
PRIVACY AND SECURITY 201
deactivation terminals did not work 100 percent of the time and did not erase all of the
information on the tags. The groups felt that the RFID trial failed to notify consumers
about what information was being collected about them and exposed them to external
snoops as well. In response to the public outcry, the store promised to replace the RFID-
enhanced loyalty cards with cards without RFID tags.
RFID Privacy
It is important to examine the reality and practicality of the threats to our privacy and
safety resulting from the use of RFID technologies. Every technology brings with it the
possibility, but not the guarantee, of abuse. Consider RFID-tagged medications—say, an
anti-depressant, or AIDS medication. People might be very concerned that someone could
find out they were taking these medications simply by reading an RFID tag from a dis-
tance. For this reason, caution is warranted. However, those same RFID tags may help
prevent expired or counterfeit medications from being sold, or may be used at the time of
sale to inform pharmacists and consumers of possible negative drug interactions. Privacy
concerns should be balanced against the benefits offered to consumers. Ironically, sensa-
tionalism and paranoia may actually distract us from the real issues.
Privacy means many things to many people. Some have defined privacy as the right to be
left alone. The definition ...