subject: Radio tag study revealed at Cebit posted: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 12:23:19 -0000
[An introduction to RFIDs, not much depth, Cerf's sock example is
telling in its absurdity. I shall elucidate on the potential for
"invisible yellow stars" (eg. covert ethnic profiling and systematic
discrimination) later. See also:
Radio tag study revealed at Cebit
By Mark Ward
Technology Correspondent, BBC News website, in Hanover
You might never lose another sock once radio frequency ID (RFID) tags
are used everywhere, Google's chief internet evangelist has said.
Vint Cerf was speaking at the Cebit technology fair in Hanover after
the announcement of a Europe-wide consultation study on RFID.
The study was announced at a press conference by the European
Commission.
RFID is a technology that puts a small amount of computer memory into
a tag readable at a distance by radio.
It promises to revolutionise the way we track items - and even
people, which worries civil liberties groups.
The aim of the consultation exercise is to gauge reactions to RFID by
both businesses and citizens in Europe.
Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner behind the exercise, warned that
wider use of RFID would not be allowed to undermine the fundamental
liberties that European citizens enjoy.
Ms Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, also
took time to point up the benefits of RFID.
She said European aircraft manufacturer Airbus was already using RFID
tags on the replaceable parts - such as brakes, seats and lifebelts -
of the planes it builds. Many other firms are also trying out RFID
tags to help them streamline their supply chains.
Ms Reding said the widespread use of radio tags would tie together
the internet world of cyberspace with the real world.
"We are heading toward a world in which billions of networked objects
and sensors will report their location, identity and history," she
said.
Drawer interrogation
It fell to net veteran Mr Cerf to give a futuristic, and slightly
frivolous, example of how RFID tags might be employed in coming
years.
He was speaking during a debate on the promise and pitfalls of the
smart labelling technology.
Mr Cerf envisioned a day when RFID tags were so ubiquitous that
everything, including our socks, would be studded with them.
By interrogating our sock drawer with an RFID reader we could find
out if any single sock of a pair was missing. A check around the
house with the reader would reveal the sock no matter if it was
beneath the sofa or trapped in the washing machine.
"RFID could solve the mystery of missing socks and that's a very
important contribution to society," said Mr Cerf.
As a more serious example, Mr Cerf said RFID tags could be used in
hospitals to label medicines to ensure that drugs were used before
they expired and, in conjunction with tags worn by patients, could
make sure the right treatment was administered.
The potential use of RFID tags for medicines and healthcare led other
speakers in the debate to highlight the potential problems such a
technology poses for personal privacy.
Privacy issues
Malcolm Crompton, former federal privacy commissioner for Australia
and now a consultant on RFID issues, said it was important that
safeguards for personal data were built into any laws governing the
use of the tags.
But, he added, there was no reason why people would think the greater
use of RFID tags should mean an erosion of personal privacy.
Any standards drawn up over the proper use of RFID should detail the
control that people have over the use of data generated by the use of
smart tags, he said.
For instance, said Mr Crompton, standards could mandate the use of
RFID in the form of a tag that a person could snap in half so that it
could no longer pass on information.
This could be used to ensure that once an item with an attached tag
leaves a shop, it no longer transmits data.
Zygmunt Mierdorf, board member of German retailer Metro AG, said it
was also important for businesses to ensure they treated the data
generated by RFID tags properly.
"Privacy and security we have to guarantee 100%," he said. "What
happens when we fail? The consumer sanction is immediate and silent.
They just walk away from us."
A report based on responses to the EC consultation on RFID tags
should be ready by the end of 2006, said Commissioner Reding.
"We will not accept that the fundamental liberties of our citizens
will be compromised," she added.
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