Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFIDs) and Geo-privacy: Results of a Facebook Survey

Shelia Torabi, investigator

With the growing interest in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, it is important to assess its potential uses as well as its potential ramifications. This study is aimed towards discovering how a new generation of consumers feel about the use of RFID technology and tracking applications in retail environments and whether they perceive as though their privacy is being compromised in retail environments where tracking applications are being used. Tracking applications refer to any application that uses identification tags, specifically RFID tags, in conjunction with GIS technology to track the whereabouts of specific products or people. Surveys were distributed to a sample of Canadian university students using the social networking website, Facebook.

The results of this study indicate that not only do consumers perceive that their personal privacy is being compromised in retail environments where tracking applications are used but, that the degree to which the consumer feels that their privacy is compromised is related to the specific usage of information being tracked. Moreover the results indicate that consumers expect a high degree of honesty from retail environments, in that they expect to be informed if they are being tracked and why. This paper first explores the history of RFID technology and how it works. It then delves into the scope of this technology, including its use by government agencies, schools, private corporations and individuals. Main focus is given to how RFID technology is used in retail environments.