Stallitics, Appalitics as Usual in California

Can someone explain to me how taking school attendance using RFID is any more an invasion of privacy than taking attendence the old-fashioned way? Meet State Senator Joe Simitian. He's the towering legislative mind from Palo Alto, California ,who is going to save us from ourselves.

Sen. Joe Simitian is trying a new tactic in his year-and-a-half-long campaign to control the use of tracking devices in government-issued identification cards... Bills by the Palo Alto Democrat that would bar the use of radio-frequency identification devices in driver's licenses and school identification cards... "Those are two very straightforward kinds of applications where there are easily understood (privacy) concerns that are easier for members of the Legislature to wrap their heads around."

Well, Joe, first you have to loosen and remove the baloney wrap, yes?

Here's the school attendance item related to Joe's initiative:

A decision by a Sutter County school to use RFIDs in student identification cards to track attendance produced a heated protest last year by parents and civil libertarians. The school dropped the program after the company that developed the technology pulled out.

Better yet, here's a link to the senator's home page. You might consider giving Joe a call and lending your voice for or against his point of view? Phone: (916) 651-4011. Of course, as always, I would urge you to be polite and cordial.