With a zap or swipe of IDs, device helps nab scofflaws - USATODAY.com
USA Today reports: "A handheld device that can tell in a second whether a person is on one of 140 wanted or watch lists is being hailed by police as a crime-fighting breakthrough and flayed by civil libertarians as an intrusion on the innocent."

Computerworld - Second state expected to nix forced RFID chipping: "North Dakota is set to ban the forced implantation of radio frequency technology (RFID) chips into people."

My Way News - Wash. State to Test 'Enhanced' Licenses
AP reports: "High-security driver's licenses aimed at letting U.S. citizens return from Canada without a passport could be adopted elsewhere if Washington state's experiment works, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. [...] Radio frequency ID chips and other advanced security features also would make the enhanced licenses less vulnerable to forgery."

My Way News - EU to Write Rules on Data Tag Privacy
AP reports: "Privacy and security need to be built into radio frequency identification tags before they become widespread, the European Commission said, announcing it would publish guidelines later this year."

My Way News - Belgium Launches Mobile Payment Service
AP reports: "People can now make payments from anywhere - even if the check is lost in the mail - under a secure payment software, called m-banxafe, developed by payment card operator Banksys and the country's three mobile phone operators, Base, Mobistar and Proximus."

My Way News - Degree Offered in Biometric Security
AP reports: "Biometric security - which identifies people based on unique personal characteristics - has become more common since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Government agencies and private businesses are investing in biometric devices that grant or block access after scanning fingerprints, eyes, facial features or vocal patterns."

My Way News - Hitachi Shows Off Powder-Sized Smart Tag
AP reports: "Tiny computer chips used for tracking food, tickets and other items are getting even smaller. Hitachi Ltd. (HIT), a Japanese electronics maker, recently showed off radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips that are just 0.002 inches by 0.002 inches and look like bits of powder. They're thin enough to be embedded in a piece of paper, company spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi said Thursday."

Biometrics to ease CIOs' cell phone concerns - Yahoo! News
InfoWorld reports: "A biometric systems vendor has a pitch for CIOs nervous about company executives losing their mobile phones and risking the loss of confidential information. [...] Germano sees opportunities for biometric fingerprint sensors in phones equipped with NFC technology to provide mobile payment and security services, for enterprise users and consumers alike."

A Medical ID Business, Much Criticized, Plans a Stock Offering - New York Times
NYT reports, "Applied Digital Solutions has made headlines in recent years, and appalled privacy advocates, with its technology to implant radio chip into humans. Now Applied Digital, of Delray Beach, Fla., is about to test Wall Street’s interest with an initial public offering as soon as Thursday in the nascent business, the VeriChip Corporation. But some analysts are finding the effort to raise about $30 million from public investors nearly as disconcerting as the privacy advocates find the technology."

Techdirt: German Court Says Police Cannot Put Spyware On Someone's Computer
Teckdirt reports: "As various legal systems grapple with new, technology-related issue, it appears that a German court has come down firmly against the idea of allowing police to use remote spying techniques to record what a suspect does on his or her computer."