Despite objections from the Transhumanist Party and Cyborg Rights advocates, a Nevada bill that bans all forms of non-medical human microchipping, including voluntary microchipping, was unanimously passed by the Nevada Assembly earlier this month and is currently pending before the Nevada Senate, on its way to becoming law.

“The bill basically prohibits the microchipping of people. I don’t think we should microchip people under any circumstance.” Assemblyman Skip Daly, D-Sparks, declared in his opening statement during yesterday’s Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee, before going on to mumble semi-coherently about the “collection and ownership” of data and information – showing he has no clue about how RFID technology works, or what it can and cannot do.

Assembly Bill 226 – which was originally introduced by Daly, differs from other microchipping bills passed by other states – in that these other bills either explicitly focus on forceful implantation, or offer regulatory standards. For example, Arkansas House Bill 1177 sponsored by Republican Stephen Meeks is a regulatory bill that lays out a set of ethical standards for the microchipping of employees. As such, Democrat Skip Daly’s bill is currently the only microchipping bill that disregards personal liberty and infringes upon body autonomy.

But what is even more disturbing about this draconian bill, other than Skip Daly’s complete ignorance about RFID technology, is the sneaky, borderline disingenuous way he introduced and amended the bill.

Daly initially presented AB226 as a bill against involuntary implantation, and then betting on the ignorance of his fellow lawmakers in regards to what RFID tags can actually do, Daly conveniently added the amendment against voluntary implanting after exaggerating the capabilities of RFID tags, while phrasing the amendment in such a way that the ban appeared to only apply to state employees. Which is not the case as Daly did not remove the original clause in the first portion of the bill that included ‘OR ANY OTHER PERSON’ in addition to state employees.

The bill originally stated:

An officer or employee of this State or any political-subdivision thereof OR ANY OTHER PERSON shall not require another person to undergo the implantation of a microchip or other permanent identification marker of any kind or nature.

And when Daly added his amendment, the bill stated:

An officer or employee of this State or any political – subdivision thereof OR ANY OTHER PERSON shall not:

(a) Require another person to undergo the implantation of a microchip or other permanent identification marker of any kind or nature.

(b) Establish or participate in a VOLUNTARY program for the implantation of a microchip or other permanent identification marker of any kind or nature.

If Daly’s draconian intentions were not obvious from his wording, yesterday he was bold enough to clarify his ambiguous wording of the bill during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and stated that the bill applies to ALL PEOPLE and not just state employees, and that it prohibits ALL forms of non-medical human microchipping; something which Daly stated that he found repugnant.

“If you look at the definition of ‘person’ in Zero Chapter 039, it covers everybody, except for the government.” Daly told the committee in regards to the ‘or any other person’ statement in AB226 – after being asked to clarify if the bill only covered government employees.

And when asked by the chairperson of the committee whether the bill also prohibits all voluntary microchipping that is not medical in nature, Daly responded by saying:

“I think you read it correctly. It would.”

Despite being contacted by the Transhumanist Party – whose membership includes some of the world’s most experienced microchip implanters, and informing the party that he would take its concerns into consideration, Daly told the Senate committee that he had not been contacted by any organization that specializes in implantable RFID technologies.

Daly is clearly exploiting tech-ignorance within the Legislature and taking advantage of the failure of current laws to keep up with emerging technologies to both push forward an agenda based on irrationality, and also infringe upon basic human rights under the guise of protecting these same inalienable rights. His obstinacy to pass a fascistic bill by any means legislatively-possible against technology he knows little about, technology he irrationally fears and admittedly finds repugnant, most likely stems from the same irrational fears harbored by the rapidly growing movement of evangelicals who believe RFID implants are the ‘Mark of the Devil’ foretold in the Bible.

Others who testified in support of the bill made even more misinformed claims like saying that RFID implants cause cancer in animals. This despite the fact that many people have been implanting their pets with RFID tags for years. Sadly, to add to this onslaught of misinformation was ACLU-Nevada, with its spokesperson Holly Welborn claiming that RFID technology, which is implemented in retail stores, warehouses and numerous industries world over, is not yet understood. Something which could not be further from the truth. RFID tech is one of the simplest forms of modern technology. It is literally just a transponder with an antenna that operates due to an induced current.

So those were some of the reasons why many in the biohacking community were vocal against the bill. Among the most vocal has been professional magician Anastasia Synn, who was present at the Senate committee so as to oppose the bill. The Las Vegas biohacker has 21 implants, 15 of which are RFID tags. She also has the largest magnet ever implanted into a human. So it is safe to say her voice on the uses or misuses of implantable technology is without a doubt more valid and credible than that of someone who erroneously claims RFID tags are carcinogenic, sophisticated, super high-tech, trackable, long-range transmitter gadgets that are not yet well understood.

“What I think is the main problem here is that the majority of the people that are supporting this bill don’t understand what these microchips are capable of doing.” Synn told the committee.

Synn then addressed many of the misunderstandings about RFID tags like using them as tracking devices – which is impossible, and demonstrated how to use an RFID, including what can be programmed into it. A chip she programmed had an appropriate message for the lawmakers:

“In this day and age it’s nice to have extra security by having a key that only you can access.” the message programmed into Synn’s hand-implanted chip said from her cellphone, after she had swiped her phone across her hand, to the gleeful amusement of the technologically-perplexed lawmakers.

“It’s not as sinister as you’re making it out to seem,” said Synn, “There is no way to track these, unless you physically touch my body. Nobody controls these chips but me, nobody programs them but me.”

Anastasia Synn’s advocacy seems to have had some impact as senator Melanie Scheible admitted that Synn’s testimony influenced her position on the bill:

“My jaw dropped in public listening to Anastasia Synn testify on Assembly Bill 226 at the Nevada Legislature. She is an amazing artist and technological enthusiast who has influenced my position this piece of legislation. Thank you for educating us!” Scheible tweeted.

Despite this, the bill seems to be on its way to becoming law. No one is yet to point out point that even the “positive” aspect of the bill, or to be more precise the mask that Daly is using to make the bill not appear as fascistic as it really is, by claiming it is protection against involuntary microchipping, is based on a hypothetical that does not justify the harsh implications of violating the bill. Because apart from a hypothetical proposal by the 2016 presidential candidate for the Transhumanist Party to microchip refugees and immigrants, there is no known case of forced microchipping. So Daly’s concerns stand purely on the superstition that RFID tags are the devil. It would be a tragedy if performers in Las Vegas who microchip themselves – suddenly became criminals because Daly wants to “stop” a 2000 year old prophecy. A sentiment Synn shared before the Senate committee when she said:

“Speaking as someone who lives in and loves Las Vegas, you’re gonna make a lot of criminals out of a lot of your entertainers if you try and pass this bill.”

Violating the provisions of the bill, including voluntary microchipping, could result in up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Skip Daly will be facing an election for his Nevada ‘District 31’ seat in the year 2020.