Policy, privacy and RFID

It’s not just manufacturers, distributors and retailers who are looking at RFID. Government and privacy advocates are also trying to get a handle on what this supply chain technology can and can’t do.

No taxation without representation was a rallying cry during the Revolutionary War.

When it comes to government intervention and RFID, Mike Liard, principal analyst, RFID, for ABI Research has a war cry of his own: No legislation without education. Read More

This issue sponsored by: IBM The peaceful co-existence of RFID and bar codes - although mandates for use of radio frequency identification (RFID) are increasing, bar codes and RFID tags will likely co-exist for a long time. Check out IBM's two-in-one solution Learn more>>>

It's not every day you find a U.S. senator who uses terms like fluidic self assembly (FSA) technology with ease. In case you were wondering, FSA is a manufacturing process patented by Alien Technology to enable the manufacture of high-volume, low-cost RFID tags at its North Dakota facility. Read More

This issue sponsored by: StreamServe Stream Serve Manufacturing has made huge investments in information systems that perform individual functions and even some collective efforts well. But in most cases, smoothly coordinating the creation and delivery of documents that govern each order and each customer relationship is largely a multi-step, disconnected process. StreamServe solutions bridge the critical gap. Learn more>>>

RFID Bill of Rights
Privacy advocates want to limit the use of RFID to applications that will never touch the consumer without a person's consent.

Last May, Wisconsin became the first state to pass legislation restricting the use of RFID technology. The bill makes it a crime to require an individual to be implanted with an RFID tag or microchip that could be used to track their movements. Read More

RFID and privacy: The other side of the fence
While there is the potential for RFID privacy abuse, Mark Roberti of RFID Journal considers it highly unlikely the technology will ever monitor our every move.

On the one side of the privacy fence are civil libertarians who envision a future world where our every movement – inside and outside our homes – is tracked by ubiquitous RFID readers. Read More

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Intermec, Inc. and Symbol Technologies, Inc., pioneers and leaders in automated identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies, have reached an agreement that settles all outstanding intellectual property (IP) disputes between the two companies.   Read More

Printed electronics have the potential to transform the RFID industry, if and when they gain sufficient market acceptance and find appropriate applications. But their impact--contrary to some expectations--will not be significant for some years to come.   Read More

Maritime Logistics Innovation Center (MLIC) and the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) announce a partnership focused on furthering Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based research. The new agreement leverages a working test bed provided by Savi Networks, a MLIC partner and company providing real-time RFID information services. Read More

According to a new AberdeenGroup research report, 50% of enterprises report that they will have anywhere between 2 and 10 of their manufacturing sites RFID-enabled by 2008.   Read More

Lockheed Martin Corporation has completed its acquisition of Savi Technology, Inc. (Savi), a proven leader in active radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions.   Read More

Boeing and FedEx have jointly initiated an in-service evaluation of active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on some major airplane parts for a FedEx MD-10 Freighter.   Read More

    Click the cover image to view the July 2006 issue of Modern