Senator Leahy Calls for RFID Technology Hearings

securitas writes "Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy has called for congressional hearings into radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The comments were made Mar. 23 to the Georgetown University Law Center's conference on video surveillance technology during a speech titled 'The Dawn of Micro Monitoring: Its Promise, And Its Challenges To Privacy And Security'. Leahy suggested that RFIDs may require federal regulation to ensure the public's privacy rights. Leahy is quoted as saying that the combination of RFIDs, sophisticated databases, networks and the Internet means that, 'We are on the verge of a revolution in micro-monitoring - the capability for the highly detailed, largely automatic, widespread surveillance of our daily lives.' He goes on to say that, 'We need clear communication about the goals, plans, and uses of the technology, so that we can think in advance about the best ways to encourage innovation, while conserving the public's right to privacy.' (Leahy's RFID speech transcript)"

Comments

I suggest (just to get this out of the way now)

[Anonymous Coward]

... investing in companies that produce aluminum foil and copper mesh.

Yuh Huh

[Greyfox]

Kind of like the radiation from your monitor should disperse within a few feet and be unreadable to anyone. I bet the same black vans that are already following you around can read the tags just fine, and what will you do once they know your fashion sense?

Agent 1: Reading target now. Oh... Oh my God... He's wearing a shirt from the gap and pants from Old Navy!
Agent 2: That... son... of... a... BITCH!