Hi, all:
I am about to leave for Phoenix, where I and other advocates will be briefing the Arizona state legislature on privacy issues associated with new remotely-readable, spychipped "enhanced" driver's licenses. If you are in the area, you are invited to join us on Thursday evening for a public town hall meeting on the topic sponsored by the Arizona ACLU.
As you may know, several states, including Arizona, Washington, Vermont, and New York have agreed to issue the RFID-tagged cards for border-crossing purposes. The idea is that state residents who voluntarily pay an extra $40 to receive the remotely-trackable cards will be allowed to cross more "efficiently" into Canada or Mexico, since border officials will see them coming before they reach the guard station.
To anyone who's clued in about RFID, the spychipped driver's licenses are a complete privacy nightmare. They can be silently read from 20-feet away, through a person's wallet, pocket, backpack, or purse -- even when the target is in a moving car. They are unencrypted and contain a unique ID number that can be used to identify and track people miles from the border -- indeed, anywhere the government chooses to put a reader.
But it's not just the government that could use the cards to track and surveil people. Anyone with a rudimentary RFID reader can remotely access the the unique ID number on the card. Retailers could use them to ID customers as they walk in the door. Marketers could use them to track people around the store. Stalkers could use them to track their victims. Terrorists could scan for them in crowds and pinpoint Americans traveling in other countries. Hackers could duplicate the signal emitted by chipped licenses to impersonate people. The list of potential abuses for the ill-conceived ID card are staggering.
If you are in Phoenix and would like to learn more, the ACLU is hosting a Town Hall Meeting tomorrow evening (Thursday, 3/13) at 7:00 PM at the University of Arizona. I will deliver a PowerPoint presentation on RFID-tagged ID cards and sign books after the event, so be sure to bring your copy of Spychips (or you can pick one up while you're there).
The event is free and open to the public. Further details are available below my signature,
or on-line here: http://www.acluaz.org/News/PressReleases/3_10_08.html
If you cannot attend in person, please send your prayers and well wishes with us to the state of Arizona, as we work to inform the public about the encroaching police state.
In freedom,
Katherine Albrecht, Ed.D.
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Dr. Katherine Albrecht
Founder and Director, CASPIAN Consumer Privacy
Host of "Uncovering the Truth"
We the People Radio Network, M-F 10AM-12PM EST
Listen Live: http://www.wtprn.com
Archives: http://mp3.wtprn.com/Albrecht08.html
Co-author of "SPYCHIPS: How Major Corporations and Government
Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID"
http://www.spychips.com/book/booksales.html
WEBSITES:
Human Chipping: http://www.AntiChips.com
RFID: http://www.SpyChips.com
Shopper Cards: http://www.NoCards.org
Bio online at: http://www.spychips.com/media/katherine-albrecht.html
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