electronic article surveilance

David A. OliveDavid A. OliveGeneral Manager, Fujitsu Limited General Manager, Fujitsu Limited WITSA Public Policy Chairman WITSA Public Policy Chairman

WITSA Public Policy MeetingWITSA Public Policy MeetingHanoi, VietnamHanoi, Vietnam

November 26, 2005November 26, 2005

Radio Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)Identification (RFID)

Supporting ICT Infrastructure DeploymentSupporting ICT Infrastructure Deployment

Drafted WITSA Statement on the Policy Implication of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) .

http://www.icann.org/


RFID refers to the subset of automatic identification that uses radio waves to identify an object.The simplest tags are "passive"---without their own power supply, receiving power from the electromagnetic waves emitted by the reader which allows the transmission of the information stored on the tag.Other tags are "active" containing some form of power supply to broadcast the information to the reader.


Tags can have chips that can be read-write, read-only tags or electrically read-only memory where data can be overwritten using an electronic process.The two critical elements are the readers which receive the ID and the network for the transmission and storage of information about the objects.


The Electronic Product Code (EPC) has been designed to make the supply chain much more visible, from manufacturer through distributor to the retail outlet at various points along the way.


APPLICATIONSMaintenance: Taking advantage of the read/write capabilities, inspectors can read the maintenance data, update it and reprogram the chip. Medical information: Printed bar code labels come with RFID tags embedded in them. The tags can be read in unattended scanning environments.Inventory/Stocking: Several suppliers can walk into a work area to see if the next shipment should go out without relying on paperwork at customer sites to get up-to-date info on quantities needed and pricing.


APPLICATIONS Electronic article surveillance: for apparel and high-end consumer goods. Sensor tags used as antitheft protection.Retail Checkouts: Enables checkout at kiosks that automatically updates the inventory information in real time.Handheld Devices: Adding RFID computing to devices will lead to a variety of RFID uses, such as reading utility meters, taking inventory or tracking items through the supply chain.


POLICY ISSUES

PrivacySecurityCompetition lawAccess to radio frequency spectrumHealth effectsLabor practices


SUGGESTED GUIDELINES•Customers should be given their choice to remove and/or discard, destroy, or deactivate RFID tags from the products purchased.•Companies should disclose their policies regarding any linkage between personally identifiable customer information and information generated by RFID use.•Companies should implement technical measures to address privacy, security, and access to information issues in the development of new RFID applications.


Acknowledgement WITSA acknowledges the substantive contributions of Elliot E. Maxwell in the preparations of this briefing paper on RFID. He is a Fellow of the Center for the Study of American Government at Johns Hopkins University, Distinguished Research Fellow at the eBusiness Research Center of the Pennsylvania State University, and chair of the International Policy Advisory Council of MIT’s Auto-ID Center.

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David A. OliveDavid A. OliveGeneral Manager, Fujitsu Limited General Manager, Fujitsu Limited WITSA Public Policy Chairman WITSA Public Policy Chairman

WITSA 2003 Global Public WITSA 2003 Global Public Policy ActivitiesPolicy Activities

electronic article surveilance

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