Stephen Breyer, for example, fretted about the possible fate under the law of a jogger carrying only a driver's licence from New Mexico, a state that borders Arizona and used to issue licences to illegal immigrants.

ECONOMIST: Immigration politics

Joseph Bruno, the state Senate majority leader, who has been at loggerheads with Mr Spitzer since the summer (Mr Spitzer's office accused Mr Bruno of abusing his aircraft privileges), says the policy change is unconstitutional and contradicts a federal act which requires, among other things, a valid Social Security number to get a driver's licence.

ECONOMIST: Immigration

Also inside one backpack was a California driver's licence with the name of William Nickerson but a picture of Nathan Hall, the complaint alleges.

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The process involves ID verification using a passport, driver's licence with photo-card and a utility bill.

BBC: Losing your identity

That technology works best with higher resolution images and a known photo, like a passport or driver's licence, with which to compare to the footage.

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Aaron Williams, 25, told officials the strainer was a religious head covering and he had a right to wear it in his driver's licence photo.

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The papers also said that a further 455, 000 customers who returned merchandise without receipts had personal data stolen - including driver's licence numbers.

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