Dear Harry: My driver's license was up for renewal last week, so I went to one of the places where they take your picture and issue a new license. There was one man there who wanted a duplicate license, stating that he had lost his. The clerk asked him for nothing to prove that he was who he said he was, and she gave him a new one.

My brain started all kinds of gyrations regarding identity theft, so I asked the clerk why she had done it. She got very angry, and she told me to mind my own business. I tried to find a supervisor, but was told he was out on that day. Am I wrong to be concerned? Someone could very easily have said she was me and used the new license to steal my identity. Am I wrong to be worried?

What Harry says: This is a new wrinkle on the identity-theft front. I'd never come across anyone asking for a new license after having lost an old one. It seems to me that such a case should be handled like a new application in regard to identification.

Today, the driver's license is the primary method of identification for many things. Several times, I have had no success in using my press card as an ID (issued by the Philadelphia Police Department with a photo) when the driver's license did the trick. Great care should be used by the license-issuing agency in every state. Unfortunately, you have discovered a big hole in the system that needs correction. *

Write Harry Gross c/o the Daily News, 400 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19130. Harry urges all his readers to give blood - contact the American Red Cross at 800-GIVE LIFE.