The Providence Journal:
By Bruce Landis

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri has vetoed legislation that would have limited the use of electronic devices that track people as well as objects such as motor vehicles, something privacy advocates here and across the country are concerned about.
Called radio frequency identification devices, and often referred to as “tags,” they use radio signals that link the person or object tracked to a computer system. They have become controversial in Rhode Island when local school officials considered using them to track students, and they have also attracted attention because they are essential to the state’s electronic toll-collection system, E-ZPass.
The governor vetoed two bills that would have banned the use of RFID tags to track students and would have required police and other law enforcement agencies to get court orders before they could get access to toll data, similar to the requirements for other searches and seizures. (The data would have remained available without a court order for toll enforcement.)
The governor’s veto messages to the General Assembly, made public Tuesday, objected to preventing local officials from using the tags to keep track of students. He cited a number of circumstances where he said the tags could be useful, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks or even for routine events such as field trips.
A sponsor of one of the bills and the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped develop and supported the legislation, criticized the vetoes.
Sen. Frank A. Ciccone III, D-Providence, the sponsor of one of the bills, said the devices suggest “ ‘big brother’ watching over everyone.”
Amy Vitale, the ACLU’s program coordinator, said the devices “put information in the hands of people who can use it for nefarious purposes” that have nothing to do with its intended purposes.
“We don’t think the schools should be in charge of an RFID program,” she said. “This is not something that government should be involved in any way.”
Ciccone said he has worked for years on similar bills that Carcieri vetoed, continually amending the legislation to address the governor’s objections in past messages and to accommodate interested groups such as special-education programs.
As for tracking students, he said, “If the parent wants it, the bill allows it.”
Ciccone also questioned whether the student-tracking system would be practical. For instance, he said, putting RFID chips in students’ backpacks would often end up tracking the backpacks, not the students.
The veto messages did not address the related issue of data being collected through systems such as E-ZPass.

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