[infowar.de] Defense Department drafts RFID policy

[Ralf Bendrath <bendrath -! - zedat - fu-berlin - de>]

Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
-------------------------------------------------------------

RFID (radio frequency identification) ist ja gerade in aller Munde -
siehe Big Brother Award 2003 und die letzten Tage bei Telepolis. Da
kommt noch was auf uns zu...
Das Zeug ist übrigens keinesfalls sicher: Auf der H2K2 Hackerkonferenz
letzten Sonner gab es eine Vorführung, wie man mit nem Aktenkoffer, der
einen PDA, eine starke Batterie und ein wenig Elektronik enthielt, im
Vorbeigehen dem Sitznachbarn in der U-Bahn die RFID-Karte (die z.B. für
Einlasskontrollen im Pentagon benutzt werden) auslesen und anschließend
klonen konnte.
RB

http://news.com.com/2100-1008-5097050.html

Defense Department drafts RFID policy

By Matthew Broersma
Special to CNET News.com

Story last modified October 24, 2003, 2:48 PM PDT

The U.S. Department of Defense will give radio frequency identification
technology a massive boost with a new policy requiring its suppliers to
use RFID chips.

The RFID policy, announced Thursday, is the latest step toward wider
adoption of the controversial technology, which civil liberties groups
fear could lead to unprecedented surveillance of consumers. Advocates
say

RFID chips will revolutionize supply-chain systems by making it far
easier
to identify and process inventory.

RFID chips, or tags, contain identification information that can be
wirelessly passed on to a reader, allowing, for example, the contents of
a
shipping container to be identified without opening it. This promises
huge
improvements in supply-chain efficiency, but also raises the prospect of
remote tracking of consumers via RFID chips embedded in their clothes or
the cards in their wallets.

The Defense Department's policy requires that by January 2005 all
suppliers embed passive RFID chips in each individual product if
possible,
or otherwise at the level of cases or pallets. The policy applies to
everything except bulk commodities such as sand, gravel or liquids. The
department said the policy would allow it to streamline its supply-chain
and business processes.

In February, the department will host a summit for the industry to
discuss
RFID plans, and it will finalize its strategy for implementing the
program
by June.

Earlier this year Wal-Mart, Gillette and other companies began attaching
RFID chips to merchandise sold in stores, sparking intense criticism
from
consumer-privacy advocates. Wal-Mart is pressing ahead with RFID plans
but
has said it will not embed the chips in consumer items.

One of the most outspoken critics of RFID has been privacy activist
Katherine Albrecht, the head of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy
Invasion and Numbering. She called for worldwide boycotts of clothing
retailer Benetton and Gillette after each discussed plans to put RFID
tags
on their products. Albrecht also criticized MIT's Auto-ID Center for
trying to downplay the privacy concerns over the technology after
finding
documents on the group's Web site that contained public relations advice
on how to "neutralize opposition" to RFID systems.

Despite the controversy, major companies are moving ahead with plans to
use RFID systems in stores and in warehouses. Wal-Mart, for instance,
has
a big RFID project underway involving hundreds of its suppliers. Marks &
Spencer began an RFID trial in one of its London-area store this month.

Matthew Broersma of ZDNet UK reported from London.
CNET News.com's Alorie Gilbert contributed to this report.

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