RFID: Progress or Privacy Invasion

Group Members
Bilal Akhtar, Savanna Funk, Holly Gifford, Dmitriy Nikitashenko, Jordan Quick

Introduction
Is big brother watching? Radio Frequency Identification or RFID is a system that creates a unique serial number using radio waves which then transmits the identity of an object or person. This technology has many potential uses including supply chain management and also even embedding into humans for simple tasks such as unlocking car doors.

However, with the actual surgical incision of RFID chips in humans comes many health concerns. Though the advantages include being able to do every day tasks quickly and more efficiently, the disadvantages and health concerns outweigh these significantly.

The consumer is generally unaware of the situations that RFID chips may be involved. They are there whether it’s a key tag used to fill up with gas or loyalty cards with these chips built right in. The consumer should be aware of the presence of these chips and should choose not to purchase the products that contain them. Furthermore, it is not recommended that you have such chips surgically inserted into the human body due to the growing health concerns.

RFID
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a generic term that is used to describe a system that transmits the identity of an object or person in the form of a unique serial number using radio waves. 

RFID’s are seen as a replacement for UPC but differ from them in many ways. More than one tag can be read at a time, tags can be read through hard material such as book covers, other packaging material, the human body, clothing and non-metallic materials. Each tag can uniquely identify the object to which it is attached (even if it is one of a multitude of identical items)

Components

 * An antenna or coil
 * A transceiver (with decoder)
 * A transponder (RF tag) electronically programmed with unique information
 * An RFID reader is a device to communicate with the RFID tag. It broadcasts a radio signal, which is received by the tag, the tag then transmits its information back to the reader.  Readers can either be portable handheld terminals or fixed devices.[[Image:AIM_RFID_Example.png|thumb|3. Example of the logos used with RFID]]

Potential Uses of RFID Technology

 * 1) Supply chain management: monitoring and controlling the flow of goods from raw materials to finished product, from manufacturer to consumer
 * 2) Product integrity- ensuring that products, ex. pharmaceuticals, are authentic and have not been altered in any way
 * 3) Warranty services- marking durable goods with a tag incorporating a product registration code to facilitate warranty services
 * ID, Travel and Ticketing- to verify the identity of the traveler and to ensure that the documents are genuine
 * 1) Baggage tracking- monitoring and controlling the movement of baggage from the clerk to loading onto the plane
 * 2) Patient care and Management- to rapidly and accurately verify information concerning patient allergies, prescription history, etc. to prevent surgical errors

RFIDs and the Health Affects of Human Microchipping
The gaining public interest in human microchipping RFID technology has caused, along with some health care benefits, increasing health concerns.

Example
A business man named Amal Graafstra from Vancouver implanted two 3-millimeter by 13 millimeter RFID chips into his right and left hands. He is now able to open the front door, the car doors and log into his computer by just a wave of his hands.

Benefits
Humans microchipping RFID technology's most probable benefit in health care is the ability to store a patients complete medical history on the patient. It gives doctors and medical personnel quick access and reduces the time it takes to retrieve this information, as just a scan of the implanted chip can provide details on the drugs being taken by the patient, any allergies to other medications and various procedures that the patient has undergone.

Disadvantages
Implanting RFIDs into human body could also be potentially harmful. Some of the least concerns involve infection or the body rejecting the foreign object installed. Various major concerns involve the possibility that the tags could migrate or travel in the body. An additional threat to the human body is the non-Ionizing radiation form microwave radio frequency and magnetic fields of the RFIDs. Another concern reported by the Food and Drug Association (FDA) is that the tags could cause MRI incompatibility and electromagnetic interference during medical examinations.

One latest big concern comes from the several studies done on mice implanted with RFIDs. The studies show that the device tends to promote malignant tumors in the mice. Whereas when it comes to privacy and security issues regarding the bank account or medical information stored on an implanted RFID chip, it is much easier to replace a hacked credit card than a chip implanted inside the body as it requires a medical procedure to remove it.

One interesting fact from the 10news.com website is that the company selling Mr. Graafstra chip has a large disclaimer on its Web Site stating the chips are not intended for human implantation or medical use.

RFID and the Consumer
The two main applications of RFID that affects the consumer include: tagging of individual products and using RFID in consumer loyalty cards and credit cards.

Examples of RFID
A retail chain in Washington is using RFID enabled loyalty cards that transmit a unique ID number, which consumers can supplement with information via the Internet. This information could include personal information, shopping preferences, and other physiographic information. These consumers can then receive emails on promotions, be notified of product recalls and have their accounts automatically credited for recent price drops on previously purchased items and refunds for product dissatisfaction.

