan också användas som bevis vid åtal av varje person som lämnar en falsk uppgift på ansökan och för andra användningsområden enligt Prefatory Statement och Pass System of Records Notice (State-26).” I dokumentet krävs också att vissa sökande att lämna information om moderns pre-natal och postnatal vård, moderns bostad ett år före och efter födseln, de personer som är närvarande vid födseln och religiösa eller institutionella inspelningar av födseln. “Utrikesdepartementet uppskattade att den genomsnittliga respondenten skulle kunna sammanställa all denna information på bara 45 minuter, vilket är uppenbart absurt med tanke på den mängd forskning som sannolikt kommer att krävas för att ens försöka fylla i formuläret,” Consumer Traveler Edward Hasbrouck konstaterade. Consumer Travel Alliance motsätter sig den nya formen som “överstiger den lagstadgade myndigheten i DOS, grundlagsstridig, och i strid med amerikanska skyldigheter enligt internationella människorättsfördrag som USA är part i,” enligt utkast kommentarer (PDF) utarbetad av gruppen. ”[Klagande] att kräva att en person som ansöker om ett pass fyller i det föreslagna formuläret DS-5513, som få om någon sökande kunde fylla i, skulle innebära ett de facto beslut att neka sökanden ett pass. Och det beslutet skulle vara standardlöst, godtyckligt och olagligt,” tillade de. Utrikesdepartementet hade inte besvarat en begäran om synpunkter vid tidpunkten för offentliggörandet. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Underlåtenhet att svara kan innebära nekande av pass, & govt förbehåller sig rätten att använda denna information för 'rutinmässig användning.'" Uppdatering: Kommentarer noterar att denna blankett är särskilt avsedd i stället för en födelseattest med en passansökan; men som FA föreslår, de omständigheter under vilka personer som inte kan lämna en födelseattest kommer att ges denna form (snarare än den traditionella byråkratiska undersökningen) inte anges; vidare, formen i sig förblir en Kafkaesque omöjlighet för de flesta människor att slutföra. Det verkar troligt att endast vissa, inte alla, sökande kommer att behöva fylla i det nya frågeformuläret, men inga kriterier har offentliggjorts för att avgöra vilka som kommer att bli föremål för dessa nya skriftliga förhör. Så om passkontrollanten vill neka din ansökan behöver de bara ge dig den omöjliga nya blanketten att fylla i. Det framgår inte av stödutsagan, utlåtandet från juridiska myndigheter, eller den lagstadgade bedömning som utrikesdepartementet lämnat till Office of Management and Budget (OMB) varför en vägran att diskutera sina syskon eller att ange telefonnummer till din första handledare när du var tonåring som arbetar på McDonalds skulle vara en legitim grund för att neka en amerikansk medborgare pass. Ni har resten av dagen på er att lämna in era synpunkter på förslaget. Massor av ytterligare material på länken nedan. Statskontoret. vill göra det svårare att få ett pass (Bild: US Pass, en Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) bild från damian613 fotostream) rapportera denna annons <unk> <unk> Om du inte vill att det ska bli ännu svårare för en amerikansk medborgare att få ett pass — nu krävs för resor även till Kanada eller Mexiko — du har bara fram till måndag att meddela utrikesdepartementet. USA:s utrikesdepartement föreslår en ny Biografisk Frågeformulär för vissa pass sökande: Den föreslagna nya formulär DS-5513 begär alla adresser sedan födseln; livstid anställning historia inklusive arbetsgivare och handledare namn, adresser och telefonnummer; personuppgifter om alla syskon; mor adress ett år före din födelse; någon "religiös ceremoni" runt tiden för födseln; och en mängd annan information. Enligt den föreslagna blanketten, “underlåtelse att lämna den begärda informationen kan resultera i ... avslag på din amerikanska passansökan.” Utrikesdepartementet uppskattade att den genomsnittliga respondenten skulle kunna sammanställa all denna information på bara 45 minuter, vilket är uppenbart absurt med tanke på den mängd forskning som sannolikt kommer att krävas för att ens försöka fylla i formuläret. Det verkar troligt att endast vissa, inte alla, sökande kommer att behöva fylla i det nya frågeformuläret, men inga kriterier har offentliggjorts för att avgöra vilka som kommer att bli föremål för dessa nya skriftliga förhör. Så om passkontrollanten vill neka din ansökan behöver de bara ge dig den omöjliga nya blanketten att fylla i. Det är inte klart från stöd uttalande, uttalande av rättsliga myndigheter, eller lagstadgad bedömning in av utrikesdepartementet till Office of Management and Budget (OMB) varför avböja att diskutera sina syskon eller att ange telefonnummer till din första handledare när du var tonåring som arbetar på McDonalds skulle vara en legitim grund för nekande av ett pass till en amerikansk medborgare. Det finns mer information i Federal Register meddelande (finns även här som en PDF) och från Identity Project. Du kan lämna synpunkter till statskontoret. online på Regulations.gov fram till midnatt Östlig tid på måndag, April 25, 2011. Gå hit och klicka sedan på knappen ”Skicka en kommentar” längst upp till höger på sidan. Om den länken inte fungerar för dig, är det förmodligen ett problem med javascriptet som används på Regulations.gov hemsida. Det finns alternativa instruktioner för att skicka kommentarer via e-post här. (Observera att den föreslagna blanketten i sig inte publicerades i det federala registret. Identitetsprojektet försågs så småningom med en kopia efter att ha begärt den från statsdepartementet, och postade den här.) Här är kommentarerna (PDF) som lämnas in av Konsument Travel Alliance och andra konsumenter, integritet, och medborgerliga fri- och rättigheter grupper och individer, om du vill använda det för idéer för kommentarer av dina egna. (De finns också i OpenOffice-format för enklare redigering.) Extra poäng till den person som ger det bästa svaret i kommentarerna till frågan på den föreslagna blanketten, ”Beskriv omständigheterna vid din födelse inklusive namn (samt adress och telefonnummer, om tillgängligt) på personer som är närvarande eller är närvarande vid din födelse.” [Uppdatering: Mer än 3000 personer och flera organisationer lämnade kommentarer mot förslaget i de sista dagarna före tidsfristen. Dessa synpunkter ger ytterligare anledning till oro: Det framgår av vissa av kommentarerna att UD redan använder en version av detta formulär, utan det nödvändiga OMB-godkännandet.] John GilmoreArkiv-It Partner Sedan: Apr, 2007 Organisationstyp: Övriga institutionerOrganisation URL: http://www.toad.com John Gilmore är en privatperson som bryr sig om att arkivera Internet för kommande generationer. Han är den första individen att gå med i programmet Archive-It, som en partner till Internet Archive, att samla in och indexera dokument av intresse. Mr Gilmore var också med och grundade Electronic Frontier Foundation. Â°°
Foreign Office wants passport applicants to reveal lifetime employment history By David Edwards Monday, April 25, 2011 13:09 EDT The U.S. Department of State has proposed a new questionnaire that would make it almost impossible for some people to receive a passport. The new document (PDF) would require some applicants to submit a list of each residence and every job they have ever had since birth. In February, the department published a request in the Federal Register which gave 60 days to comment before the new rules enter into force. “Biographical Questionnaire for a U.S. Passport, form DS-5513, is used to supplement an application for a U.S. passport when the applicant submits citizenship or proof of identity that is insufficient or of questionable authenticity,” according to a supporting statement (PDF) issued along with the request for comment. ‘This form is used before the issue of a passport and requests information on the defendant’s family, birth conditions, housing, schooling and employment’, the statement adds. “In addition to this primary use of the data, DS-5513 can also be used as evidence in the prosecution of any person who submits a false information on the application and for other uses according to the Prefatory Statement and Pass System of Records Notice (State-26).” The document also requires certain applicants to provide information on the mother’s pre-natal and postnatal care, the mother’s residence one year before and after birth, the persons present at birth and religious or institutional recordings of birth. “The Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that the average respondent could compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research likely to be required to even try to complete the form,” Consumer Traveler Edward Hasbrouck noted. The Consumer Travel Alliance opposes the new form that “exceeds the statutory authority of the DOS, unconstitutional, and contrary to US obligations under international human rights treaties to which the United States is party,” according to draft comments (PDF) prepared by the group. ‘[Complainant] to require a person applying for a passport to complete the proposed form DS-5513, which few if any applicant could fill in, would constitute a de facto decision to deny the applicant a passport. And that decision would be standardless, arbitrary and illegal,” they added. