Keep Your Rights from Being Chipped Away!

Would you allow a stranger to sift through your purse or wallet and take your driver’s license? Would you announce your name and address to passers-by on the street? Of course not. You know it is important to protect your personal information.

I am writing today to ask you to protect that information for all Californians.

If tiny computer chips called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are included in California ID’s, like drivers’ licenses, student ID’s, or medical and benefit cards without safeguards for your privacy, the choice to protect your personal information won’t be yours to make.

Anyone with an RFID scanner could read the data stored on RFID chips, from a distance, without you ever knowing, exposing you to the risk of tracking, stalking, and identity theft.

Fortunately, Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) has authored three important bills to help Californians keep their private information safe:

SB 768 requires proper privacy and security protections for the use of RFID technology in government-issued ID’s. ID cards with "personally identifiable information" would receive one kind of protection, cards that are used for multiple purposes that have "unique identifiers" would get another type of protection, and cards with unique identifiers that are used for a single purpose get a third type of protection.
SB 433 is a three-year “time-out” on the use of RFID technology in California drivers’ licenses. This bill ensures that RFID tags won’t be put in the drivers’ licenses of 24 million Californians before we know that the technology is safe and can protect personal information.
SB 1078 is a three-year “time-out” on the use of RFID in California K-12 student ID’s. This bill ensures that RFID tags won’t be put in the identification cards of six million public school students before we know that the technology is safe and can protect personal information.
We need your help to get these bills through the Assembly and signed by the Governor into law.

So, please take action today

http://action.aclu.org

to protect your right to privacy and personal safety. Say it loud and clear to your representatives: Don’t Chip My Rights Away! Write or call your Assembly Members today and ask them to VOTE YES on SB 768, SB 433, and SB 1078.

Thank you for standing with us today.

Dorothy Ehrlich
Executive Director, ACLU of Northern California