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Tracking Technology Raises Privacy Concerns at SFPLPrivacy advocates are voicing concerns over San Francisco Public Library’s plans to insert tiny computer chips into its circulating materials. The devices, known as radio frequency identification chips (RFIDs), would help locate items, speed up checkout, and deter thefts.Although library officials say the devices would be deactivated as soon as materials leave the library, Lee Tien, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, worries that the chips may retain information that would be trackable by legal authorities or hackers. The group sent a letter to the library commission October 2 warning of the privacy issues and asking that SFPL “postpone adoption of RFID technology pending further study and research into its privacy implications and cost-effectiveness.” The proposal to adopt the technology by FY 2005–06 is part of the three-year strategic plan adopted by the commission October 2. However, after the privacy concerns were raised, Commissioner Steve Coulter said in the October 6 San Francisco Chronicle that the library will hold a public education forum on RFID issues as well as a separate public hearing on the matter. “The staff is convinced that this is something that we should be doing,” said Coulter, “but we need to have these privacy concerns addressed first.” Posted October 13, 2003. |
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