Dumbest tech bill so far this year?

From my vantage point in the peanut gallery, it's oh so tempting to hold our elected officials up to ridicule. But truth be told, it's sometimes impossible to resist. And when it comes to that increasingly busy intersection between the worlds of politics and technology, it seems the hits just keep on coming.

So it is that California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) introduced a bill that would "prohibit any person from forcing any other person to undergo an implant in their body of a radio frequency identification device."

I kid thee not.

His fellow pols obviously couldn't resist backing such a ostentatiously feel-good measure and the state Senate dutifully passed the bill on a 28-9 vote today. (The fact that nine senators actually voted against passage is grist for another day. Either they're delightfully libertarian iconoclasts or just out-and-out crypto fascists.)

You have to admire the guy's chutzpah. Simitian, who chairs the state Senate's Committee on Privacy, shamelessly painted himself as the defender against those who would doom us to an Orwellian future.

"RFID technology is not in and of itself the issue. RFID is a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses," Simitian is quoted in a release from his press office. "But we shouldn't condone forced 'tagging' of humans. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy."

Well, duh.

OK, I'm having sport at Simitian's expense. But come on, dude. If we reach the point where Big Brother is forcing folks to implant RFID chips into humans, we're all going to be in trouble.

The bill now goes to the Governator.

[seangum]

Not so fast....

Isn't the military ALREADY doing this? Albeit, you are not forced to do it, but if you want to enlist....<br /><br />Then there's the issue of a draft, would it be forced?<br /><br />I could also see them wanting to tag "prisoners" too... Install readers along highways and airports to track down an escaped prisoner?<br /><br />Only thing is, if the feds want to do it, a state law can/will be overridden.<br /><br />Paranoid?<br /><br />All in the name of National Security, of course...<br /><br />Sean<br />SeanGum.com

[godam_registration]

It's not all that dumb!...

As the previous poster noticed, yes - the military is the biggest concern since they'd be the likeliest ones to use it on unwilling subjects - either their own soldiers or prisoners. <br /><br />Also, prisons, juvies, mental hospitals and other institutions might feel tempted to do the same. <br /><br />It sounds like a pretty reasonable measure to me!

[sgtlyon]

Is the military really doing that?

When I was in(1993-1997), there was a rumor about them talking about implanting us with something like that, but I dismissed it as rumor. I would have a faced a Court Martial over that. Too close to cyborg and all.<br />One fight that was won for soldiers at that time was mandatory DNA archiving. They said it was only to help in identification in case of tramatic death, but... Would you trust a politician with your DNA? Due to the possible abuses, I'd rather my family have an empty casket to bury than just my pinky toe. The DNA program was pulled around 1996 after two real courts martial proceedings last I heard.

[imapcguru2]

who needs force ?

People are so naive. It isn't big brother gov't yhat will motivate the use of human RFID. It is the going to be the convenience and discounts from retailers providing value added services using RFID (vs. those cumbersome barcoded keychain tags). As long as I am not doing something I care about someone knowing about- go ahead and give me a discount or advise me of some advantage I am not aware of. <br /><br />I'm waiting - inject me.

[ewelch]

Left Behind?

Why this guy is afraid of RFID being implanted in our bodies (I'm <br />in CA) is possibly the fact that he believes in the anti-Christ <br />coming and a rapture about to happen. <br /><br />Such belief is based on the idea that the mark of the beast (666, <br />or in this case RFID tags) is going to be required for anyone to <br />do any kind of financial transaction. And they believe that <br />anyone who succumbs to the beast's demand to accept his mark <br />is automatically going to hell, do not pass Go, do not collect <br />$200. Anyone who will not submit will be killed.<br /><br />So it's possibly a bit of paranoia, I suspect, with a theological <br />flavor.

[lonny paul]

Do you read the news?

Our privacy is taking constant assault under the current administration. We've seen how warrantless wiretapping has been not only okay, not it's condoned by the DOJ (at least for now). We spread the message of democracy by completely invading another country, killing many, torturing even more.<br /><br />And you act so daff to the concept of human tagging becoming a requirement. Give it time.

[goodtimebob]

Let's tag

When they get to the point that they can transmit a GPS signal that <br />anyone on the internet can track I believe that all politicians should <br />be required to have one. We can track which ones are hanging out <br />in public bathrooms.

[csven]

Well...

... technically, if someone doesn't know about it, then they're not "forced". So I'm wondering if that bill includes tagging someone without their knowledge.<br /><br />Yeah, it's common sense that this would be included in such a bill, but we all know better than to expect that from our elected officials.

[assman]

Author is out of touch.

This tech bill is actually completely necessary when considering the current state of our government. Sure, with an ideal president and a constitutional administration, this wouldn't be on the minds of anyone.. but unfortunately, nothing is too much for these guys to "fight terrorism".<br /><br />So, no, this is NOT the "dumbest tech bill" ever, not even remotely. I could name a dozen others that made me weep at the ignorance, mainly from the republican side. This really isn't over the top at all, considering what our military already wants to do, it seems fair that we should have a law to protect citizens from forced implant. Although, I doubt this protects the military soldiers, they likely have their own rules regarding this.

[mr3vil]

Totally agree.

Seems like every law passed these days brings us one step closer to 1984. Glad to see some other legislation come down the pike.<br /><br />What I find funny is how the press is ridiculing this law....liberal media indeed.

