Governor signs SB 362 - Simitian's RFID Bill!!

We just got the news! There aren't any press stories about the signing yet, as we got word just after lunch time today that the Governor has signed SB 362 (Identification devices: subcutaneous implanting). The new law will prohibit a person or business from requiring, coercing, or compelling any other individual to undergo the subcutaneous implanting of an identification device.

The Consumer Federation of California actively supported this legislation, stating:

"...the FDA has approved a subdermal RFID-enabled device for people, and that product has been developed and is being marketed in the U.S. and abroad. While subdermal RFID has some promise when used voluntarily, it comes with the same security and privacy risks associated with other RFID-enabled products. And because it is inserted underneath the skin and is difficult and costly to remove, subdermal RFID presents a Pandora’s Box of policy questions in addition to its profound implications for our constitutionally protected rights to freedom and privacy.

This is not a road we need to travel. It is simply not appropriate for anyone to force, compel or coerce anyone to accept a subdermal RFID-enabled identification implant. And though it sounds Matrix-like, this possibility exists now and is getting more real every day. For these reasons, the Consumer Federation of California supports SB 362. "

For more on the bill and issue, and for those new to the site, check out this excellent editorial by the San Francisco Chronicle we posted here in August.

The Chronicle states:

"Just last year, a Cincinnati-based provider of video-surveillance equipment inserted glass-encapsulated microchips into the arms of two employees to increase the level of security to the company's datacenter.

Those two workers volunteered, but it's not hard to imagine the lightbulbs going off in Corporate America. Is Joe really making a sales call or is he taking in a baseball game at AT&T Park? How many smoke breaks is Mary taking?

Amazingly, there is no California law against "chipping" workers as a condition of employment. Even more incredible -- outrageous, really -- is the resistance state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, has encountered in trying to pass legislation (SB362) that would prevent an employer or anyone else, including government, from coercing an individual to accept a microchip implant."