Tracking tags raise privacy concerns at SFPL.(News Fronts)(San Francisco Public Library)

Privacy advocates are voicing concerns over San Francisco Public Library's plans to insert tiny computer chips into its circulating materials. The devices, known as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, would help locate items, speed up checkout, and deter thefts.

Although library officials say the devices would be deactivated as soon as materials leave the library, Lee Tien, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, worries that the chips may retain information that would be trackable by legal authorities or hackers. The group sent a letter to the library commission October 2 warning of the privacy issues and asking that SFPL "postpone adoption of RFID …