A group of IT suppliers and users has issued a set of
best practice guidelines on how firms should use consumer
information they gather via radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology.
RFID is used mainly in the business supply chain to track and
identify items such as products, shipping crates, livestock and
clothing, but analysts believe it will be used more and more to
track consumer goods and gather customer information, particularly
location data.
Sarah Burnett, senior research analyst at Butler Group, said, “I
can see RFID eventually appearing in the consumer area – for
example, to tag cereal packages, to speed up responses to
promotions, linked to mobiles, to get instant feedback.”
Consumer protection has therefore become a concern for privacy
advocates critical of RFID. The best practices group represents the
first industry attempt to ensure that customers are protected.
Suppliers Microsoft and Intel, and users Procter & Gamble,
the American Library Association, Eli Lilly, VeriSign and Visa are
among the organisations that have worked on the document.
It offers guidance on how companies should notify consumers
about RFID data collection; what choice consumers should have
regarding their personal information, and how that information
should be treated and secured by the companies that collect it.
The Center for Democracy & Technology led the working
group.