California spy-chip ID card ban?
p2pnet.net News:- A California senator has introduced a bill aimed at banning spy chip ID cards in the state.
Joe Simitian’s SB 682 would, “would prohibit identity documents (including library cards) created, mandated, or issued by various public entities from containing a contactless integrated circuit or other device that can broadcast personal information or enable personal information to be scanned remotely”.
For “contactless integrated circuit” read RFID, a technology also called spy chips – miniature radio transmitters used for a whole range of activities from tracking inventories to keeping Mexico’s attorney general safe.
“With management moving full speed ahead to install a controversial automated checkout system at the same time it has proposed laying off 12 mostly low-level employees, privacy advocates fear Big Brother will soon be lurking behind the checkout desk and library workers are wondering if they will have a place in the fully automated library of the future,” says the Berkeley Daily Planet.
It goes on to quote library director Jackie Griffin as assuming check-out staff, “will be in low demand thanks to the introduction of Radio Frequency Identity Devices (RFID), scheduled to be implemented in July.”
Recently, parents complained children at Northern California’s Brittan Elementary School were being forced to wear ID tags carrying spy chips.
“The signals broadcast by this type of badge can be picked up by anyone with the technology to read it, which allows a child’s identity and location to be pinpointed with ease,” says Pam Noles, a policy associate for the ACLU of Southern California.
“This does not increase security, it lessens it.”
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See:-
Mexico’s attorney general – FDA approves spy chip, p2pnet, October 13, 2004
Berkeley Daily Planet – Library’s New Technology Sparks Controversy, March 1, 2005
spy chips – CA school drops spy-chip ID, p2pnet, February 17, 2005
March 2nd, 2005 at 11:50 pm
If this bill passes Cali will be fighting the fed big time.
March 3rd, 2005 at 1:24 am
I have finally found a proposed California law that I actually agree with. I just hope that all the other 49 states pass a similar law. I for one am tired of being spied apon and tracked like cattle.
RFID for people does nothing to promote security. I bet that a paedophile would love to use a RFID reader to see if a child is home or even to learn a child’s name in some instances. This type of intrusion into our privacy should not be tolerated!!! If mandated, it is time for the people to no longer consent to being governed if you know what I mean. I say we draw the line HERE!!
If the government wants to do something to protect the American people, it would start by securing our borders. It could also put tariffs on imported, slave-made goods. The Constitution makes provisions for these tariffs. It is my question, “Why does the government refuse to follow the Constitution?” It is time for the people to stand up and force the governments to start obeying the law like everyone else.
March 13th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
We shouldn’t have spy chips of any kind for any purpose. The goverment already has enough ways to keep track of people if they would just use them properly. The argument that we need this to fight terrorism isn’t a good enough reason to keep track of all of the law abiding citizens with a spy chip.