Say No To RFID for Library Books

An Anonymous Patron writes “Cameron Sturdevant, eWEEK Columnist, thinks using RFID tags in library books is a bad idea.
Today, the tags can be limited in range (the library is specifying a transmission range of 1 to 30 inches) and the amount of information they carry. In addition, the library wants the tags to carry only one unique item identifier and a 1-bit read/write security toggle. However, even with such limits, it takes a determined act of self-deception not to see how RFID tags could carry much more information over much greater distances in the near future.”

March 24, 2004 by Uncategorized 9

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9 Responses

  1. gemini305 says:
    March 24, 2004 at 11:02 pm

    True Thoughts…
    I am a library student at the University of South Florida. I have to do a project on RFID tags in libraries. What are your personal thoughts on this issue? Do you really think that are an invasion of privacy even though the tags are turned off when the items are checked out, or do you think they are a great way to increase productivity in collection maintenance? Anyone is welcome to comment.

    Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Anonymous Patron says:
    March 25, 2004 at 12:07 am

    Re:True Thoughts…
    Technology enables someone with the right equipment to sit outside a home and eavesdrop on phone calls, overhear conversations inside the home, possibly intercept and decipher the signal from a computer, detect and locate persons by their body heat, etc. The U.S. has tended to rely on laws to discourage antisocial behavior instead of outlawing technology.

    Reply
  3. Bibliofuture says:
    March 25, 2004 at 4:18 am

    RFID Tags are great!
    I think that these tags are a great idea. One great use for them would be to find misshelved books in the library. If your library was missing their copy of, “Stories of XYZ,” it would be great to be able to walk around the library with a transmitter that was searching for that book and when you got within ten feet of the book that was misshelved you could detect it.

    I really don’t understand the privacy argument. Who is going to be scanning my books for information and where are they going to do it? Not at the library because they already know what books I have. I think the privacy issue with these devices is a phantom one.

    Reply
  4. Porch Geese says:
    March 25, 2004 at 6:32 am

    Re:True Thoughts…

    Do you really think that are an invasion of privacy even though the tags are turned off when the items are checked out […]

    But they aren’t turned off when the items are checked out. They are just leaving the vicinity of the library’s tag readers.

    You might want to get a better understanding of how RFID tags operate before you get too far into the ethical ramifications. Here are a few good places to start.

    Quick primer:
    The tags are read passively. The scanner’s transmission is what provides power to the RFID tag, which enables the tag to transmit its ID code so that the scanner can read it. ANY proper scanner can activate, and thus, read the tag. Just because the tag in the book is not in the library does not mean that it can not be read by another scanner at some other location. Potentially, a library patron’s checked out books may declare themselves to the sales associate’s cash register at the Bennetton at the mall. Or to the FastTrak toll both on the highway. Or the ID-badge reader at someone’s workplace. Or …

    The way to disable this kind of RFID tag is to overload it. Use the same frequency as the scanner uses, but more powerfully. The power circuit in the tag then burns out like a fuse, disabling the tag permanently. Putting it in a microwave oven is an often-cited example method. It is not possible to temporarily disable the tag. These are not the same thing as the tattle-tags many library systems employ.

    Reply
  5. Samantha says:
    March 25, 2004 at 7:37 am

    Re:RFID Tags are great!
    If you look at the Anon. Patron’s post above you can see some of the potential problems with RFID. Someone with the right equipment can detect what you have checked out and where you got it from. Another post above mentions that the RFID can be disabled but not turned off, which is more of a conundrum for retail from what I understand. For example, if you take that box of Wheaties home, presumably your tv could download some ads for Wheaties-related products, and your neighbors’ computer (or your health insurance office) could snoop to see what you’re eating,. You can expand this scenario outward into ever increasing realms of big-brother-ness.

    I can definitely see the use for tracking down books in the library and for speeding up checkouts, but I don’t like the idea of this kind of tracking in the consumer sphere.

