rfid, canada Index

Saturday's Globe & Mail had an interesting article on RFID, which is now online in the Globe's technology section: globeandmail.com : Who's watching the watchers? I find these articles to be interesting, but often overstate the threat that RFID poses in Canada. Most of the concern is that item-level tagging of purchased items will lead to the ability to track individuals once they have left the store. While this might theoretically be possible, the advent of a new technology does not mean that Canadian laws go out the window.

Canadian Province's New RFID Privacy Guidelines Could Have The Wrong Effect. The commissioner for Information and Privacy in Ontario unveiled on June 19 a series of tips and guidelines for using RFID within her part of Canada. First of all, the fact that a major Canadian province even has an information and privacy commissioner makes me look longingly to the North. But I believe bacon should be served in long narrow strips and that a rectangle is a terrible shape for any food, so we're probably even.

PC Privacy Guidelines for RFID Information Systems (RFID Privacy Guidelines) Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D., Commissioner June 2006 INTRODUCTION This document is intended to serve as privacy “best practices” guidance for organizations when designing and operating Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) information technologies and systems.