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[IP] 'Don't Fear New Bar Codes,' USA Today




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Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 20:52:56 -0700
From: Denise Caruso <caruso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: 'Don't Fear New Bar Codes,' USA Today
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To: farber@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Dave,

Don't know if you saw this piece in USA Today last week on EPCs. A friend (also the author) just sent it to me. Thought it might be interesting to see what IP folks think of it. I "hear him," as we say here in California, but I don't agree. Then again I never have been big on ubiquitous surveillance, or the products that could enable it. You'll forgive me if the MIT guidelines don't make me feel happier about embracing EPC-ed products. You'll forgive me if I have a deep distrust of anyone who claims to be ensuring that my (consumer/citizen) interests will be "paramount." Particularly at this particular moment in history.

Yrs in anticipation of the day when eternal vigilance doesn't have to be quite so bloody vigilant,

Denise

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030925/5532478s.htm

Don't fear new  bar codes

By Larry Downes

''The risk it poses to humanity is on a par with nuclear weapons,'' Katherine Albrecht says.

The deadly new threat Albrecht, the founder of Consumers Against Shopping Privacy Invasion and Numbering, is talking about: the latest development in retail technology, a new generation of bar codes called electronic product codes (EPC). These tiny bar codes send and receive data using radio waves, eliminating manual scanning.

This new technology will lower prices, improve selections and supplies, eliminate counterfeits (especially prescription drugs) and reduce theft. Eventually, it will help customers maintain and replace products from a carton of milk to the refrigerator that holds it.

The first generation of bar codes has helped do that for nearly 30 years. But if misguided privacy alarmists have their way, the benefits of the next generation of bar codes may be denied or delayed.

Privacy advocates are concerned that retailers and manufacturers will use EPC (also called radio frequency identification tags) to track our every purchase, monitor products after they leave the store and use that information without our knowledge.

No one likes the thought of being under constant surveillance by either the government or corporate interests. Yet it's hard to see what all of the fuss is about.

The EPC tag is a tiny computer chip with a small amount of data storage and a miniature radio antenna. The tags, which can be read whenever they are close to a reader device, identify an item and its location. A central database then provides details such as price and expiration date. Instead of being manually scanned, the EPC tag, in effect, scans itself.

Details aren't important

Aside from the practical impossibilities of storing the zillions of bytes of data that most worry privacy advocates, the truth is that even the most aggressive marketer doesn't have much use for data about anything more specific than your sex, age and ZIP code.

Groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are most concerned about what happens once the product leaves the store. In theory, our home computers could some day serve as EPC readers, but only if consumers allow it. For example, EPC could be used to automatically reorder products or let consumers know when an appliance needs preventive maintenance. That's useful, not invasive.

Those developing the EPC technology have been working hard to ensure that consumer interests are paramount. The Auto-ID Center -- a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-based consortium of more than 100 leading companies, including Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble and Sun Microsystems -- has worked on common EPC standards for years. It's about to hand over the management of that standard to the Uniform Code Council, which administers universal bar codes. EPC trials are underway at a few stores in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Consumer protections

The MIT group soon will issue a set of guidelines for companies that want to use EPC. Its aim is to head off consumer concerns before the technology appears in stores. The guidelines stipulate that consumers:

*Must be told if EPC readers and tags are in use.

*Must be able to permanently stop the transmission of data to or from tags once they leave the store.

*Have the right to buy EPC-tagged products without their identity being linked in any way to the sale.

Many think of companies as amoral, profit-hungry beasts that will do anything to promote their own selfish interests. In the case of EPC, the early signs suggest an impressive cooperation aimed at making the transition as smooth as possible and of sharing the benefits of new technology as widely as possible.

EPC isn't dangerous. Ignorance is.
Larry Downes teaches technology law and strategy at the University of California-Berkeley School of Information Management and Systems. He has no affiliation with the bar code industry.

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