Senator wants to bar forced use of ID implants
By: STEVE LAWRENCE - Associated Press Writer | ∞
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Forgot your company identification badge at home? That wouldn't be a problem if employees had a small identification device about the size of a grain of rice inserted under their skin instead of a badge.
If that seems Orwellian to you, state Sen. Joe Simitian may have a solution. He's introduced a bill that would bar an employer or anyone else from requiring a person to have one of the devices implanted.
The measure is one of a series of bills the Palo Alto Democrat has proposed to control the use of so-called radio frequency identification devices, which can be placed in badges, passports, driver's licenses and on bodies to transmit radio signals with identifying information.
The Assembly Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider four of the bills Tuesday.
They also include measures that would bar use of RFIDs in driver's licenses and student identification badges before 2011 and set privacy-protection standards for RFIDs.
A fifth bill by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, is also on the committee's agenda. It would require companies that issue identification cards or other items containing RFIDs to disclose the personal information that would be revealed by the RFID and what steps they've taken to protect that information.
Simitian says he is concerned the information provided by RFIDs could be used to track people's movements or to steal their personal information with the use of an inexpensive monitor.
"When people understand the vulnerability of the technology and the absolute lack of any privacy protections or limits on information that can be broadcast, they understand why it's a legitimate source of concern," he said.
The use of implanted RFIDs makes "you think we really are in a world we never could have imagined," he said.
But Roxanne Gould, vice president for California government relations for the American Electronics Association, a high-tech industry group, said Simitian is taking the wrong approach, although her organization hasn't taken a position on the implant bill.
"Our bottom line is we're opposed to anything that demonizes RFIDs," she said. "The technology has been in existence for more than 50 years. It's in more than 1.2 billion ID credentials worldwide. ... We've not seen a single showing of ID theft or harm."
Lawmakers should focus on preventing inappropriate use of RFIDs, not in restricting the technology, she said.
Scott Silverman, chief executive officer of VeriChip Corp., a Florida company that makes implantable RFIDs, said his firm has a "very strong privacy policy" and doesn't oppose bills like the Simitian measure banning forced use of the devices.
"In principle, a device of this type should never be forced on anybody," he said.
Two other states, Wisconsin and North Dakota, have enacted similar bans.
Most of VeriChip's devices are implanted to identify medical patients, but the company has also made implantable RFIDs for security uses. Mexico's attorney general bought about 100 of them through a distributor a few years ago, Silverman said.
It would take a larger device, about the size of a pacemaker, to track a person's movements by satellite, he said.
Some of the other bills on lawmakers' agendas this week include:
RECYCLING -- A bill by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Sherman Oaks, would require apartment complexes with at least five units to provide access to waste recycling programs. According to a Senate analysis of the bill, only 40 percent of Californians in multifamily housing have access to curbside recycling. The bill is on the Senate Environmental Quality Committee's agenda on Monday.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY -- Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, has a bill that would make it easier for men to take their wives' last names when they get married. It's on the Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda on Tuesday.
HEMP FARMING -- Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, is making another attempt to allow California farmers to grow hemp, a distant, low-potency cousin of marijuana that is used in myriad products. The bill is before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the proposal last year.
ELECTORAL COLLEGE -- California would award its Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote under a bill by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, that's on the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee's Tuesday calendar. This proposal also was vetoed last year. The measure would only take effect if states with a majority of electoral votes adopted the same proposal.
On the Net:
www.assembly.ca.gov and www.senate.ca.gov
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betty wrote on Jun 18, 2007 9:59 AM:Senator Joe Simitian is correct this RFID has to be stopped. We have already started down the big brother orwellian road and RFID will put more power in the hands of the federal government. We are loosing our freedom and liberties for so called safty. Are we any safer from illegal identity theft? Are our borders secure? NO! the answer they give us is RFID chip national ID card and if that doesn't work we will put it under your skin. Is it to ID the illegals NO! It is to control the citizens and track us. WAKE UP PEOPLE! Our government is out of the peoples hands and is bought off by the money elite and corporations. Do you know what this type of government is called? Do you ever wonder how the pre world war 2 republic of germany turned to a nazi state? You should start studing history befor it is to late here. Their is no democrat or republican party they are now the same party. Their are still a few good people in each party like Joe Simitian and Congressman Ron Paul. Help restor the constituion and bill of rights and vote for Ron Paul for president. Check his proven voting record on his his web page RON PAUL 2008 and make up your own mind.
Theresa wrote on Jun 18, 2007 3:32 PM:I'm in the information technology myself and I don't care how sophisticated the technology is no system is failsafe. That being said, this is primarily an ethical/moral question. Just because the technology is there doesn't mean it's right to use it. In this case it devalues humanity. Implanted chips are for dogs and cats not human beings. This world is going technology crazy and sooner or later we're going to pay a heavy price.
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Jun 20, 2007 1:14 PM:The person trying to "implant" anything without my permission or the permissinon of a number of people I know, might want to advise as to the hospital of their choice before trying said implant.
Melvin wrote on Jun 20, 2007 3:55 PM:It's not about forcing people to implant something; it's about proposing a law that makes it illegal if you don't- basically letting the sheep file themselves into the slauterhouse! Just a single voice is not anouph but when combined with many, not even the nations' best armies can defiet a tidal wave!
Jennifer M. wrote on Jun 21, 2007 10:49 AM:My, my, my. Mankind, of this day and age, wants to consider themselves so intelligent and sophisticated than their predecessors. Yes, the technology designers of the RFIDs will find every excuse for its purpose, but in the end, it will lead to something more sinister. These implants are exactly what the Word of God said we would be doing in this day. You ask how would the men of God, 2000 years ago, know we would be doing this exact feat? "All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God...(II Timothy 3:16). Read on and see why the RFID program is just a stepping stone to something more sinister. "Revelation 13:16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.
Jean wrote on Jun 21, 2007 11:38 AM:I'm so glad we have someone that isn't afraid to stand up for our rights. I like Ron Paul very much, but I also like Dennis Kucinich and don't hear much about him. Dennis did not vote for the war.
Rob wrote on Jun 21, 2007 6:34 PM:Americans are already under covert surveillance by lawless, government sponsored terrorists, the RFID is another step toward total loss of freedom. RFID is similar to cloning in that science will never let the idea rest until humans are cloned and beyond. The fact RFID is being publicly debated means there are severe implications affecting our privacy. The concept is now being sold to pet owners who believe tagging their pets will make them easier to locate. What next? The tagging of our children so we can better monitor them? Loyalty cards have already impacted our privacy rights. Why should a retailer need information on who purchases what and where we live? Yet this is precisely how they are utilized, offering us reduced prices to gobble them up. "Sinister" is a good word for the RFID program. Would Ms. Gould please explain the difference between "preventing inappropriate use of RFIDs" and "restricting the technology"? I fail to see it.
Wynell wrote on Jun 23, 2007 5:42 AM:ditto to Betty's comment. Stop this now alone with the National ID before it's to late. Vote for Ron Paul President.
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