California senate votes to block mandatory RFID in employees

It's already taken aim at mandatory RFID tracking of students, and now the California state senate is looking to ban the chips from being forced upon employees of all sorts across the state. According to The Los Angeles Times, the new bill specifically bans mandatory RFID implants, and doesn't appear to encompass RFID technology used in cards or badges. While he called RFID "a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses," State Senator Joe Simitian (who first proposed the measure) said that "we shouldn't condone forced 'tagging' of humans. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy." Nine senators apparently disagreed, however, including Bob Margett who called the measure a "solution looking for a problem." That opinion seems to have been unable to stop the tide of anti-RFID sentiment, however, and the bill is now just one signature away from becoming law.

[Via Slashdot]

[Garrett @ Feb 1st 2008 6:53PM]

SCARY, VERY VERY SCARY --- ARE YOU LISTENING AMERICA? YOU BETTER BE...

CAN YOU STOP PLAYING WITH YOUR IPOD'S AND YOUR VIDEO GAME'S, AND STOP LISTENING TO THE PROPAGANDA THAT THE NIGHTLY NEWS BRINGS YOU FOR JUST A SECOND? YOU BETTER IF YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR FUTURES AND THE FUTURES OF YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN? DIDN'T ANYONE SEE THE VIDEO AARON RUSSO DID? WERE ALL 6 MILLION VIEWERS IN SOME OTHER COUNTRY? DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT THE CARVING KNIFE DID TO THE '3 BLIND MICES' TAILS? WELL TAKE THE BLINDERS OFF AMERICA, IT'S MORE THAN JUST YOUR TAIL'S THAT ARE AT RISK THIS TIME AROUND.

Y-O-U W-H-O -- ARE YOU LISTENING AMERICA.

IT'S YOUR 'HEAD IN THE SAND' WAY OF GOING ABOUT YOUR DAILY LIVES THAT HAS PUT US IN THIS SPOT. IF YOU WERE PAYING ATTENTION, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT THE POLITICIANS AND BIG BUSINESS HAVE BEEN IN THE PROCESS OF GRADUALLY DOING THIS TO US FOR A LONG, LONG TIME NOW.

WAKE UP TODAY !! -- OR DIE TOMORROW AMERICA!!

-- this message has been brought to you by a very concerned citizen of the United States of America

[Garrett @ Feb 1st 2008 6:59PM]

SCARY, VERY VERY SCARY --- ARE YOU LISTENING AMERICA? YOU BETTER BE...

CAN YOU STOP PLAYING WITH YOUR IPOD'S AND YOUR VIDEO GAME'S, AND STOP LISTENING TO THE PROPAGANDA THAT THE NIGHTLY NEWS BRINGS YOU FOR JUST A SECOND? YOU BETTER IF YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR FUTURES AND THE FUTURES OF YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN? DIDN'T ANYONE SEE THE VIDEO AARON RUSSO DID? WERE ALL 6 MILLION VIEWERS IN SOME OTHER COUNTRY? DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT THE CARVING KNIFE DID TO THE '3 BLIND MICES' TAILS? WELL TAKE THE BLINDERS OFF AMERICA, IT'S MORE THAN JUST YOUR TAIL'S THAT ARE AT RISK THIS TIME AROUND.

Y-O-U W-H-O -- ARE YOU LISTENING AMERICA.

IT'S YOUR 'HEAD IN THE SAND' WAY OF GOING ABOUT YOUR DAILY LIVES THAT HAS PUT US IN THIS SPOT. IF YOU WERE PAYING ATTENTION, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT THE POLITICIANS AND BIG BUSINESS HAVE BEEN IN THE PROCESS OF GRADUALLY DOING THIS TO US FOR A LONG, LONG TIME NOW.

WAKE UP TODAY !! -- OR DIE TOMORROW AMERICA!!

-- this message has been brought to you by a very concerned citizen of the United States of America

[Ben Warburton @ Sep 4th 2007 12:38PM]

Spooky. I'm not about to get tagged. RFID cards and badges are a good idea. Implants are not.

The only implant I'd ever get is the one my spam mail keeps telling me to get.


...thats right, bigger kidneys.

[LondonConsultant @ Sep 4th 2007 12:38PM]

I wonder how long before us foreigners need RFIDs inserted when we go through passport control into the US. We already get fingerprinted every time...

