House Bill 1401: Radio Frequency Identification Chip Insertion Prevention Act

Did you know that certain companies actually implant computer chips under the skin of their employees? It sounds like the creepy plot of a science-fiction movie, but its true.

I have seen reports that some companies are embedding tiny computer chips known as RFIDs under the skin of their employees wrists so that they can control access to sensitive rooms. Instead of waving their badges in front of a reader, these employees, just wave their wrists. Its like the ultimate SpeedPass technology! You can read Time Magazine articles about this subject by clicking here and here.

But it is a very very bad idea for numerous reasons. Firstly, there are very serious questions about the safety of having a radio-wave emitting device inside your body. There are some unconfirmed reports that they might cause cancer. More importantly though, there are a whole host of privacy and civil-liberty issues that this activity raises. Will the employer track employees movement throughout the day? Who will that tracking information be shared with? Is there a chance the employer will track their employees outside the workplace without their consent? What happens when the employee leaves the company? The privacy implications of such a system are profound and frankly dangerous. It reminds me of George Orwell's 1984.

For this reason, I have introduced House Bill 1401: The Radio Frequency Identification Chip Insertion Prevention Act. This bill would prevent employers from inserting any RFID chip into the body of any employee. Doctors who need to implant it into patients for medical purposes can still do that. And people can continue to implant them into their pets. But employers can't implant them into their employees. Period.

You can read the actual text of the bill by clicking here.

- Saqib