Companies using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on products should always tell their customers and make sure they know whether they can deactivate the tags, according to a set of best practices for RFID deployment proposed by a group of IT vendors, RFID users and consumer advocates.“There should be no secret RFID tags or readers,” according to a draft report by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Working Group on RFID. Members of the group include Cisco, IBM, Intel, the National Consumers League, Procter & Gamble and VeriSign.The report adds that, by itself, consumer notification does not mitigate all privacy concerns. Companies collecting personally identifying information through RFID tags should tell customers how that data will be used. And if customers can opt out of sharing that information, or can destroy the tags, those options must be readily available, the report says.“The document draws from widely accepted and traditional principles of fair information practices,” says Paula Bruening, staff counsel at CDT, a privacy and civil liberties advocacy group. It offers concrete guidance for companies that want to deploy RFID in a way that respects privacy, but also recognizes the need for technological flexibility, she adds. The expanding use of RFID, embraced by large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, has raised concerns about privacy. Because scanners can read RFID chips from a short distance, privacy advocates worry that the technology could eventually be used to track people’s movements and purchases. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe