Canadian Commissioner announces RFID guidelines.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT - Brief article

Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian recently released privacy guidelines aimed at protecting Canadians' privacy for the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

Cavouldan first identified the potential privacy concerns raised by RFID technology in 2003. "These made-in-Canada Guidelines provide guidance and solutions regarding item-level consumer RFID applications and uses," she said.

EPCglobal Canada, an industry association that sets standards for electronic product codes, worked with the Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) to develop the guidelines and will ask its member companies to endorse them.

RFID tags are considered high-tech barcodes. They contain microchips and tiny radio antennas that can be attached to almost any product. The tags transmit a unique identifying number to an electronic reader, which communicates with a database that...