RFID in the News
The privacy and security concerns associated with the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is in the news again.
A new article about RFID and privacy and security issues was written this week by the Associated Press. Chips: High Tech Aids or Tracking Tools?
The ACLU of Northern California is working on four landmark privacy bills on RFID technology- SB 28, 29, 30, and 31. For links to the bills and more information about RFID technology, click here.
Last month, the San Jose Mercury News published a strong editorial in support of the California RFID legislation. Editorial: State needs law to protect personal data on chips .
The San Jose Mercury News also published an extensive article about the RFID legislation and the privacy and security concerns with RFID. Raising privacy alarm over RFID chips.
A Stanford Law and Technology Review article detailing the ACLU of Northern California's work on the privacy and security concerns of RFID and the landmark legislation is set for publication this fall. Click here to read a draft.
Want to see the privacy and security concerns in action? Click here to watch news reports from Channel 7- Bay Area and Channel 4- Seattle about the ease of reading and copying RFID tags.
California RFID Legislation:
All of the California RFID bills are moving through the legislative process.
Contact the Governor and urge him to sign RFID legislation into law this year.
The core legislation is the Identity Information Protection Act of 2007 (SB 30). SB 30 ensures that RFID technology will not be used in the government-issued identification cards that we all carry around everyday, like drivers' licenses, student IDs, and medical cards and benefit cards, until appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent the unauthorized remote access of personal information.
The inclusion of RFID technology without proper privacy and security safeguards would mean that innocent Americans could be tracked and monitored as they move about their daily lives and that personal and financial security could be threatened by identity thieves obtaining information about us like our names and addresses without our knowledge.
SB 30's predecessor bill (SB 768) was overwhelmingly passed by the California Senate and Assembly last year. After a short-sighted veto by the Governor, the bill was re-introduced by Senator Joe Simitian.
SB 30 has already passed the California Senate with the extremely broad bipartisan vote of 33-3. It is moving through the Assembly Committees and is set for an Assembly vote later in the summer.
