Department issues new identity

To the editor:

The Missouri Department of Revenue says it's cracking down on identity theft with its Show Me Proof customer-friendly program.

When I renewed my driver's license, the clerk replaced my Social Security number with a new system-generated number and my post office box address with my physical address. Then she replaced my current middle name, which is my last name from my first marriage, with the middle name on my birth certificate.

I told her that the new name did not match the name I've used for 15 years, which is on my Social Security card, tax returns, credit cards, voter-registration card, published children's books, and checking account. She said, "Lots of women are having to give up their names." Shaken, I surrendered my old license ID and walked out with the new identity I'd been issued by the state.

Gov. Matt Blunt has praised the department for taking "a confusing and difficult legal obligation and turned it into a straightforward program that has real benefits to Missourians." But how will I cash a check?

SHEILA FOARD, Van Buren, Mo.