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RFID, Bar Codes, and Browser Cookies
Both bar codes and web browser cookies had their detractors who insisted upon the potential evils of the technologies. Is RFID a case of history repeating itself?
This article was originally published by RFID Update.
August 30, 2004—When considering the current outcry by some groups over the deployment of RFID, we are reminded of similar responses to both the bar code some thirty years ago, and, more recently, web browser cookies. Popular talk show host Phil Donahue railed against the advent of bar codes in 1974, predicting that retailers would use the technology to manipulate shoppers. When the now-ubiquitous browser cookie appeared, there was a movement within the European Parliament to flatly outlaw the technology. Both technologies have of course survived despite their detractors' best efforts, subsequently causing fundamental changes and progress in the way business, offline and on, is conducted. The question is: will RFID prove to be a case of history repeating itself, or is there a real danger that this technology could encroach upon the privacy that we hold most sacred?
Read the article at CNET News.com
August 30, 2004—When considering the current outcry by some groups over the deployment of RFID, we are reminded of similar responses to both the bar code some thirty years ago, and, more recently, web browser cookies. Popular talk show host Phil Donahue railed against the advent of bar codes in 1974, predicting that retailers would use the technology to manipulate shoppers. When the now-ubiquitous browser cookie appeared, there was a movement within the European Parliament to flatly outlaw the technology. Both technologies have of course survived despite their detractors' best efforts, subsequently causing fundamental changes and progress in the way business, offline and on, is conducted. The question is: will RFID prove to be a case of history repeating itself, or is there a real danger that this technology could encroach upon the privacy that we hold most sacred?
Read the article at CNET News.com
