Announced Action for May 20, 2004

Comment period for RFID Workshop extended: The FTC has extended until July 9, 2004 the deadline for filing comments on “Radio Frequency Identification: Applications and Implications for Consumers.” On April 12, 2004, the agency announced that it will hold a workshop to “explore the uses, efficiencies, and implications for consumers associated with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The workshop will address both current and anticipated uses of RFID tags and their impact on the marketplace.”

According to a Federal Register Notice, the workshop “will provide an opportunity to learn about how RFID works and to highlight its numerous and rapidly growing applications. It will also address the privacy and security concerns associated with RFID use, particularly on an item-level basis. By bringing together RFID proponents, privacy advocates, and other interested parties, the workshop will facilitate discussion of core public policy issues and encourage the development of best practices that capitalize on the efficiencies generated by RFID without compromising consumers’

privacy and security.”

Topics addressed at the workshop will include:

• What are the issues surrounding RFID?
• How is RFID technology currently being deployed?
• What is the future of RFID?
• What is the impact on consumers of current and/or anticipated RFID uses?
• What approaches have led or will lead to use of RFID in ways that accommodate privacy and security concerns?

Interested parties are encouraged to submit written comments on the above questions to foster greater understanding of these issues. Especially useful are any studies, surveys, research, and empirical data. The deadline for submitting comments was originally Friday, May 21, 2004, but the Federal Register Notice announced today extends that deadline to July 9. Comments may be filed in either paper or electronic form. For paper submissions, an original and two copies of each document should be provided. The FTC requests that any submission filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight service. U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. Alternatively, comments may be emailed to rfidworkshop@ftc.gov.

Additional information about the workshop is available on the FTC’s Web site at www.ftc.gov/rfidworkshop. An agenda will be posted there prior to the workshop.

Copies of the Federal Register Notice are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1 877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

(FTC File No. P049106)