Last week Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law two bills that affect RFID in Washington State. The first is House Bill 2729, “addressing the reading and handling of certain identification documents”, which was proposed by Rep. Deborah Eddy (D-Kirkland). HB 2729, which Prof. Balazinska testified in support of, makes it a felony and a violation of the Consumer Protection Act (with a few exceptions) for a party to read an Enhanced Driver’s License’s RFID tag without consent. It also protects the documentation and information provided upon applying for an EDL from public disclosure.

The second bill is House Bill 1031, “changing provisions concerning electronic devices”, which was proposed by Rep. Jeff Morris (D-Mt. Vernon). The bill was originally introduced in early 2007 as an “Electronic Bill of Rights” which would give consumers “the power to know who is collecting information and what has been collected”, as Morris explained it in late 2006. A series of revisions since that time have shifted the bill’s focus from regulating RFID technology to regulating the behavior of those seeking to abuse it. This shift is highly significant from both a public policy and an RFID industry perspective. More information on the bill can be found in an RFID Journal blog entry and on the Bill’s information page.