New state licenses are fighting fraud with colors and ghost images.

In an effort to further shield people from becoming victims of fraud and counterfeiting, Secretary of State Jesse White recently revealed new state drivers’ licenses and ID cards with improved security and design features to be issued to Illinois residents. The new design was made public Oct. 23.

“The overall goal is to give Illinois one of the most secure and reliable forms of identification in the nation,” said Henry Haupt, deputy press secretary for the Illinois Secretary of State. “We’re using state-of-the-art security features in a multi-layer approach.”

Design features include a high-tech laser feature, kinetic movement, a UV feature, microtext, black and red lines embedded throughout the card, and a ghost image of the photo in the lower right corner, Haupt said.

Colors found on the top of the card indicate its type. Red signifies a driver’s license or commercial driver’s license. Identification cards will display green and a temporary visitor driver’s license will display purple.

“All of the features work together,” Haupt said. “There are so many different elements to this card that it really makes it state-of-the-art.”

A new inventory tracking system which screens the material used during the manufacturing of the card has also been implemented.

“The tracking system ties the card to the cardholder and the facility that produced the card,” Haupt said. “This better ensures that the card is legitimate and not fraudulent.”

The back of the cards have changed, too. The First-Person Consent Law, made effective in Illinois on Jan. 1, 2006, maintains that an individual’s wish to remain an organ or tissue donor upon death cannot be altered by surviving family members. A registered donor’s card will now display the word “DONOR” in a red silhouetted picture of the state.

“Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America,” Haupt said. “The new design goes to protect people by ensuring that their cards are extremely difficult to counterfeit.”

The new cards are currently only available at the Secretary of State Melrose Park driver licensing facility. Haupt called the location the state’s “pilot site” and said other driving facilities will begin to issue the cards once they receive the appropriate equipment and software. The roll-out will begin Nov. 6 in southern Illinois and progress north from there.

“By the end of January, every facility in the state of Illinois will be issuing these cards,” Haupt said. “It’s a pretty aggressive timetable.”

Individuals with valid drivers’ licenses or ID cards sporting the old design are not required to obtain a new one until their current cards expire. There is no additional cost for the new design. More information can be found at www.cyberdriveillinois.com.