The Voice - Student Newspaper

RFID chips reduce civil liberties, invade privacy

Most Americans have never heard of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).

However, it is a destructive weapon against our liberties in this country, and we need to do something about it. RFID chips are smaller than a grain of sand and hold more than 64KG of information.

They pick up electromagnetic energy and send back a unique identification number to a reader device, allowing an exact item to be specifically identified and tracked.

RFID can scan more than 160 ft. away, and as of October 2006, has been added to all U.S. passports, carrying a holder's personal information, such as name, nationality, sex, date of birth, social security number, and a digitized picture of the holder.

All of this information is kept in a database run by the Department of Homeland Security.

This year state governors will vote on a federal law allowing RFID on our Driver's licenses. The Supervisor of the Motor Vehicle Division on 59th Ave. and Bell Road declined to comment on RFID, although she did say she knows what it is. Life in the United States and the world is changing.

These chips are already tagged on everyday items found at such stores as Wall-mart and Target abroad. Many companies, such as Gillette Razors, have employed their use without the knowledge of the consumer.

RFID can track one of these products all over the globe.

The most alarming development of RFID is the human implantation that is currently taking place all over the world; including the U.S.

Hundreds of tiny chips in a small glass capsule carry an individual's DNA genotype, blood type, fingerprints, etc. This capsule is inserted under the skin of an arm or hand and can be used to specifically track any individual.

Despite protests and expressed concern, RFID is being used without restraint in the U.S.

What of the day when federal law moves away from the origins of cards and demands that every product sold in the United States be chipped with RFID? Or the day when law demands that every US Citizen be implanted with this device and scanned when stopped by the police, or boarding an airplane, or withdrawing money from the bank?

What of the day when every child is required by law to leave each hospital with their own unique chip and, like a razor or a plastic container of cream cheese, is branded with their own specific identification number?

This day is closer than you may now realize.