[saleh-dd]

Hey boy genius

Three words: Google Alzheimer's RFID<br /><br />First hit had an article about the "very light [unobtrusive] way of ensuring daily compliance."<br /><br />Number two hit had a quote from a financial adviser with a vested interest in putting an implant in non-compliant patients.<br /><br />#3 is a reprint of a press release from VeriChip. I bet they're impartial.<br /><br />And on and on...<br /><br />Do some research before spouting your opinion, *******.

[Gringras]

Study History

Remember the Nazis? Making Jews wear stars, brands and tattoos? <br />Remember the millennia of man's inhumanity to man? Remember <br />that once there was a bill to limit the income tax to no more than <br />10% but it failed because people just never believed that the <br />government would ever want more money than God. (Look it up) <br />Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Men don't change, just the <br />technology.

[HerbHoover]

Hey Coop! Heard of CityWatcher.com?

Not quite sure where this eventually ended up (I'm not a journalist by trade so _I'm_ not required to research) but it'll give you something to look into.<br />CityWatch is a surveillance company that _requires_ employees to be implanted with an RFID tag to access the datacenter. (<br />So guess what computer people, you're first!<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/134" target="_newWindow">http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/134</a><br />Hopefully by now they have rescinded this policy.<br /><br />Oh, and why is that dentist taking so long with that implant? I ran across this do what little research I did do.<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/20/rfid_in_tooth/" target="_newWindow">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/20/rfid_in_tooth/</a><br />Do I really need to connect the dots here?<br /><br />Face it Mr. Cooper, as a technology RFID is great, but in practice I am afraid it's use will be horrendous. <br />Although I do agree that this politico probably really has no bleeding idea what he is talking about, in this case he is on the right track.<br />Always remember, there are many people out there who don't think the way we do. They have no qualms about taking a technology and using it to their benefit, absolutely irregardless of our detriment.

[virgox]

Dumb to assume it can't happen?

Well, the technology is there waiting until your constitutioal rights have been removed... atleast view part 3. <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5547481422995115331&#38;q=genre%3Adocumentary&#38;total=333&#38;start=0&#38;num=10&#38;so=4&#38;type=search&#38;plindex=7" target="_newWindow">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5547481422995115331&#38;q=genre%3Adocumentary&#38;total=333&#38;start=0&#38;num=10&#38;so=4&#38;type=search&#38;plindex=7</a>

[rgalyen]

Who's the real fool...

that would be Coop...

[punterjoe]

I wish I could agree with you

7 Years ago I might have thought it was beyond the realm of possibility. With the Orwellian stunts we've witnessed in recent years around the world, I wouldn't rule out any gross violation of privacy as "inconceivable". Of course no puny piece of paper would stop the types of people who want to tag the citizenry like so many pieces of inventory.

[Pastor Guest]

Most will voluntarily take the chip

When we complete the transition to the cashless society, all "money" will be stored in the computers of the banking system. Then all that has to be done to "persuade" people to take the chip (mark of the beast) is to deny them access to their money, unless, of course, they take the mark. No one will be "forced". You will have a choice. Take the mark, or starve.

[thedreaming]

That's Right...

...be afraid of everything at all times, that's a great way to live.<br /><br />As for me, I guard my privacy at all times and RFID chips aren't 100% secure. They've already proven that the RFID chip in the new passports can be copied into a blank chip. If they can do that, then they can do the same for a RFID that identifies you as you and carries your banking info, so no thanks. I'll stick to my paper money and my debit card.

[Randall Lind]

No mark of the beast yea

So when you need the mark of the best to buy food etc we don't have too! Because the bill will protect us!!<br /><br />LOL

[tsi26]

I was thinking the dumbest tech bill was...

the DMCA. Guess I was wrong...this bill is clearly the dumbest. /sarcasm

[bob donut]

It's not a dumb bill.

There are companies out there that have actually placed skin implants of RFID chips in their employees arms for security. This isn't science fiction, there was an actual demo of this on a television special. The employees waved their forearms instead of a badge at the RFID reader.<br /><br />Moreover, you can easily expect that prisoners and parolees, who have limited rights, could be vulnerable to this type of tagging. So while it's a sad bill, it's not dumb. It's necessary because human nature states that people will attempt to control others in as many ways as they can get away with.

[TucsonAlexAZ]

Dumbest Blog so far this year?

i nominate this one. Sounds like a completely reasonable bill to me. Since it makes sense, it makes me wonder how it passed.

[Neo Con]

The Pedophile Protection Act

Oh, yeah. I can't imagine any good reasons for forced implants. Why would we ever want to track dangerous child rapists and abusers, for instance?<br /><br />Yup, I sure am glad this bill is here to "protect" us.

[C1234567890]

Nice try, with your terrible excuse.

You can take your bogey man arguments elsewhere. Until the ******** sex offender labels are fixed and 18 year old kids are no longer getting life long labels assigned to them for having sex with their 17 year old girlfriends, you have no grounds arguing anything having to do with that.<br /><br />If you want to implement unconstitutional tracking like that, GPS ankle bracelets do the job just fine.<br /><br />I'm tired of all these ridiculous bills and laws based on the knee jerk "Think of the children!!!" reactions, like banning MySpace from public libraries that fully grown adults use every day and pay for with their tax dollars. Bad parenting is never fixed with legislation and neither is any other bogey man cause.<br /><br />Using bogey man arguments as a catalyst to implement more controlling measures need to stop and America needs to stop being so damn apathetic about everything and tell politicians to **** off when they try this stuff.<br /><br />Luckily, California is preempting this scandal before it ever starts and nothing Mr. Charles "Delusional" Cooper is going to change that.