6/12/06
Senator Joe Simitian
State Capitol, Room 4062
Sacramento, Ca 95814
Fax: 916/323-4529
Dear Senator Simitian:
The Liberty Coalition strongly supports SB 433.
SB 433 safeguards the privacy, safety, and economic well-being of Californians by prohibiting the California Department of Motor Vehicles from issuing driver’s licenses or identification cards that utilize radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that broadcast personal information in identity documents. RFID tags are contactless integrated circuits – tiny devices – with miniature antennae that respond when a reader emits a radio signal by transmitting their stored information to a reader.
Secret and remote reading of personal data embedded in driver’s licenses puts Californians at risk of stalking, kidnapping, identity theft, tracking and surveillance. Any person or entity with a reader could scan and collect the personal information of Californians without their knowledge and consent.
This legislation will help ensure that the information stored on Californian’s drivers license, which for security and liberty reasons should be very limited amount of information in the first place, is protected against theft and tracking by RFID readers.
In Liberty,
Michael D. Ostrolenk
National Director, Liberty Coalition
