POLICE STATE / MILITARY - LOOKING GLASS NEWS | |
Spychips Invading Privacy? |
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by Gene J. Koprowski SpaceWar.com Entered into the database on Wednesday, October 12th, 2005 @ 11:51:44 MST |
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Chips that track boxes on trucks and ships soon may be sophisticated
enough to monitor every move of consumers, a controversial new book claims. Experts told UPI's Wireless World that radio frequency identification
technology -- mentioned as a potential privacy-invading technology by Sen. Joe
Biden, D-Del., during last month's confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice
John Roberts -- is emerging as a political and legal issue, not just a technological
one. The new book, "Spychips: How Major Corporations and the Government Plan
to Track Your Every Move with RFID" (Nelson Current, October 2005), is
written by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre, privacy advocates who have been
investigating the impact of RFID technology. "Police will be able to track your every move when you drive," McIntyre
told Wireless World. McIntyre's book claims RFID chips -- which emit a signal and can be tracked
by special reader technologies -- are the "ultimate Big Brother." The book reports a major technology company is developing a "person tracking
unit" that can scan RFID tags on the clothing of individuals as they travel
on the train or through the shopping mall. The book also states another firm,
a mobile-phone developer, is putting together a phone that can scan people as
they walk by on the sidewalk. There are also plans in the works at major companies
to use RFID to develop and deploy targeted advertising on individuals, the authors
assert. Some experts are skeptical, however. The book hypes fears and the public needs
to hear an "independent voice of reason" on the topic of RFID chips,
said a spokeswoman for EPCglobal Inc. in Lawrenceville, N.J., a non-profit organization
that promotes wireless chip technology. There is "a lot of misinformation and misleading stuff that is in that
book," she added. The spokeswoman added that many major corporations are using RFID to improve
productivity, and the government is using it for passports and other security
measures. The industry is also "developing the technical standards upon
which the network is based that Wal-Mart, the Defense Department, Target and
others are all mandating their suppliers use," the EPCglobal spokeswoman
said. Moreover, the industry is moving to address any privacy concerns consumers
may have about the technology. The Association for Automatic Identification
and Mobility, an industry group in Warrendale, Pa., this week released a white
paper urging continued protection of consumer privacy as RFID chip usage moves
forward. "AIM Global is dedicated to ensuring full compliance with all relevant
personal privacy and security regulations and laws," said the paper, "AIM
Global's RFID Position Statements." In the long term, RFID also could speed up the process of importing goods into
the United States. The Department of Homeland Security has started using RFID
tags to locate freight trucks as they come cross the border with Canada, and
the technology is being deployed to other land-entry points into the United
States. Another use is RFID cards for those people who frequently cross the
border into the country. Congress is examining these technology developments, particularly now that
the Pentagon and DHS are pushing RFID projects, and views them as useful for
replacing video-surveillance methods. Recently, the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force unveiled a list of 40
policy proposals, with RFID earning special attention in the category dealing
with the group's plans for protecting privacy and e-commerce. "Our policy platform reflects our desire to keep America at the forefront
of technological advancement, and to encourage our country's most creative entrepreneurs,"
said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the task force's chairman. |