California outlaws the forced subdermal RFID tagging of humans

By Nate Anderson

Worrying that your employer will force you to stick a small chip beneath your skin ranks low on the list of employee concerns in most parts of the country, but that didn't stop the state of California from passing a bill last week to ban such forced tagging of humans. The state senator who sponsored the bill called forced RFID tagging the "the ultimate invasion of privacy," and his bill is now on its way to the governor's desk for his signature.

Senate Bill 362 "would prohibit a person from requiring, coercing, or compelling any other individual to undergo the subcutaneous implanting of an identification device," and a similar version has already passed the state Assembly. Joseph Simitian, who came up with the idea, laments the fact that the RFID industry does not appear to find his idea a good one.

"I think it's unfortunate and regrettable that the industry hasn't come out in support of SB 362," he said in a statement after the bill passed the Senate. "I understand why we're having a robust debate about the privacy concerns related to RFID, but at the very least, we should be able to agree that the forced implanting of under-the-skin technology into human beings is just plain wrong. I'm deeply concerned that this isn't a given for the industry."

If the bill is signed into law, it would not actually be the first time such a law has been enacted. Both Wisconsin and North Dakota already have similar laws on the books (one wonders if those bills also define "subcutaneous," a word which would seem to define itself).

Any employer or individual forces a person to get tagged faces penalties of up to $10,000 plus a continuing fine of $1,000 per day so long as the violation continues. The bill has no effect on the (external) tagging of prisoners or the (internal) tagging of pets.

The California legislature has shown its interest in RFID privacy for several years now, passing several bills that mandate privacy and security requirements for the technology. And Californians have showed that they can cause a ruckus when RFID tracking is mandated. Parents revolted back in 2005, for example, when a school district in Sutter, California, required all students to wear RFID badges at all times.