Subject: [NEXTEL-1] RFID Will Stop Terrorists- The New Scam

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 21:23:50 -0400

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RFID Will Stop Terrorists- The New Scam 

By Mark Baard

Aug. 08, 2003

Facing increasing resistance and concerns about privacy, the United States'
largest food companies and retailers will try to win consumer approval for radio
identification devices by portraying the technology as an essential tool for
keeping the nation's food supply safe from terrorists. 

The companies are banding together and through an industry association are
lobbying to have the Department of Homeland Security designate radio frequency
identification, or RFID, as an antiterrorism technology. 

In addition, they are asking members of Congress and other influential figures to
portray RFID in a favorable light. 

Companies like Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart and Johnson & Johnson see RFID
technology as a godsend. By implanting tiny radio transponders in their product
packaging, the companies can instantly track their goods from factory floors all
the way to retailers' warehouses. PWF What's more, retailers can get a 100 percent
accurate inventory of products on their shelves instantly with RFID detectors.
Taking inventory now involves countless hours of overnight work with inaccurate
results. 

Experts estimate industry could save billions of dollars each year in inventory
and logistical costs with RFID. Trouble is, privacy advocates see RFID as a
massive invasion of privacy. They say the technology would let retailers,
marketers, governments or criminals scan people -- or even their houses -- and
ascertain what they own. The technology hasn't been rolled out widely yet, but
already it's causing controversy. Earlier this summer, Wal-Mart caved to protests
and pulled radio-tagged items out of a store in Brockton, Massachusetts. 

To win the hearts and minds of consumers, retailers and food and drug companies
may portray the technology as an antiterrorist tool. They say the technology can
help them keep precise track of all goods and help in recall efforts should their
products be contaminated or laced with poison during a terrorist attack. 

The Auto-ID Center, (http://www.autoidcenter.org/) an RFID consortium, presented
its technology to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in Washington, D.C., last
year. In fact, many Auto-ID Center sponsors consider Ridge's blessing to be key to
public acceptance. An internal presentation by Fleishman-Hillard, the powerhouse
PR firm that advises the center, lists Ridge as a "top-tier opinion leader." And
the minutes (PDF) of another meeting
(http://www.autoidcenter.org/media/minutes_transportation.pdf), attended by a
representative of the Department of Defense, records a group statement that the
technology will catch on "when the government mandates it for homeland security
reasons." 

The center also has targeted Sens. John McCain and Patrick Leahy, and Reps.
Charles Dingell and Billy Tauzin, for recruitment to help Americans overcome their
suspicions about RFID tags on consumer goods. 

Members of the privacy rights group Caspian (http://www.nocards.org/) uncovered
the Auto-ID Center documents, which are marked "confidential," in early July. 

With Ridge's approval for RFID, the food and drug companies and retailers hope to
win over a wary public. They also may get legal protection under the Safety Act of
2002 -- a tort-reform law that offers blanket lawsuit protections to makers of
antiterrorism devices, should those devices fail during a terrorist attack. 

"If we get a declaration from Homeland Security that this is the step we need to
take to protect the food supply, that's the step it will take to move this
technology forward," said Procter & Gamble supply-chain executive Larry Kellam at
an RFID industry PWF conference in June. 

Procter & Gamble and other Auto-ID Center sponsors -- including Sara Lee, Kellogg,
Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer -- lobbied lawmakers and
officials last year for the lawsuit protections that they now hope will apply to
RFID technology. 

"We have been working with legislators to make sure the right regulations are in
place to make RFID tags commercially feasible," said Stephanie Childs, a
spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America (http://www.gmabrands.com/),
which lobbied on behalf of the food and drug companies and retailers. 

But not all legislators on Capitol Hill are buying into RFID tags, especially when
they see companies playing the terrorism card to gain acceptance for the
technology. 

"We would never support legislation to prevent businesses from using RFID the way
they want to," said Jeff Deist, a spokesman for Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who is a
staunch privacy rights advocate. "That's a question for the marketplace. But once
the Homeland Security Department gets involved, that's another story entirely."

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,59624,00.html

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