[LINK] FW: California outlaws the forced subdermal RFID tagging of humans

[Roger Clarke]

[Is there a hint of irony here?  The head of State who's being asked 
to outlaw chip-embedment in humans is ... Arnold Schwarzenegger.]


California outlaws the forced subdermal RFID tagging of humans
By Nate Anderson | Published: September 04, 2007 - 11:10AM CT
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070904-california-outlaws-forced-rfid-tagging-of-humans.html

Worrying that your employer will force you to stick a small chip 
beneath your skin ranks low on the list of employee concerns in most 
parts of the country, but that didn't stop the state of California 
from passing a bill last week to ban such forced tagging of humans. 
The state senator who sponsored the bill called forced RFID tagging 
the "the ultimate invasion of privacy," and his bill is now on its 
way to the governor's desk for his signature.

Senate Bill 362 (link) "would prohibit a person from requiring, 
coercing, or compelling any other individual to undergo the 
subcutaneous implanting of an identification device," and a similar 
version has already passed the state Assembly. Joseph Simitian, who 
came up with the idea, laments the fact that the RFID industry does 
not appear to find his idea a good one.
"I think it's unfortunate and regrettable that the industry hasn't 
come out in support of SB 362," he said in a statement after the bill 
passed the Senate. "I understand why we're having a robust debate 
about the privacy concerns related to RFID, but at the very least, we 
should be able to agree that the forced implanting of under-the-skin 
technology into human beings is just plain wrong.  I'm deeply 
concerned that this isn't a given for the industry."

If the bill is signed into law, it would not actually be the first 
time such a law has been enacted. Both Wisconsin and North Dakota 
already have similar laws on the books (one wonders if those bills 
also define "subcutaneous," a word which would seem to define itself).
Any employer or individual forces a person to get tagged faces 
penalties of up to $10,000 plus a continuing fine of $1,000 per day 
so long as the violation continues. The bill has no effect on the 
(external) tagging of prisoners or the (internal) tagging of pets.

The California legislature has shown its interest in RFID privacy for 
several years now, passing several bills that mandate privacy and 
security requirements (link) for the technology. And Californians 
have showed that they can cause a ruckus when RFID tracking is 
mandated. Parents revolted back in 2005, for example, when a school 
district in Sutter, California, required all students to wear RFID 
badges (link) at all times.


-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

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Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW