News & Commentary

In April 2006, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a non-profit business government coalition in San Jose, California, released a request for proposals for it's new initiative, Wireless Silicon Valley, an ambitious project to create a region-wide wireless system to "anyone, anywhere, involving any device."

by Christopher CalabreseACLU Nationwide

Although the technology has been around since World War II, state and local governments have recently begun incorporating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices into identification documents such as student IDs and passports. Citizens are compelled to carry these RFID-enabled devices, which broadcast personal information and often lack meaningful privacy and security protections. As a result, government is forcing citizens to carry devices that compromise their safety.

Although the technology has been around since World War II, state and local governments have recently begun incorporating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices into identification documents like driver's licenses and passports. Citizens are compelled to carry these RFID-enabled devices, which broadcast their personal information and often lack meaningful privacy and security protections. As a result, government is forcing citizens to carry RFID-enabled devices that compromise their safety. SB 30 responds to this problem by requiring privacy and security safeguards on RFID-enabled, government-issued identification documents

This bill would provide that a person or entity that intentionally remotely reads or attempts to remotely read a person's identification document using radio frequency identification (RFID) without his or her knowledge and prior consent, as described, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, a fine of not more than $1,500, or both that fine and imprisonment, except as specified. The bill would also provide that a person or entity that knowingly discloses, or causes to be disclosed, specified operational system keys shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, a fine of not more than $1,500, or both that fine and imprisonment. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.Final Status: SB 31 WAS

SB 682 (2005) would have prohibited any person or entity from intentionally reading a person's government-issued identification document (ID) remotely using radio waves without the knowledge of that person. It includes strong criminal penalties for anybody who violates this statute.

RFID devices are tiny chips with miniature antennae that are embedded within documents or objects for tracking and identification purposes. When a RFID reader emits a radio signal, all RFID-enabled devices in the vicinity respond by automatically transmitting their stored information to the reader.

Ever whiled away five minutes on a Facebook quiz, finding out what cartoon character is your look-alike or how your IQ stacks up? These quizzes may seem like a perfectly harmless way to spend a few spare minutes. But have you stopped to think about what these quizzes are learning about you and how that info could be used? Take our quiz and learn more!

After your support drove the California Legislature to send a letter rejecting the Department of Motor Vehicle's proposal to begin embedding biometric information—face and fingerprint scans—into drivers' licenses, a senate subcommittee voted yesterday to delete the facial scan proposal from the DMV's contract with drivers' license providers.