News Room: SB 29: RFID in Schools - Parental Choice

Privacy Piracy host Mari Frank interviews State Senator Joe Simitian on his range of legislation aimed at protecting Californians' privacy. read more ...

Sacramento – State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced today that his Senate Bill 362, which would prohibit any person from forcing any other person to undergo an implant in their body of a radio frequency identification (RFID) device, passed the Senate Floor on a 28-9 vote today. The bill now goes to the Governor. read more ...

What if you lost a child and the authorities could track and find him or her, using radio frequencies? Now, what if authorities could track your movements in the same way, and know whether you were attending, for instance, an anti-war rally. The monitoring ability of RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification, has become a very hot topic lately. So far, it’s a debate that pits the electronics industry against privacy-rights advocates.

This year, concerns about the use of RFID have prompted State Senator Joe Simitian, of Palo Alto, to sponsor legislation. He wants to place real limits on the ability of authorities to use RFID to keep track of people and identify them.

Audio Segment on KPBS Website

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Slap a chip costing a few cents on a clock radio or a bottle of Prozac, and you can track it from its manufacturer to the cash register at Wal-Mart. Build a chip into a special windshield tag, and it allows drivers to zip across the Golden Gate Bridge without stopping at a toll booth. Put one in a corporate identification card and all of a sudden it becomes an electronic door key.

Such is the power of radio frequency identification, or RFID, a technology that’s been around for a half-century but is finally beginning to transform commerce - and become controversial.

Full story on San Jose Mercury News website

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SACRAMENTO - Attempting to prevent a potential clash between privacy rights and the latest technological advances, a Palo Alto lawmaker is trying to dissuade the state government, schools and private businesses from tracking people through the use of radio frequency identification devices such as electronic cards and implanted devices.

A legislative package of four measures by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, will be introduced in an Assembly committee today that would prohibit an employer from implanting tiny ID chips in workers, block RFID technology from being embedded in driver’s licenses, prohibit schools from issuing ID cards to track student attendance and make it a misdemeanor to skim identification cards - a method by which identity thieves secretly read the cards of unsuspecting people and clone new versions.

His measures, vociferously opposed by the tech industry, were prompted in part by the increasing availability of wireless equipment sold in stores and cyberspace that can read employee badges - even if they are in someone’s pocket or purse 20 feet away - and create a new card using that individual’s personal information.

Full story on San Jose Mercury News website

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Radio technology stops shoplifters - tracks merchandise, follows livestock and even tells you how bad traffic is. All through tiny radio transmitters called radio frequency identifiers, or RFID. All these devices transmit signals to receivers, like at the Fastrak toll booths. "That means someone in state government knows where they've been, where they've gone know how long it took them to get there, and knows their movement through the bay area," says Senator Joe Simitian, (D) Palo Alto. read more ...

Sacramento – State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced today that his Senate Bills 28 and 29, which would protect information in driver’s licenses and sensitive student data by issuing a three-year moratorium on the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) or ‘smart chip’ technology in schools and driver’s licenses, have advanced through the Senate. They will be heard next in the Assembly. read more ...

Legislation approved Monday by the state Senate would ban public schools from using radio-wave devices containing personal information about students to take attendance and monitor students’ movement around campus.

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The California legislature this month is expected to vote on several bills that would regulate the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in government documents. Similar legislation was approved by the body last year only to be vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October. read more ...

All it takes is a second, and it's gone -- a modern day pick-pocket can snatch your credit card and other personal information without ever touching your wallet. The thieves need only a little know how, and about a hundred bucks. The technology we rely on everyday -- is being abused. read more ...