Qld: Consumers warned over new goods tags

AAP General News (Australia)
04-28-2004
Qld: Consumers warned over new goods tags

A privacy group says consumer alarm bells should be ringing over the successor to barcodes
- electronic tagging of goods known as RFID.

Australian Privacy Foundation policy coordinator NIGAL WATERS says RFID is not yet
in Australian stores but it's widely used overseas.

He says it could pose a huge threat to the privacy of consumers.

RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, takes the form of an almost invisible microchip
that can be embedded in goods and can carry many times more information than barcodes.

Mr WATERS says the concern is that RFID gives manufacturers and retailers the potential
to track both goods and the purchaser long after they leave a store.

He says RFID should have a default kill switch that's activated at the point of purchase.

AAP RTV jfs/sc/wf/rp

KEYWORD: RFID (BRISBANE)

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