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SFPL Holds Public Forum on Adopting RFID TechnologySan Francisco Public Library held a public forum March 4 to air views of its controversial plan to insert radio frequency identification chips (RFIDs) into its circulating materials. Kathy Lawhun, chief of SFPL’s main library, defended the technology, which the library says would help locate items, speed up checkout, and deter thefts. “RFID is simply a chip with an antenna,” Lawhun said in response to concerns that the devices would contain private information that could be read by third parties. “You can have as little or as much as you want on that chip.” “Privacy is really the handmaiden of the First Amendment,” countered Ann Brick, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. Although she observed that libraries are reliable protectors of patron information, others might use the technology in less benign ways. “It’s the rest of the world that we’re really worried about,” she said. Misgivings were also voiced by Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Associated Press reported March 4. “Now is the time to seriously worry about the government using RFIDs to track people,” he said. The 2004–05 library budget submitted to the mayor’s office in February contained funding in a reserve account that would go toward implementing RFID if the plan is approved by the library commission, the city board of supervisors, and the mayor. Posted March 5, 2004. |
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