Be Afraid... be VERY AFRAID! "Big Brother" Bill - Part II

Senate Bill S.1261, also known as the PASS Act, is little more than a re-write of the previously unsuccessful REAL ID act. Here's the latest information on exactly how easy it is to track you under this egregiously intrusive act. The following is quoted from Yahoo! Tech, referencing an experiment conducted, and an article written by, TODD LEWAN, AP National Writer - Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:10AM EDT:

"Climbing into his Volvo, outfitted with a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader he'd bought on eBay for $190, Chris Paget cruised the streets of San Francisco with this objective: To read the identity cards of strangers, wirelessly, without ever leaving his car.

It took him 20 minutes to strike hacker's gold.

Zipping past Fisherman's Wharf, his scanner downloaded to his laptop the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians' electronic U.S. passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he'd "skimmed" four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet.

Increasingly, government officials are promoting the chipping of identity documents as a 21st century application of technology that will help speed border crossings, safeguard credentials against counterfeiters, and keep terrorists from sneaking into the country.

But Paget's February experiment demonstrated something privacy advocates had feared for years: That RFID, coupled with other technologies, could make people trackable without their knowledge"

The artice then goes on to say, "But with advances in tracking technologies coming at an ever-faster rate, critics say, it won't be long before governments could be able to identify and track anyone in real time, 24-7, from a cafe in Paris to the shores of California.

On June 1, it became mandatory for Americans entering the United States by land or sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean to present identity documents embedded with RFID tags, though conventional passports remain valid until they expire.

Among new options are the chipped "e-passport," and the new, electronic PASS card — credit-card sized, with the bearer's digital photograph and a chip that can be scanned through a pocket, backpack or purse from 30 feet.

Alternatively, travelers can use "enhanced" driver's licenses embedded with RFID tags now being issued in some border states: Washington, Vermont, Michigan and New York. Texas and Arizona have entered into agreements with the federal government to offer chipped licenses, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has recommended expansion to non-border states. Kansas and Florida officials have received DHS briefings on the licenses, agency records show."

I posted a previous warning about Senate Bill S.1261 here on July 6th, 2009. This report appears to substantiate my expressed concerns over such deviously deceptive devices. If you are unfamiliar with those concerns I suggest you read that posting.

And remember... for each "technological advancement" there is an equal but opposite counter-technology advancement to exploit it.

There's still an outside chance I could be wrong about this... but the odds of that are dwindling rapidly!

For the complete Yahoo! article see (http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090712/ap_on_hi_te/us_chipping_america_iv_abridged_3)