RFID: There's Nothing To Fear Except Fear Itself

Many consumers hear and read plenty of scare stories about radio frequency identification. Katherine Albrecht, founder of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), has been a leading opponent of RFID. On May 4, 2006, Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, defended RFID at the 16th Annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference. Atkinson was invited to debate Albrecht during the conference.

In his opening remarks, Atkinson explained some of the key consumer benefits of RFID technology, including lowering costs in the supply chain, enabling consumers to benefit from lower prices, facilitating self-service checkout, reducing lost luggage in airports and reducing counterfeit products, such as pharmaceuticals.

Atkinson also explained why he believes Albrecht's fear that RFID could be abused to be unfounded. Read his opening remarks here: RFID: There's Nothing To Fear Except Fear Itself.