Friday, April 30, 2004

Proposal for JCOTS to study invasive technologies

This article from RFID Journal explains how some Virginia legislators want to examine civil rights implications for consumers of "invasive technologies." The article talks about HB 1304, which was carried over to next year.

The bill would have required "the Virginia Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) will undertake a study to advise state governmental bodies on “invasive technologies,” include RFID. The study is part of a bill (HB 1304) sponsored by Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-31st District) that will require any state public body to conduct a privacy-impact analysis of any new invasive technology before authorizing or prohibiting its use. For the purposes of the study, invasive technologies are defined as those that have the potential to infringe on the civil rights of individuals involved in the technology."

“The confusion [about whether existing technologies violate individuals’ civil liberties] is already there,” he says. “I would hope we would have guidelines soon.”

The article notes that "[t]he bill evolved from another bill, sponsored by Delegate H. Morgan Griffith (R-8th District) but defeated in 2002 and 2003 in the state senate, that would control the use of facial recognition technology."

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