Retailers are beginning to use a new technology for inventory control, which is being characterized as anti-shoplifting protection—RFID. This technology makes it possible to use small devices that produce a numerical identifier unique to a single item. Unfortunately the technology renders itself a significant threat to a consumer’s privacy. When paired with credit card information, RFID can be used as a tracking device. Imagine you buy a shirt, or sweat shirt, or a wallet, and each time you enter certain areas that can detect RFID’s your movements can be tracked. What are RFID’s ? RFID is an item tagging technology; it stands for Radio Frequency Identification. RFID’s consist of a tiny computer chip connected to small antennas, which do not need nor use any battery power; they are activated by stationary radio readers that emit radio signals.
This technology can theoretically
be used to tag and identify every man-made object on the planet. RFID’s are
easily manufactured for pennies per unit.
RFID tags can be sewn into clothing, hidden in the spines of books, can
be placed within electronic equipment, in suitcases, wallets, you name it, and
without the knowledge of the consumer.
RFID readers, the instruments that transmit radio signals and identify
each RFID tag, can be hidden behind walls, woven into carpeting, be placed
underneath tiles, floor mats, even hidden in shelves or counters, making it
impossible for a consumer to know when he or she is being scanned. RFID’s in books can even transmit
information on how often that book is picked up and how long it is being
perused.
Once a consumer purchases an item,
which contains a RFID, that item number can be paired with your credit card,
debit card, or discount card, and thereby your identity could be stored along
with the item you just purchased. If
you are not aware of the RFID’s location and do not destroy or remove it, your
privacy is thwarted as you move about and enter any area that contains RFID
readers. Essentially the RFID chip can
then be used as a tracking device.
CASPIAN ( Consumers Against
Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, www.nocards.org
), a non profit consumer rights advocacy organization, has called for industry wide adoption of a Framework of
Rights and Responsibilities on RFID use, as well as for formal technology
assessment to be performed by Congress, in order to safeguard that no secret
databases are amassed. The organization is also asking that all companies that
use RFID technology advise their customers that RFID tags are being used.
L.M. / Contributing Correspondent
Posted October 1, 2004
URL: www.thecitizenfsr.org SM 2000-2004