Privacy Is Simple
Let's stop all the nonsensical arguing and take action.
By Kevin Ashton
Aug. 1, 2006—Taking sensible action to protect consumer privacy is becoming ever more urgent as RFID moves closer to item-level tagging. But there is more nonsense said about this topic than any other in RFID—and it's getting in the way of action.
Despite all the windy rhetoric, protecting privacy is actually very simple. What people want most is choice. The Auto-ID Center conducted extensive (and expensive) consumer research in five countries to understand people's concerns about RFID and privacy. Their conclusion? The vast majority of people are not that bothered by RFID, providing they have a choice. The summary of all that work: "I don't care, as long as I can turn it off." (The research report is available for free at the Auto-ID Labs Web site—click on "Public Policy: Understanding Public Opinion.")
As a result, the original Electronic Product Code privacy guidelines, passed by a vote of the center's 103 corporate sponsors in 2003, are focused on choice. This is inconvenient for people at both extremes of the debate. Those who claim RFID is the end of the world as we know it would prefer to pretend they can speak—and choose—for billions of outraged people.
Aug. 1, 2006—Taking sensible action to protect consumer privacy is becoming ever more urgent as RFID moves closer to item-level tagging. But there is more nonsense said about this topic than any other in RFID—and it's getting in the way of action.
Despite all the windy rhetoric, protecting privacy is actually very simple. What people want most is choice. The Auto-ID Center conducted extensive (and expensive) consumer research in five countries to understand people's concerns about RFID and privacy. Their conclusion? The vast majority of people are not that bothered by RFID, providing they have a choice. The summary of all that work: "I don't care, as long as I can turn it off." (The research report is available for free at the Auto-ID Labs Web site—click on "Public Policy: Understanding Public Opinion.")
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