Several Gas stations have developed a pay at the pump swipe system that uses a RFID embedded key tag that once swiped at the pump or register charges the purchase to a linked credit card.

Benefits
Consumers can enjoy enhanced communication with the company which allows improved customer service and an individualized customer experience. The customer would also enjoy faster checkouts with little or no wait times as well as speeder product returns. Also RFID cards have enhanced security devices that are more secure than the traditional magnetic stripe cards.

Disadvantages
RFID tags can be read after the item leaves the store and readers are portable and tags can be read from a distance. The tags are difficult to remove or are hard to find and so preventing them from being read after purchase is tricky. The unique serial numbers that are given to each product can be linked to a credit card upon purchase negating consumer anonymity. Also despite higher security it may still be possible that a thief can use a portable scanner and scan and steal your information without actually having access to your cards. The most proved disadvantage of RFID however is that consumers tend to spend more when using RFID versus traditional payment methods.

Big Brother is Watching
By far the biggest controversy involved with RFID and marketing is the increased ability of marketers to track an individuals every purchase and using that information to improve their marketing strategies. A product that outputs a signal that can be scanned from varying distances and allows marketers to not only get information on when, where, and by whom a product is purchased but also where the products go, their use, movement and disposal. Supermarkets, coffee shops, pharmacies and other retail stores already use specific advertising on display screens at the point of purchase to advertise complimentary products to those being purchased. With RFID technology supermarkets look to use this type of advertising within the store, which scans a person for RFID and uses that information to specifically advertise to the customer on shopping carts or individualised store displays.

The main concern with this new technology is the loss of privacy to consumers. An extreme example of consumer privacy invasion is when several pharmacy companies faced outrage when consumers received direct mail and email advertisements that reminded them to refill prescriptions and to consider new prescriptions based on confidential medical information. These companies had collected private medical information from consumers based on purchases of subscriptions and created a database that they then sold to pharmaceutical companies.

Groups who are opposed to using RFID in consumer products say that there is a lack of industry standards and regulations that would prevent marketers from breaching privacy laws. Their biggest concerns are items being tagged and scanned without consumer knowledge as well as using the information that was obtained from the scan without the consumers consent.

Argument
For the most part we see this technology as beneficial but there is a line that shouldn't be crossed. The important part is to find the right balance between privacy protection and the appropriate use of data. RFID technologies have promised various benefits for retailers, manufacturers and end users. However we think it is not an ideal innovation to use within the human body at the present time because of the issues of cancer, radiation, adverse tissue reaction and migration. Also higher security measures need to be considered for consumer use as the unique information contained in each RFID tag can be captured by various readers and used to track a person's movements erasing the borders of a persons private life.

References and Notes
1. http://www.aimglobal.org/technologies/rfid/ Retrieved on 2009-03-28

2. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/fs-fi/02_05_d_28_e.asp Date published: 2006-02-23. Retrieved on 2009-03-28

3. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/fs-fi/02_05_d_28_e.asp Date published: 2006-02-23. Retrieved on 2009-03-28

4. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/fs-fi/02_05_d_28_e.asp Date published: 2006-02-23. Retrieved on 2009-03-28

5. McGeever, Jamie. “More RFID Propaganda: Computer chips get under skin of U.S. enthusiasts”, 2006-01-05. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

6 & 8. Technol, Manag, J. “Human Microchip Implantation”, Journal of Technology Management & Innovation (V.3, N.3) 2008, Santiago. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

7, 9, 11 & 12. Brady, Jennifer. “RFID Implants Could Chip Away At Your Health, Identity”, 2006-03-13. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

10. Manjoo, Farhad. “Mice studies show RFID tags cause cancer” 2007-09-10. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

13. Swedberg, Claire. "RFID Is TOP Priority for Store Loyalty Cards", RFID Journal, 2009-04-03. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

14. "Contactless Credit Card Advantages", n.d. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

15. "Problems with RFID", n.d. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

16, 17 & 18. Albrecht, Katherine "RFID: Tracking everything, everywhere", 2002. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

19. "Privacy Rights and the Marketing of Confidential Medical Information", Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2004-09-09. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.

Photo References
1. http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/02/25/index.html

2. http://www.rfidjournal.com/

3. http://www.aimglobal.org/technologies/rfid/

4. http://www.infowars.com/articles/bb/rfid_computere_chips_under_the_skin.htm

5. http://www.siliconeer.com/past_issues/2004/june2004.html

6. http://www.rfid-weblog.com/50226711/rfid_shopping_cart_will_make_shopping_easy.php