WASHINGTON-Privacy advocates have rallied around a new California initiative that would prohibit driver’s licenses and other identity documents issued by the state from containing radio frequency identification chips.
“This is all about individual privacy, personal safety and financial security,” said state Sen. Joe Simitian (D), author of the bill. “SB 682 ensures that state and local government will be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
The legislation, according to a press release by the American Civil Liberties Union, was introduced days after a Sutter, Calif., firm withdrew an RFID pilot program from an elementary school following complaints from parents. The ACLU said the school district wanted to use RFID tags to track the students’ movements. The students were going to be required to wear RFID identification badges that included the student’s name, photo, grade, school name, class year and the four-digit school ID number.
“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. This does not increase security, it lessens it,” said Pam Noles, a policy associate for the ACLU of Southern California. “In Sutter, these badges compromised the safety of the elementary school students and parents weren’t even given the option to consent to their use.”
Joining the ACLU in backing the Simitian bill are the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
An RFID privacy bill championed by another California senator was defeated in committee last year.
