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Privacy concerns need attention


Saturday, March 10, 2007

Letter to the Editors of the San Jose Mercury News by State Sen. Joe Simitian, Palo Alto

I agree that a federally mandated identification system raises questions about privacy (Editorial, March 6). One of the technologies that has been considered for use in identification documents is radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. RFID technology uses chips that can be embedded in documents for tracking and identification purposes. With a device called a reader, anyone, including an identity thief, can read or “skim” the personal information in the chip. Last year, I introduced legislation to make California the first state to require privacy and security protections for RFID use in government identity documents. I was disappointed when the bill was vetoed. I’ve reintroduced it as Senate Bill 30 because I think the public wants us to anticipate and solve privacy problems before they occur. With the impending federal effort to create a national identification system, the need to address privacy concerns is all the more urgent and real.