Nov. 3--AUSTIN -- As part of a plan unveiled Wednesday to boost Texas security, the state is looking to incorporate thumbprints in drivers' licenses and will add facial-recognition technology to detect fraudulent-license applicants.

"The bad guys have the technology to create these false IDs. Why can't law enforcement have the technology to prevent it?" said state Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, author of a law approved this year paving the way for the facial-recognition technology.

The technology is meant to catch people trying to get more than one license or using a stolen identity.

Corte's measure, House Bill 2337, drew opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, which raised alarms about possible government use of fingerprint and photo identification information in an improper "big brother" role. Backers disagreed.

The driver's license provision is just part of the Texas Homeland Security Strategic Plan 2005-2010 released by Gov. Rick Perry.

Among other highlights, the plan envisions building a statewide intelligence capability that includes an around-the-clock Texas Fusion Center to watch for possible hazards and consolidate and analyze information.

It also looks to beef up border law enforcement, as announced earlier by Perry, and speed up "radio interoperability" to ensure that agencies responding to a crisis on the border can communicate and act quickly.

But driver's license changes likely will attract the attention of millions of Texans called upon daily to pull out the cards when making transactions. The changes are meant not only to stall terrorists but stem identity theft.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has awarded a contract to Oregon-based Digimarc Corp. to design and make a license with facial and thumbprint verification. The five-year contract is valued at nearly $30 million, according to the company.

"We are two weeks into the re-engineering process to make the most secure driver's license document possible," DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said. "So many people are relying on drivers' licenses and identification cards to be the primary identification for a person."

DPS has been authorized to obtain fingerprints since 1967, and the process has been electronic since 1999, Mange said. But she said while people have been identified in a number of cases using prints on file, those made with old technology are sometimes not good quality and don't allow a comparison.

Mange said decisions still are being made on electronically embedding thumbprints in licenses.