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not responded to a request for comments at the time of publication. <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> ' <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> Failure to reply may involve denial of passport, & govt reserves the right to use this information for 'routine use.'" Update: Comments note that this form is specifically intended in place of a birth certificate with a passport application; but as the FA suggests, the circumstances under which persons unable to provide a birth certificate will be given this form (rather than the traditional bureaucratic survey) are not specified; further, the form itself remains a Kafkaesque impossibility for most people to complete. It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will have to fill in the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been published to determine who will be the subject of these new written hearings. So if the passport controller wants to refuse your application, they just need to give you the impossible new form to fill in. It is not apparent from the statement of support, the opinion of legal authorities, or the statutory assessment given by the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) why a refusal to discuss their siblings or to provide phone numbers to your first supervisor when you were a teenager working at McDonalds would be a legitimate basis for denying a U.S. citizen's passport. You have the rest of the day to submit your comments on the proposal. Lots of additional material on the link below. State Office. want to make it harder to get a passport (Image: US Pass, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from damian613 photostream) report this ad <unk> <unk> If you don't want it to be even harder for a U.S. citizen to get a passport — now required for travel even to Canada or Mexico — you only have until Monday to notify the State Department. The U.S. State Department proposes a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new form DS-5513 requests all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employer and supervisor names, addresses and phone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother address one year before your birth; some "religious ceremony" around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the requested information may result in ... rejection of your U.S. passport application.” The State Department estimated that the average respondent could compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research likely to be required to even try to complete the form. It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will have to fill in the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been published to determine who will be the subject of these new written hearings. So if the passport controller wants to refuse your application, they just need to give you the impossible new form to fill in. It is not clear from support statement, statement by judicial authorities, or statutory assessment submitted by the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) why decline to discuss their siblings or to enter the phone number of your first supervisor when you were a teenager working at McDonalds would be a legitimate basis for denying a passport to a U.S. citizen. There is more information in the Federal Register message (also available here as a PDF) and from the Identity Project. You can submit comments to the State Office. online at Regulations.gov until midnight Eastern time on Monday, April 25, 2011. Go here and then click the “Send a Comment” button at the top right of the page. If that link does not work for you, it is probably a problem with the javascript used on the Regulations.gov website. There are alternative instructions for sending comments by email here. (Note that the proposed form itself was not published in the federal register. The identity project was eventually provided with a copy after requesting it from the State Department, and posted it here.) Here are the comments (PDF) submitted by the Consumer Travel Alliance and other consumers, privacy, and civil liberties groups and individuals, if you want to use it for ideas for comments of your own. (They are also available in OpenOffice format for easier editing.) Additional points to the person who gives the best answer in the comments to the question on the proposed form, “Describe the circumstances of your birth including the name (as well as the address and telephone number, if available) of persons present or present at your birth.” [Update: More than 3000 people and several organizations submitted comments against the proposal in the last days before the deadline. These comments give further cause for concern: it is clear from some of the comments that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is already using a version of this form, without the necessary OMB approval.] John GilmoreArchive-It Partner Since: Apr, 2007 Organization Type: Other InstitutionsOrganisation URL: http://www.toad.com John Gilmore is a private person who cares about archiving the Internet for future generations. He is the first individual to join the Archive-It program, as a partner of the Internet Archive, to collect and index documents of interest. Mr. Gilmore also co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation. <unk>