Comments on: California bill would ban tracking chips in IDs

Bill influenced by elementary-school fracas over student surveillance technology gets judiciary committee backing.

[jluchford]

School Kids need to be educated in privacy

School ID's -even college -with RFID makes sense, BUT there should be a place for them to keep them AT school. With a RFID system in the school, they can immediately find the ID. If it's not in the school -that's one mistake that should be flagged.
Other than that, the computer tracking system should go any further. Of course, any kid who brings it to the Mall during school hours needs to REALLY be educated.

[jluchford]

Oops -should read Tracking should NOT

...sorry, I meant that tracking should NOT go any further than the school.

[Michael Grogan]

RFID on any ID's anywhere are bad...

...and should never be acepted! Go California!

[truegenius]

RFID a bad idea for people

As if there weren't enough things to dehumanize us, now there's RFID. Nevermind that the process is technicallly flawed (what happens if a student leaves his/her ID at home?), it sends a message that each person is little other than a cog in the machine - something to be watched like a rat in a maze and then "disciplined" if they step out of line.

There's going to have to be a concession, at some point, that in order for there to be real freedom, there's going to be a very small percentage of the time that individuals misuse it. Otherwise what we wind up is the classic police state where the masses wind up the target of an overvigilant state, for the foul-ups of a few.

[Steve Jordan]

What price freedom?

Are you saying it's okay to have an occasional Columbine tragedy, as the price to pay for freedom? How many of your children were at that school?

[Steve Jordan]

Dehumanizing? Get a grip.

They say the RFID IDs are dehumanizing. How dehumanizing is being a corpse? They are concerned about what happened in Sutter, but they're not thinking about what happened in Columbine.

If kids weren't sneaking out of school and getting snatched by predators, or sneaking into school and shooting up their classmates, there wouldn't be a need for the RFIDs. But since they ARE, maybe the students and parents should get a grip. ID data can be properly encrypted so as not to be readable to anyone but the proper authorities... it's not that hard, it just takes a modicum of discipline. (Apparently more discipline than many parents have over their own kids, or their own fears.) Trust me, getting personal info off of their cellphones is far easier for a crook to manage, and even more profitable.

Wake up and smell the coffee: Those kids, YOUR kids, are being protected by RFIDs. Going all paranoid and banning RFIDs is only going to endanger kids more than they are already.

[Sboston]

Don't see it.

I still don't see how an RFID tag on a child is going to determine if they are carrying a weapon.

You other points I can see.

[Noreast]

get a grip

" (ID data can be properly encrypted so as not to be readable to anyone but the proper authorities... "
... and as they grow up their ID will follow them from authorities to authorities. Your government has the grip and you can't shake them off.

upnorth

[pcLoadLetter]

Solves nothing

A chip will not stop a kid from skipping school, nor will it keep them out of the hands of predators.

Succumbing to fear is not only cowardly, it solves nothing.