Tell the world you're made in America

American Apparel is proud to say they are at the forefront of marking their clothing with radio transmitters (called Radio Frequency Identification tags (or RFID tags for short)). While touting the supply chain benefits of these RFID tags they don't quite mention small details (like whether the tag gets turned off after you leave the store. This kind of potential surveillance (and the ensuing PR issues) led American Eagle to drop a similar plan in 2006. I've covered RFID tags before and their privacy implications. The folks over at Spychips also have a long list of interesting research they have done on RFID chips (including a book that's a little bit over the top but does raise some really interesting issues based upon patent applications). I figure if people have tried out tracking folks with Nike+iPod running gear then it can be only a matter of time before someone tries this with American Apparel's system.

RFID – What it is and Why is it Showing Up Everywhere?

So by now you’ve probably heard of RFID. If not this technology is Radio Frequency Identification. At a technological level it’s actually a pretty cool technology that could enable slick things like taking a semi-full of goods and driving it to a dock and sensors could automatically update inventory by reading the tags while the semi was pulling up to the warehouse (no clerks, no data entry errors, not time spent filling out paperwork). This is the same technology used in things like the EZ Pass for bridge tolls in certain parts of the US. Without going into a technical description of RFID, it’s easies to think of RFID as a broadcasting technology. So, when the tag is not “shielded” (think of this a quite literally putting a tinfoil hat on the device) then it is broadcasting information. Where this gets into interesting privacy issues is when this technology is integrated into things that are more personally associated. Think driver’s licenses, bus passes, clothing, pets, passports, charge cards, cell phones and even people. Since this data is remotely collectable this give people with inexpensive readers the ability to track movements as the data is aggregated. Technology like the Enhanced Drivers License also has all the data that is on your driver’s license so that data can be collected (say, like when you take it out as ID at a store).

Some organizations are pretty much against this RFID in all forms (like the folks at CASPIAN) while other folks see it as applicable for industrial use but not consumer products (as Tesco tried so that it could track consumer’s actions in their stores). Still others think this technology is fine as long as it isn’t used in humans. Finally there are those who are volunteering it be tagged. It is probably biasing but worthy of note that RFID “non-removable” bracelets are used at Guantanamo to track prisoners in much the same way that the Nazis used tattooed numbers to track prisoners in their death camps (IBM is one of the leading patenters of RFID technology as well as the folks who made the computer systems for the Nazis).

As it turns out some of this info isn’t even well secured as a German hacker proved with the e-passports. As with any technology, it can be used for good or for evil. In this case, RFID has the ability to be used for significant privacy invasion; the funny part is that there is not that much to gain for individuals when their materials are tagged. This begs the question, why adopt it?

If you want to read about how scary some of the folks patenting this technology are getting (at least in their patents) the book Spychips is a bit alarmist but quite eye opening.

RFID: Tag Your Kids For More Efficient Busses… Hu?

The Associated Press is reporting that a Rhode Island town is going to implement a “test” program where they will RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) children’s backpacks to see where they get on and off the bus. They will also use a GPS system to track the busses location. The ACLU of RI is fighting this action as unnecessary. I’ll avoid the obvious question of why they need this at all since they could just GPS the bus and then have the driver record the number of kids that get on the bus without needing to identify each individual student. The school dismisses concerns that others could use this information to track children since they say it is “just a number”. If this sounds familiar, it might be the ghosts of the debates over the Social Security Number program (and we see how that number has remained just a number and not a personal identifier, right?). The push for RFID stalled some time ago over the debacle with Tesco and its hidden tracking of UK shoppers (and Gillette razors at Wal-Mart here in the US). It appears this is back in the news. There is no question that RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) has many uses, but tracking people is one that many folks are rightfully skeptical of (see www.spychips.com). I’ve not covered RFID yet in this blog (I will some time in the future) but there is good reason to be skeptical about technology that makes its carrier remotely traceable if we believe that people should have personal privacy). At least in the US, privacy is a balance; even in the case of the 4^th amendment, there are weighing factors that have been used to determine the limits of privacy protections v govt. intrusions. In this case, all I can wonder is who thinks this is an appropriate trade off?