The Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Developments in privacy law and writings of a Canadian privacy lawyer, containing information related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (aka PIPEDA) and other Canadian and international laws.

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The author of this blog, David T.S. Fraser, is a Canadian privacy lawyer who practices with the firm of McInnes Cooper. He is the author of the Physicians' Privacy Manual. He has a national and international practice advising corporations and individuals on matters related to Canadian privacy laws.

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Please note that I am only able to provide legal advice to clients. I am not able to provide free legal advice. Any unsolicited information sent to David Fraser cannot be considered to be solicitor-client privileged.

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The views expressed herein are solely the author's and should not be attributed to his employer or clients. Any postings on legal issues are provided as a public service, and do not constitute solicitation or provision of legal advice. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained herein or linked to. Nothing herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.

This web site is presented for informational purposes only. These materials do not constitute legal advice and do not create a solicitor-client relationship between you and David T.S. Fraser. If you are seeking specific advice related to Canadian privacy law or PIPEDA, contact the author, David T.S. Fraser.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

RFID interest group unveils privacy and and security position paper

The Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (aka AIM) has released a position paper on RFID privacy and security. It sure has impressed Data Collection Online, which was a little bit breathless in its report on the position paper:

"The position paper, that also includes position statements on other important RFID issues, can be downloaded, at no cost, from the AIM Store from the following link: https://www.aimglobal.org/estore/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=306.
As the professional association representing the full AIM community of providers and end users, AIM Global is uniquely positioned to deliver clear, unbiased, and credible information on auto ID technologies, a broad category of wireless data transmission and data capturing technologies, encompassing RFID."

I haven't read the position paper (more on that below), but I am not sure how you can say that the lobbying group of the RFID industry is "unbiased". Being unbiased suggests being disinterested, which those who make their livelihoods from the products being discussed really aren't. But I digress ...

The document is available for free download from the documents section of the AIM Global website. I didn't download the document, simply because the process to do so involved filling out a huge form that requires information that many would consider intrusive. I just find such forms annoying, since there is no compelling reason given for why the information is necessary. There is no privacy policy and no statement of any kind related to how the information will be used. I am sure that they all mean well, but this registration requirement coupled with no privacy statement significantly undermines whatever their privacy experts have to say on RFID.