RFID Bill Heads to Calif. State Capitol
California Sen. Debra Bowen (D–Redondo Beach) introduced a new state Senate bill proposing privacy standards for the use of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) on Feb. 24 in Sacramento. Bowen said SB1834 is the first bill of its kind in the country.
The bill originated out of concerns that RFID, which uses radio waves to track merchandise embedded with chips, could create a “Big Brother” scenario because the technology could potentially track consumers into their homes.
Retailers including the Benetton Group SpA and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have come under fire for their RFID initiatives. Benetton announced last year that it would tag its Sisley clothing line with RFID chips but withdrew the plan after protests from privacy rights groups.
Wal-Mart did a test using chips in razors and also garnered pickets and protests. The Bentonville, Ark., retailer did not pursue the store-shelf plan but is implementing the technology at the warehouse level and mandating that its top 100 accounts be RFIDcompliant by 2005.
Such concerns prompted Bowen, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on New Technologies, to conduct several hearings last fall.
“The privacy impact of letting manufacturers and stores put RFID chips in the clothes, groceries and everything else you buy is enormous,” Bowen said in a statement.
“There’s no reason to let RFID sneak up on us when we have the ability to put some privacy protections in place before the genie’s out of the bottle.”
Bowen’s bill proposes that any business or state government agency using an RFID system must disclose such information to the public. It also proposes that retailers and agencies must gain consent before tracking and collecting information about consumers and detach or destroy the RFID tags attached to products before customers leave stores.
“It really comes down to three basic principles,” Bowen noted. “First, you have a right to know when and where RFID technology is being used. Second, anyone using RFID should get your consent before they collect information about you. Third, the default should be that RFID tags on products get removed or destroyed when you walk out the door, which takes care of many of the privacy concerns, not the least of which is the fear that as you walk through the mall, everything you’re wearing and carrying could one day be identified as you walk by RFID readers.”
The upside of RFID technology is that it could save retailers millions of dollars by improving supply-chain efficiency and prevent counterfeiting through its tracking technology. Retailers are also exploring how it could improve merchandising and customer service.
SB1834 will be assigned to a Senate policy committee in the coming weeks. —Robert McAllister
