Help stop RFID in California IDs
A new California bill seeks to protect your privacy from covert scanning. The Identity Information Protection Act (SB 682), authored by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), would prohibit state, county, or municipal governments in California from issuing or requiring RFID-embedded identity documents. RFIDs, or Radio Frequency Identification tags, could enable remote reading of the personal information on your driver's license, health benefits card, or student ID. RFID tags are small embedded chips in documents and objects that respond to remote radio signal requests with identifying data. If RFID tags are included in state IDs, personal data could be scanned without your knowledge or permission, exposing you to the risk of tracking, stalking, and identity theft. Furthermore, the signals emitted from RFID tags could be used to quickly identify American citizens in foreign countries. RFID-embedded government ID is a bad idea.It's hard enough keeping these things out of passports. No one should be able to read your identification information without your consent -- and that means physically taking possession of the ID to attach it to a reader device. If RFIDs are ever included in a standard identity document, freedom of association is dead -- along with any vestige of privacy. The EFF has a way you can send comments in support of the bill. I think this is a preemptive measure, but there's nothing wrong with telling unelected public servants what they shall not do before they try to do it. |
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