tags, which were read at key points throughout the travel process. Delta Takes RFID Under its
Wing, RFID Journal, June 20, 2003.
68. Aliya Sternstein, Land-ho for US-VISIT, Federal Computer Week, Nov. 9, 2004. For more
information, see DHS, Fact Sheet: U.S. Land Borders, at 3 (available at http://www.dhs.gov/us-
visit).
69. Sand, DHS, at 106. An analogous program, the “Free and Secure Trade Program” (“FAST”),
reportedly also will use RFID to facilitate border crossings by commercial truck drivers who
routinely traverse the U.S.-Canadian border. RFID-embedded stickers on truck windshields and
identification cards for truck drivers will expedite such crossings and enhance border security.
See Press Release, DHS, United States - Canada Free and Secure Trade Program, Sept. 9, 2002
(available at http://www.dhs.gov); see also eGo Tags to Extend US Border Security Programme,
UsingRFID.com, Dec. 19, 2003.
70. See id. at 110-11. Some privacy advocates have expressed concerns over the apparent absence
of privacy protections for the use of RFID chips in passports, which could potentially permit the
embedded data to be “skimmed” surreptitiously. Matthew L. Wald, New High-Tech Passports
Raise Snooping Concerns, N.Y. Times, Nov. 26, 2004. The U.S. State Department, which is
responsible for issuing the new passports, has argued that the need for “global interoperability” in
reading them precludes measures like data encryption. In addition, DHS asserts that some simple
measures, such as the addition of metal fibers to the cover, could prevent an unopened passport
from being scanned. Leslie Miller, U.S. Opposes Passport Privacy Protections, Washington
Post, Nov. 28, 2004.
71. See Fishkin, Intel, at 77, 81. In addition, two medical devices using RFID recently have been
approved. The “VeriChip Health Information Microtransponder” is an RFID tag designed for
human use; it can be embedded with a unique identification number and implanted below the skin.
Doctors or hospital staff can scan individuals who have agreed to be implanted with the VeriChip,
and the embedded code can be used to access a database containing the patient’s identity and
health information. See Josh McHugh, A Chip in Your Shoulder: Should I Get an RFID Implant?,
Slate, Nov. 10, 2004. Another device, the “SurgiChip Tag Surgical Marker System,” will use
RFID technology to assist surgeons during operations. RFID tags bearing a patient’s name and
surgical site will be affixed to the patient at the proper spot and scanned by the surgeon prior to
performing a procedure. Lee Bowman, Surgeons Get High-Tech Help to Cut Errors, Seattle Post-
Intelligencer, Nov. 20, 2004. The SurgiChip was approved for sale in November 2004, following
approval of the VeriChip the previous month.
72. See Fishkin, Intel, at 75-82.
73. Intel is also researching the feasability of integrating a tag into a bracelet, which would be more
user-friendly. Fishkin, Intel, at 80. The reader would track what tagged objects the senior picked
up and wirelessly communicate that information to a computer program. The program could infer
from a set of specific actions (for example, picking up a cup, a saucer, and a kettle) what task the
senior is engaged in (for example, making tea). Id.; see also Kristi Heim, A Hand in the Future,
Seattle Times, Dec. 9, 2004.
74. Fishkin, Intel, at 78-80.
75. Albrecht, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (“CASPIAN”), at
236. In addition to using RFID to track inventory through the supply chain, Metro reportedly has
also used RFID tags on certain consumer products in their model “Future Store” in Rheinberg,
Germany. The chain had also developed RFID-embedded customer loyalty cards, an experiment
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