Landmark RFID Bill Overwhelmingly Passes California Senate

The Identity Information Protection Act (SB 30), the first bill in the country to require privacy and security protections for the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in state government-issued ID's passed the California State Senate this morning with a strong bipartisan vote of 33-2.

Today's vote was an even more emphatic message to Governor Schwarzenegger that the privacy and security of Californians is not a liberal or conservative issue, it is an everyone issue and the Governor should sign SB 30 into law.

Two years ago, the California Senate passed SB 30's predecessor bill with a bipartisan vote of 30-7 and the California Assembly passed it with a bipartisan vote of 49-26.

The Governor missed an opportunity to protect the privacy and security of Californians and issued a shortsighted veto of the measure on the last day of the legislative session.

You wouldn't allow a stranger to sift through your purse or wallet and take your driver's license. You wouldn't broadcast your personal information to anyone that passes by.

That is exactly why the Senate overwhelmingly approved SB 30 today, why the Assembly should also pass the legislation later this session, and why the Governor must sign SB 30 into law – to protect Californians from harm to their privacy, financial security, and personal safety.

Since the introduction of the RFID legislation by Senator Simitian, the issue has become even more salient as the vulnerabilities of RFID technology have become more public and the potential use of RFID technology in identification documents has become more widespread.

Click here for more information about RFID technology and SB 30.

Click here to tell Governor Schwarzenegger to sign SB 30.