News Room: SB 362: Banning RFID Implants

Bosses will probably find other ways to get under your skin, but thanks to California lawmakers they won't be allowed to stick little electronic ID badges into your flesh. A bill by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Friday, bars California employers and others from forcing people to have radio frequency identification (RFID) devices implanted under their skin. The bill goes into effect Jan. 1. read more ...

Sacramento – State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced today that Governor Schwarzenegger signed his Senate Bill 362, which would prohibit employers and others from forcing anyone to have a radio frequency identification (RFID) device implanted under their skin. The bill will go into effect on January 1, 2008. read more ...

OK, so the system of employer-sponsored health care is disappearing. And pensions sure aren't what they used to be, either. But the workers of California can breathe easy about one thing today, at least: the state Legislature has made it illegal for employers to implant identification devices in their skin. 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 ...

Technology is not solely to blame for the erosion of privacy in this nation. Government and businesses have been trying to keep track of you and your habits since the days of the quill pen. read more ...

Re "Got chips? Implanting people with microchips raises intriguing possibilities -- and grave fears," July 21: I have been examining privacy concerns related to RFID (radio frequency identification tags) for the past few years. I've introduced a package of bills that sets privacy standards for the use of RFID, including SB 362, which would prohibit any person from forcing any other person to undergo an RFID implant in their body or any other device that transmits their personal information. It passed out of the Senate and is awaiting a vote on the Assembly floor. 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

read more ...

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

read more ...

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

read more ...