Consumer Reports Finds Personal Privacy Concerns in Planned Uses of Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFIDs); Investigation Finds Most Consumers Unaware of RFID Technology; RFID Industry Not Taking Necessary Precautions to Protect Consumer Privacy.

(From AScribe)

YONKERS, N.Y. -- Not many consumers know about Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), a wireless technology that allows objects and people to be tagged and tracked. RFID tags contain microchips and tiny radio antennas that are embedded in all kinds of products, credit cards, or stuck on labels. A three-month investigation in the June 2006 issue of Consumer Reports has found the RFID industry lacking in the necessary measures to strengthen tag security against identity thieves.

RFID technology offers huge cost savings to business and it offers consumers conveniences such as speedier checkouts, and public benefits, including ways to manage toxic waste and encourage recycling. However, the tags are also a powerful new means of data collection about consumers, the things they buy, the books they read, and the …