From: luis terrassa <luiste@prw.net>
  To  : <cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
  Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 00:54:35 -0400

RFIDs

Reading Heather's paper, which I find quite interesting, I wonder if 
the initiatives going on in Congress right now do not call for a wider 
public involvement in the implications of this technology...
As I think I mentioned before, I find that the technology and its use 
by the private sector are, for all practical purposes, unstoppable. The 
practical implications for industry and commerce seem too huge to stop, 
let alone those for marketing.

I think that the political climate is right for an awareness of the 
implications involved in the possibility of persons, and not just 
things, to be identifiable by means of this and related technologies. I 
would not be so bothered by a marketing company knowing that 20% of the 
audience at the Bob Dylan concert (great gig, by the way!!!) was 
wearing Banana Republic products. I would be a lot more annoyed at them 
knowing I was one of them, and where I live and what the rest of what I 
did that night was...

I think that as the debate over personal ID in the age of terrorism is 
played out, there needs to be an awareness that any personal 
identifiers need to be particularly protected, available only to those 
that need to know and have the proper safeguards for that information. 
Whatever happens to product identification for inventory control and 
marketing, a strict "chinese wall" needs to be in place keeping product 
ID from being able to be linked to Personal ID.

This is a legal battle that I think has a chance of being won, 
especially at this time when people are becoming aware of the 
implications of their data being out there. The problem with RFIDs is 
that the public is unaware of the technology, the implications are not 
yet clear, yet the legislation and the plans to make use of them for 
personal ID are proceeding at too fast a pace for adequate 
consideration of the implications at a time when we can do something 
about it. If we all end up with a driver's license that has a RFID, it 
will be difficult to stop anyone from attaching our name and address to 
the brand of our underwear....




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