Is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is an object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves. All RFID tags contain at least two parts. One is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio frequency (RF) signal and perhaps other specialized functions. The second is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal.
Advantages:
Large organizations have the potential to benefit greatly with the implementation of an RFID system, through Supply Chain Management, internal record keeping, financial records, time and cost savings, and employee theft reductions.
RFID systems have been suggested for many different functionalities:
· Replacing barcode processes
· Telemetry
· Human implant (approved by the American Food and Drug Administration)
RFID systems do not come without controversy.
Consumers purchasing products with RFID tags are unaware of the tags. The tags can also be read by an RFID receiver without knowledge by the individual. If a product containing an RFDI tag is purchased with a method that contains personal information; such as a credit card, the system has the potential to accumulate information on the individual. The privacy issues of RFID tags is reinforced by the fact that long after product is purchased and taken home the RFID tags remain active and can be used as a surveillance techniques. Religious groups have view RFID tag as the potential “mark of the beast (666).
Must see video on RFID involving Annalee Newitz from Wired Magazine and George Stroumboulopoulos…..
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/30569/thehour/videos/20060531-int_chips.wmv
The Privacy Commissioner of the Canadain Governament, Jennifer Stoddart has recently issued Dalhousie University $14,603 towards the study on the legal and privacy implications on the usage of RFID tags.
“Ottawa, January 27, 2005 – The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, is pleased to announce that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) is awarding $14,603, under its Contributions Program, to Dalhousie University for a study analyzing the legal, technological and privacy implications of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The project is a collaboration of the Law and Technology Institute of the Dalhousie Law School and the Faculty of Computer Science.”
""Our project is an interdisciplinary one involving the faculties of law and computer science. We are very excited about this opportunity to explore the legal implications of technology using an interdisciplinary approach," said Teresa Scassa, Associate Professor at the Dalhousie Law School."
""Our project is an interdisciplinary one involving the faculties of law and computer science. We are very excited about this opportunity to explore the legal implications of technology using an interdisciplinary approach," said Teresa Scassa, Associate Professor at the Dalhousie Law School."
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