I was just reminded of this article on civil rights watchdogs pressing for RFID legislation. I don't recall having posted a link to it before, so even though it is from April, here you go:
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,62922,00.html
New Zealand is to have its first RFID system for tracking books in a public library. The system is going into the Botany Downs library in South Auckland and is manufactured by Checkpoint Systems.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2939867a28,00.html
From InformationWeek:
Parents taking their children to Legoland theme parks this summer need not worry about losing little Johnny, Jesper or Johan thanks to advances in RFID technology.
Children entering the parks will be fitted with an RFID bracelet that can be tracked anywhere within its boundaries - meaning that should they run off and find themselves lost, the parks' staff will easily be able to track them down and alert parents via SMS.
The scheme launched in Denmark last month and if successful it's likely to be seen in other amusement parks in the group - such as Legoland Windsor in the UK.
The 'Kidspotter' scheme represents the latest in a string of innovative uses for RFID technology. However, not everybody is convinced that Lego's motives are as well-intentioned as the reassuring marketing for the scheme would suggest.
Leo Steiner, vice president for on-demand sales at IBM, who works closely with RFID, said: "Lego will now know exactly where each customer is, how long they are spending in each area and which products are proving to be most popular."
Full article at: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/protectingid/0,3800002220,39121670,00.htm
From InformationWeek:
A Capgemini Group survey of more than 1,000 consumers found that 77% weren't even aware of the technology.
Despite the attention privacy has gotten with regards to radio-frequency identification technology, only a small number of consumers are aware of RFID at all. So says a study conducted by Capgemini Group and the National Retail Federation.
The study, which surveyed more than 1,000 consumers, found that 77% weren't familiar with RFID. Of those that were, 42% had a favorable perception of the technology, and 31% had no opinion.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=22101950
From EITplanet.com:
The drive to place RFID tags on consumer products is relentless, but IT leaders say public policy on how to use and secure the information they'll provide is lagging behind.
http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/security/news/article.php/3367261
Thanks to Anders Jacobsen at rfidbuzz.com for letting us know about Japan's recently announced RFID Privacy Guidelines.
The guidelines track Simson Garfinkel's "RFID Bill Of Rights" fairly closely.
An English translation and pointers to the original are here.
Now you can identify and be identified with this nitfy RFID watch.
Some might say that RFID goes back even further, but according to this article from the Mercury News, we have Charles Walton to thank. They write:
The next time you wave a key card to unlock the door to your office building, think of Charles Walton.
One of Silicon Valley's unsung inventors, Walton's patents on radio frequency identification, or RFID, spawned those electronic door keys. Now the technology Walton pioneered in the 1970s and 1980s is poised to change the way billions of products are tracked.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/8861856.htm?1c