News & Commentary

Welcome to Bytes and Pieces, the new blog for the Technology and Civil Liberties Program.

I hope that you will be a frequent visitor to this spot to keep up to date on all the latest news and activities on privacy, free speech, and new technology and share your thoughts on current projects and emerging issues.

Hot Off the Presses:

Landmark RFID Bill Passes Legislature, On Governor's Desk Right Now

The RFID privacy bill that we have been working on for the past two years passed the California legislature with broad bipartisan support and is now sitting on the Governor's desk. The Governor is expected to make a decision about the bill this week!

The Identity Information Protection Act (SB 768) has definitely been "the little engine that could"…chugging tirelessly uphill to try to be the first legislation in the nation to provide for privacy and security protections on the use of RFID tags in identification documents, like drivers' licenses.

RFID tags are tiny computer chips that can be embedded in public documents. Whether you were walking down the street, participating in a political rally, or visiting a doctor's office or a gun show, anyone with an RFID scanner could read the personal data stored on the chip in your ID. The chips would not alert you that your personal information, such as a name, address or social security number, is being transmitted. The unknown disclosure of that information could put you at risk of tracking, stalking and identity theft.

What you choose to read says a lot about who you are, what you value, and what you believe. That’s why you should be able to learn about anything from politics to health without worrying that someone is looking over your shoulder. The ACLU has fought alongside libraries and bookstores time and again to defend the privacy rights of readers. Now we need your help to protect reader privacy rights in the digital era.