REAL ID CAMPAIGN RAISES QUESTIONS ABOU PRIVACY CONCENS.

Research Questions: This paper explored the following research questions: 1) Do individuals exposed to a Real ID advertising campaign have greater awareness about the Real ID Act compared to individuals not exposed to the campaign 2) Do individuals exposed to the campaign have greater intentions to obtain Real IDs than those who did not see the ads And 3) Do individuals with stronger privacy concerns have lower intentions to get the Real ID. Method and Data: Online surveys were conducted to assess the impact of campaign ads promoting the Real ID on audience intentions to get the new license, and to determine whether privacy concerns were a barrier. An online survey was conducted in Summer 2020 to evaluate the impact of a marketing campaign, entitled "The Real Me," undertaken by the Motor Vehicle Division to clarify Montana residents' understanding of the Real ID Act. A random sample of 5,000 was generated from a statewide list of registered voters. Respondents were contacted online by Gravis Marketing, a market research company hired for the project, and invited to complete the survey anonymously through a link to Qualtrics Survey Software. Questions probed on intent to get a Real ID, possession of a Real ID or passport, exposure to the "Real Me" marketing campaign ads, and attitudes about the Real ID. A privacy scale measured two dimensions of concerns about privacy [privacy as a right, and informational privacy] (Baruh and Cemalcilar 2014). Approximately 302 responses were obtained, skewed towards a more senior and educated demographic than the state population - groups less likely to adopt the new license. Summary and Findings: Results were analyzed using SPSS software to identify the frequencies of common barriers to the ID, frequencies of early vs. late adopters, and campaign exposure. Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify predictors of variance in the timing of intent to obtain a new ID. In this analysis, the timing of the intent to obtain was used as dependent variable, and all other variables were treated as independent variables. Analysis showed a positive association between the time spent viewing the ads on social media and intent to obtain the Real ID, but no relationship between privacy concerns and Real ID intentions. To date, the states and territories have issued approximately 110 million Real ID-compliant driver's licenses and identification cards, representing 40 percent of all driver's licenses and identification card holders. Montana, one of the states originally most resistant to the 2005 security act, lags only slightly behind with 20 percent of drivers and ID card-holders having Real IDS. Key Contributions: This research shows that privacy concerns about a new technology or identification system, such as the Real ID, can erode over time. Whether these changes are due to mounting privacy apathy triggered by the public's perceived lack of control, or a willingness to sacrifice some privacy for national security in the face of rising terrorist threats needs to be researched further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]