[John Edwards @ Sep 4th 2007 12:40PM]

Can I pay automatically for gas using RFID? Would that make me a walking credit card?

[Blah @ Sep 4th 2007 1:31PM]

I can think of...ohhh...probably around 666 reasons to not get an implanted RFID credit card. I mean, the scar would just be a BEAST of a mark...

[Trenton Lipscomb @ Sep 4th 2007 3:15PM]

You mean 616, right? 666 is erroneous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_Beast

[Sam @ Sep 4th 2007 1:02PM]

another punch in the testicles of big brother

[Donny @ Sep 4th 2007 1:05PM]

Something tells me that the other 9 senators would not thinks its such a great idea if they were the ones being tagged like animals.

[ShogunMaster @ Sep 4th 2007 1:20PM]

Ahh, the Mark of the Beast is here at last. "And he causes all, both great and small, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark" (Rev.13:16-1). Start praying kids, it's all coming to a head...

[klhnsn @ Sep 4th 2007 4:15PM]

the end is neer

[Nick @ Sep 4th 2007 2:15PM]

What kind of a places forces people to be tagged with RFID implants? The fact that they feel the need to pass a low to prevent this is kind of unnerving.

[Nick @ Sep 4th 2007 2:16PM]

What kind of a place forces people to be tagged with RFID implants? The fact that they feel the need to pass a law to prevent this is kind of unnerving.

Wow sorry about that.. i should re-read things before i post.

[Inguz72 @ Sep 4th 2007 2:32PM]

Has anyone read The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks? Scary stuff, big brother AKA the brethren are here and ready to track our every move. So not content with knowing all our financial moves the government now wants to know what places we visit, what stores we walk into, what books we read. SCARY CRAP huh?

[engadget @ Sep 4th 2007 2:52PM]

While the need for the law is not there (yet) and I understand the idea behind the law.

I'm more worried that 9 Senators didn't think that this was a bad law, and would love to know there reasoning behind not supporting something like this.

I'd also want to keep an eye on what laws those 9 Senators do try to implement.

[ekwmin @ Sep 4th 2007 4:32PM]

heard of lobbying?

[jroc @ Sep 4th 2007 4:50PM]

Well after America has another false flag "terrorist" attack. You can be sure to look at these being mandatory as George Bush will have the exact same dictatorial powers as our old friend adolf in Germany. Little do the american people know they can already be legally molested by Bush in the name of "terror".

[Mike @ Sep 4th 2007 4:58PM]

I'd be afraid of having my children voluntarily finger printed, let alone an implant.

I think someone's been spending too much time at a dairy farm or Wal-Mart warehouse.

[ratnikh @ Sep 4th 2007 8:32PM]

The day they tell me I am required to get an implant of any kind is the day I grab a gun and start the revolution.

I might die fighting, but I will die free and with dignity.

The fact that such a concept has even gotten so far as to be voted on is worthy of active resistance. When this sort of thinking gains a foothold in government it quickly becomes the norm and by then it is too late for individuals to strike it down.

This can't be allowed to get further, not if we still value free will, freedom, and privacy. As it is, we've given up too much for the illusion of "defense" and "safety" in our daily affairs. Will we be branded, and roped along like cattle as well? Can we not defend ourselves? Do we not have eyes, ears and minds?

I would rather die free than live caged.

We of the United States are supposed to be a government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people. Let us show our so-called leaders who those people are, and that they have failed us.

[itsme92 @ Sep 4th 2007 9:20PM]

Damn. Joe Simitian is my state Senator.

What a douche, I'm going to be campaigning against him next election.

[itsme92 @ Sep 4th 2007 9:22PM]

Whoops, I misread the article. Good job Joe! I am 100% against RFID, so I'm glad that this was passed in the Senate. Now it's on to Arnold.

[jay @ Dec 21st 2007 5:28AM]

actually, the new world government that will be really coming into view in the next few years will force this on you. they will force you to get the RFID chip implanted. you will not be able to buy or sell without it... hang on... i've read this somewhere before... OH YEA! how about REVELATION 13:16-18. well, they'll have to kill me before i use it... sorry. OH, and let me just book my tickets to heaven now to beat the rush.