Wifi Revolution

A new law regarding RFID usage has been sponsored by Mount Vernon’s state representative Jeff Morris, and signed by Governor Gregoire in Washington. The law aims to provide consumers better protection against malicious misuse of RFID “spy technologies”, which are used to collect information sometimes without consumer consent.

Surprisingly few people know that they might be transmitting personal data about themselves, their identities and their shopping habits. This information is then available to anybody, business or individual, that has a basic microchip reader.

There are of course some benefits of using an RFID-enabled device; they are extraordinarily useful for speeding up transactional activities, like checkout lines or tolls.

Consumer advocates are protesting the potential foul play that can result from having your personal information so easily accessible. For instance, a shopper walking into a store could unknowingly transmit their identity and whereabouts via a membership card, while they pick out items and make their final purchases. That information then goes into a data repository for further analysis and targeted marketing schemes.

Or, more worryingly, a potential thief could circle a neighborhood reading the transmissions coming from each house and selecting his target based on the content of the home via a handheld RFID reader.

According to Rep. Jeff Morris, the only method to prevent misuse and breach of an individual’s right to privacy is to deal with these now and implement legislation accordingly.

This new law, unique in the U.S., makes it a Class C felony to purposefully scan another person's identification remotely without his or her knowledge and consent, for the purpose of fraud, identity theft, or some other illegal purpose.

Morris revealed that it was difficult to win the approval for this law, although it was in consumers’ best interests. After years of advocating for stronger protections, including an opt-in requirement for retailers to abide by that was included in the original version of Morris' bill, corporate lobbyists have fought to kill it every step of the way. These business interests have remained constantly focused on allowing the spy chips to remain unregulated as they quickly move to embed them in any or all products imaginable.

"This is just one small step to stake out some boundaries around our individual consumer rights before it's too late. The battle now that criminal acts are covered is deciding whether or not spying on consumers for marketing purposes without their consent is criminal."

The new law goes into effect this July, 2008.

Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page .


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