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Department Of Homeland Security Has Reservations about RFID

November 20, 2006

There are proposals in the work for RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification Tags) to be a required element on state-issued driver's licenses.

You would think the Department of Homeland Security would be solidly behind this proposal. But think again.

An Electronic Frontier Foundation document quotes from a recent DHS draft report which says in part:

"RFID appears to offer little benefit when compared to the consequences it brings for privacy and data integrity. Instead, it increases risks to personal privacy and security, with no commensurate benefit for performance or national security. Most difficult and troubling is the situation in which RFID is ostensibly used for tracking objects (medicine containers, for example), but can be in fact used for monitoring human behavior. These types of uses are still being explored and remain difficult to predict.

"For these reasons, we recommend that RFID be disfavored for identifying and tracking human beings."

Count me among the surprised-DHS actually rejects an enabling technology?




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