Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FTC to Host Public Workshop on Radio Frequency Identification

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:24:40 -0400

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/04/rfidworkshop.htm

FTC to Host Public Workshop on Radio Frequency Identification

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comments on and requests to
participate in a workshop, “Radio Frequency Identification: Applications
and Implications for Consumers,” to be held June 21, 2004. A Federal
Register Notice announcing the workshop says that it “will explore the
uses, efficiencies, and implications for consumers associated with radio
frequency identification (RFID) technology. The workshop will address
both current and anticipated uses of RFID tags and their impact on the
marketplace.”

According to the Federal Register Notice, the workshop “will provide an
opportunity to learn about how RFID works and to highlight its numerous
and rapidly growing applications. It will also address the privacy and
security concerns associated with RFID use, particularly on an
item-level basis. By bringing together RFID proponents, privacy
advocates, and other interested parties, the workshop will facilitate
discussion of core public policy issues and encourage the development of
best practices that capitalize on the efficiencies generated by RFID
without compromising consumers’ privacy and security.”

Topics addressed at the workshop will include:

   * What is RFID all about?

   * How is RFID technology currently being deployed?

   * What is the future of RFID?

   * How are consumers impacted by current and/or anticipated RFID uses?

   * What approaches have led or will lead to use of RFID in a way that
     accommodates privacy and security concerns?

Parties seeking to serve as panelists in the workshop must notify the
FTC in writing of their interest in participating on or before Friday,
May 7, 2004, either by mail to the Secretary of the FTC or by email to
[email-masked]. More information about participating in the
workshop, including the specific criteria the FTC will use to select
participants, is provided in the Federal Register Notice.

Interested parties also may submit written comments on the above
questions to foster greater understanding of these issues. Especially
useful are any studies, surveys, research, and empirical data. Comments
must be filed on or before Friday, May 21, 2004, and may be filed in
either paper or electronic form. For paper submissions, an original and
two copies of each document should be provided. The FTC requests that
any submission filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight
service. U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission
is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.
Alternatively, comments may be emailed to [email-masked].

Additional information about the workshop is available on the FTC’s Web
site at www.ftc.gov/rfidworkshop. An agenda will be posted there prior
to the workshop.

Copies of the Federal Register Notice are available from the FTC’s Web
site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response
Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and
unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information
to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to
get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free,
1-877-FTC-HELP (1 877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at
http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity
theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a
secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law
enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

MEDIA CONTACT:

     Claudia Bourne Farrell

     Office of Public Affairs
     202-326-2181

STAFF CONTACT:

     Julie Brof

     Northwest Regional Office
     206-220-4475