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camwynJohn Soat's column in the July 14th issue of InformationWeek.
IT Confidential: Unfortunately, Big Brother Is Expensive
Big Brother Is Too Expensive, Part 1: An organization called Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering last week claimed to have discovered confidential documents that had been "accidentally" posted on the Web site of the Auto-ID Center, a consortium developing the standards and technology around radio-frequency identification tags. The Auto-ID Center is affiliated with MIT and several other universities, and its development of RFID technology is sponsored by some of the largest retailers in the world. The organization claims the documents, which appear to have been developed by the PR firm Fleishman-Hillard, are briefing notes for dealing with the privacy issues created by RFID technology. For example, the documents detail a survey conducted among consumers, in which 78% reacted negatively to the idea of RFID technology, and some used the term "Big Brother" in discussing it. Ironically, last week saw Wal-Mart cancel an RFID test with Gillette, and tony clothier Benetton Group recently put on hold a proposal for widespread use of the technology (see story, "Wal-Mart Shelves RFID Experiment"). While it's possible, likely even, that privacy concerns played a role in both companies' RFID strategies, most observers feel those developments show the technology is simply too expensive for widespread use at the consumer-product level both companies were exploring...
Given that most of the screaming I'd been hearing lately was about Wal-mart's field test plans, this may come as welcome news.
IT Confidential: Unfortunately, Big Brother Is Expensive
Big Brother Is Too Expensive, Part 1: An organization called Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering last week claimed to have discovered confidential documents that had been "accidentally" posted on the Web site of the Auto-ID Center, a consortium developing the standards and technology around radio-frequency identification tags. The Auto-ID Center is affiliated with MIT and several other universities, and its development of RFID technology is sponsored by some of the largest retailers in the world. The organization claims the documents, which appear to have been developed by the PR firm Fleishman-Hillard, are briefing notes for dealing with the privacy issues created by RFID technology. For example, the documents detail a survey conducted among consumers, in which 78% reacted negatively to the idea of RFID technology, and some used the term "Big Brother" in discussing it. Ironically, last week saw Wal-Mart cancel an RFID test with Gillette, and tony clothier Benetton Group recently put on hold a proposal for widespread use of the technology (see story, "Wal-Mart Shelves RFID Experiment"). While it's possible, likely even, that privacy concerns played a role in both companies' RFID strategies, most observers feel those developments show the technology is simply too expensive for widespread use at the consumer-product level both companies were exploring...
Given that most of the screaming I'd been hearing lately was about Wal-mart's field test plans, this may come as welcome news.
