Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison's recent proposal for a national ID system, and his offer to provide the software to the government for free, spawned criticism from privacy advocates. But what many may not know is that a national ID system is already in the works.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) -- the group that represents state officials who issue driver's licenses -- is pushing Congress to fund a nationwide database that collects information from a standardized driver's license format.

If the association has its way, each license would have all of the usual information -- name, address, and photo -- but could later include a driver's specific biometric information, stored in a 2D bar code that could hold 2,000 bytes of information.

The goals are to reduce police paperwork and prevent identity theft, according to the association.

If it receives congressional approval, the standardized licenses quickly could become a national ID. Currently, 36 states and Washington, DC, use or are planning to use the licenses with the 2D bar codes.

The proposed nationwide database would link state law enforcement agencies with the global positioning satellite system. This would allow police with patrol car computers and bar code readers to scan a license and get almost instantaneous information.

Still, AAMVA officials admit that no matter what security measures are taken, it is always just a matter of time before someone figures out how to hack into the database or create a false ID. AAMVA said that is why it's important to have a national database that law enforcement can use to check that the ID card in hand matches information collected when the card was issued.

The projected cost to set up the database is $50 million to $70 million.

Oracle's Ellison first floated the idea of a national ID system in television interviews following the September 11 hijacked airplane attacks and in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal.

"Many Americans instinctively fear that a national ID card would sacrifice basic freedoms and compromise personal privacy. On the face of it, issuing ID cards does seem a significant step. Trusting government to maintain a database with our names, addresses, places of work, amounts and sources of income, assets, purchases, travel destinations, and more seems a huge leap of faith," Ellison wrote. "But we should remember that these databases already exist, and that we willingly helped in their creation. For years, companies like American Express and Visa have been issuing cards and building up information on millions of Americans. The databases they maintain are searched and sold on a daily basis."

As co-founder and CEO of the world's largest database software vendor, Ellison is the most prominent technology executive to thrust himself into the debate pitting national security concerns against the protection of personal freedoms.

Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems, recently said he supports a national ID system as well.

"This is more than a sea change," McNealy said to reporters at an industry conference in Orlando, Florida. "I have not spoken to one person who hasn't flipped a switch to say, 'You're darn right, I want to know who's getting on a plane with me.' "

"Absolute anonymity breeds absolute irresponsibility," he said. "We need a thumbprint Java card in the hand of everybody in the country."