CA Bill Limits Skin Implantation of RFID Chips

twitter writes with a link to a ZDNet blog entry about a piece of legislation submitted to the California state senate. Drafted by Democratic Senator Joe Simitian, its purpose is to ensure that employers cannot require the implantation of RFID chips as part of employment. It is meeting with scorn from the American Electronics Association. "'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,' said Roxanne Gould, vice president for California government relations for the American Electronics Association, a high-tech industry group."

Linky?

[Loconut1389]

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php? type=wnews&id=76472&eddate= [smdailyjournal.com]

this might help.

Re:RTFA?

[Anonymous Coward]

http://whitepapers.zdnet.com/whitepaper.aspx?docid =90938 [zdnet.com]

Now you've got only one remaining excuse for not reading it : you're on Slashdot :)

Re:RTFA?

[Anonymous Coward]

My mistake : http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3237 [zdnet.com]

Here's the bill

[Animats]

SB 362 [ca.gov]. "A person shall not require, coerce, or compel any other individual to undergo the subcutaneous implanting of an identification device."

Re:like ID tattoos?

[Jaknet]

"No employer currently requires (or even asks for) the use of RFID implants. Most places are happy when an employers carries theirs as a badge."

Please check your facts before stating incorrect FUD like this... I remembered reading about this a while ago and it took only a few seconds with Google to find it.

"A Cincinnati video surveillance company CityWatcher.com now requires employees to use Verichip human implantable microchips to enter a secure data centre. Until now, the employees entered the data centre with a VeriChip housed in a heart-shaped plastic casing that hangs from their keychain.
The VeriChip is a glass encapsulated RFID tag that is injected into the triceps area of the arm to uniquely identify individuals. The tag can be read by radio waves from a few inches away.
The news was reported by CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering), a US organisation that opposes the use of surveillance RFID cards."

Re:Huh?

[nospam007]

...(has any human ever been chipped with an RFID chip?),...
---
Its old news actually.

Clubbers choose chip implants to jump queues - 21 May 2004 - New ...
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn5022 [newscientist.com]

http://www.greaterthings.com/News/Chip_Implants/ [greaterthings.com]

Not true

[Travoltus]

Under this current proposed law, the first time an employer ASKS you to have an RFID implant, they've broken the law and are in deep poodoo.

The employer is free to not hire someone who doesn't take the RFID implant, but then they're free to report said employer for even requesting it, and California is free to fine/imprison/punish the employer.

The question then boils down to enforcement. How likely then is the company to get punished for breaking the law, and to what magnitude? That is where we ought to be asking the biggest questions.

Re:Huh?

[Garabito]

has any human ever been chipped with an RFID chip?

This guy [ieee.org] actually did it himself. And he convinced his girlfriend to also do it.

Actually, California Dragged Their Feet...

[Khammurabi]

Wisconsin passed a similar law over a year ago. [Article [computerworld.com]]