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Privacy and Security
by Anita Campbell on June 2, 2006

PigPen has a little dirt cloud that follows him around all the time. RFID has a cloud following it, too, except that instead of dirt, RFID is followed around by a cloud of negative public opinion. Somehow this opinion has attached itself to the technology -- and is proving difficult to shake off.
Mostly this negative opinion comes from not understanding RFID technology -- and by focusing solely on the negative aspects. You can focus on the negative of anything -- or you can choose to focus on the positive.
Mini Singh writes at RFID Lowdown about taking a balanced view toward RFID, noting that people should be proactive with lawmakers and tell them to limit it.
I agree that balance is in order.
I would say, though, that balance starts with each of us as individuals. It is up to us to be realistic and informed about RFID. Three things I recommend:
- Let's take individual responsibility for keeping an open mind and becoming informed about the positives of RFID. Let's not speak with half-knowledge because we think we understand even if we really do not. That just leads to sensationalized news reports and misinformation.
- Let's also measure RFID fairly against other technologies. When we concern ourselves with something we consider a negative of RFID, let's compare it with another technology in use today and see if the threat is truly any greater.
For instance, when we talk about RFID credit cards, let's compare those with non-RFID cards. What exactly is the risk of identity theft? Does the writer understand the laws that limit the consumer's liability in the case of use of a stolen card? Or what about the potential for bad guys to fraudulently clone credit cards? Are we really any worse off because a card has RFID, than we are with a magnetic strip credit card? We can theorize all day long about what happens IF someone steals my RFID card, and IF someone uses it fraudulently, but what is the consumer's liability and is it any greater just because RFID is involved? The answer is a big fat "NO" but few people take the time to understand the laws concerning consumer liability and the policies of the financial institutions and the realities about how gangs work to steal credit cards and identities.
- And if it is the Big Brother aspect that concerns you, then you are going after the wrong target. The target should be the databases of information about us as individuals that already exist. Believe me, I am way more worried about the information that insurance companies and financial institutions and marketers and the IRS and Google have about me in their databases already, than I am about some RFID tag hanging on a shirt.
PigPen image courtesy of UnitedMedia.com.
Permalink: The Glass Half Full on RFID
Trackback: http://publish.creative-weblogging.com/publish/mt-tb.pl/23330
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Response from:
Mini Singh
(06/03/06 5:34am)
Yes, while technology can sometimes seem intimidating and scary, the key to being in control is to educate yourself, and study your options. It's a fact that when we feel out of control and overwhelmed, we tend to be more closed-minded and negative.
Response from:
Rich
(06/03/06 2:39pm)
I agree completely. I think the focus of the angst against RFID has been put in all the wrong places.
Response from:
Chris Kapsambelis
(06/07/06 3:22am)
The angst against RFID is primarily brought on by overjealous proponents who continue to hype RFID's capabilities.
Response from:
Steve C
(08/08/06 8:19pm)
On this site it can be safely assumed that this article will reach a sympathetic audience. Unfortunately, it glosses over legitimate concerns on the potential for abuse.
The concerns that have generated most attention -- and arguably hampered the development and deployment of the technology -- are precisely those that only RFID makes possible. In particular, the perception that it renders identity theft faster, easier, cheaper, and less discoverable is one that should be answered seriously and in detail, and not discounted as ignorant or reactionary. That was the general response by the GE crop industry to consumer concerns, and as a result opposition only increased. GE crops have been successfully legislated against, and the return to a dispassionate debate on will take years.
Just a thought.
The concerns that have generated most attention -- and arguably hampered the development and deployment of the technology -- are precisely those that only RFID makes possible. In particular, the perception that it renders identity theft faster, easier, cheaper, and less discoverable is one that should be answered seriously and in detail, and not discounted as ignorant or reactionary. That was the general response by the GE crop industry to consumer concerns, and as a result opposition only increased. GE crops have been successfully legislated against, and the return to a dispassionate debate on will take years.
Just a thought.
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