June 21, 2005
Initial Trials with RFID Impact Current Consumer Fears
The early days of European retailer experimentation with RFID have left consumers with a sour taste in their mouths. Initially, RFID was centered as an information gatherer for marketing purposes. Most notable is retail giant, Tesco's, trial with "smart shelves" two years ago. The trial produced touch-triggered photographs of all customers handling Gillette razor blades. The trial resulted in public outcry and RFID was pulled from all Tesco stores. More recently, British manufacturers have been under attack for using tracking devices on employees. The EU's Justice and Home Affairs Department issued a guidance document this year pertaining to disclosures companies should make to consumers and employees about RFID usage within their companies. In the U.S. steps are also being taken to address consumer concerns. In May, California's senate passed the first state ban preventing local government agencies from issuing ID cards containing RFID chips. According to MeatProcess.com:
In a study this year on employee RFID access cards, think-tank RAND Corporation found data from RFID access cards being used systematically for other purposes. Of six RFID access systems run by corporate security departments, all were additionally passing data to the human resources departments, and one to the medical department, and yet only one had informed employees of this data use - data use, said Rand, that “trumped privacy concerns”.
Read more: The Age of Consent for RFID
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