    Reply
  6. GrumpyOldMan says:
    March 25, 2004 at 8:40 am

    Re:RFID Tags are great!
    For someone to know what you are reading they would have to be connected to the library’s automated system.

    I would not store anything on this tag but a barcode and a checked in/out bit.

    Anyone who has access to the system would not need to follow someone home to find this out, they would simply type in their name or a book title. So I don’t see what the issue is.

    I’m looking forward to being able to find lost books more easily and to know WHAT is being stolen as it walks out the door.

    Reply
  7. Bibliofuture says:
    March 25, 2004 at 10:11 am

    Re:True Thoughts…
    If all that is on the tag is a barcode number who cares who else reads it? The toll booth reader somehow detects your book. What do they see? 7200437 Wow, that is useful you have something with the barcode 7200437, now we know everything about you?

    I have to go there is a black helicopter outside my house.

    Reply
  8. gemini305 says:
    March 25, 2004 at 7:53 pm

    Re:True Thoughts…
    Thank you for your thoughts.
    In every library that I researched their RFID tags were not high tech enough to be read by the library beyond the exit gates. And all of their RFID tags are encoded to only be read by their own readers. Meaning they can’t be read by a scanner at the Benetton store. I understand that there are a number of different types of RFID technology. Michelin Tires has the budget to afford the RFID technology that can track the locations of their tires even after they have been purchased and installed on vehicles. Libraries don’t have the budget to incorporate that kind of higher RFID technology. I have plenty of valid information from interviews by librarians and RFID vendors, I know the technology that I am researching, specific to libraries not to large corporations.
    I’m not posting to get information about RFID tags; I am posting to get your opinion about them as a librarian.

    Reply
  9. Porch Geese says:
    April 24, 2004 at 1:36 pm

    Re:True Thoughts…
    It’s not just a barcode number. No other item in the world will have that RFID number. 2^256 has enough digits to assign a different number to every atom in the universe.

    The toll booth reader doesn’t need to know, it just has to remember. Pegging you with the book can happen later. It might go something like this:

    The toll-both sensor easily detects your book because its tag responds to the signal when you get in range. It sees:

    dc49892dac993e486097e3044f6d57b4
    cbd497465630e597 fccf9620d57af2b5
    2a8b4c8b9cd1ff2369022825c06f6960
    ab61d016395cc23f3757cbc5388d323d

    The toll booth doesn’t recognize the digits, because all EZpass IDs have “1baba81d” at the beginning of the last block. But because of heightened transportation security concerns, all toll booths are now saving every RFID read for posterity. It also picked up IDs from the domestic and foreign money in your wallet, your car’s tires, your underwear, the several other library books you have, the package of new quadruple-trac razor blades you recently bought, your employee ID badge (unlocks the doors when you get close enough), and quite a few other items including, of course, your EZpass. It saves ALL these tag IDs in its records about you and associates them with your EZpass ID.

    Later on, your spouse files for divorce and subpoenas your EZpass records because he is trying to prove that you have been draining your joint account and having an affair with someone who lives up the thruway. (Oh, by the way, the NY State Highway patrol called, they said your EZpass somehow made it between the traffic flow readers at mileposts 65 and 75 in less than 8 minutes. Please send your speeding ticket payment to…)

    Your spouse’s legal team cross-checks the tags against public and private databases including the one that reveals:
    RFID tag manufactured by Legic Systems (dc49892d); on contract for Texas Instruments (ac993e48) on some date in 2004 (6097e3); blah blah batch number blah blah; Legic’s data has 2a8b4c8b through 2a8d312e going to Auto-Graphics, Inc. a library automation consultant. Auto-Graphics reveals the tag was in a lot they sold to the Pelham Free Library (ab61d016). A dectective walks the stacks with a hand-held reader until he gets a match. Or, if that fails, subpoenas the Library for the title that the RFID is assigned to (no need for the patron circ record, just the title will do, thank you).

    So, your perusal of Hide Your Assets and Disappear: A Step-by-Step Guide to Vanishing Without a Trace is now a matter of court record. They don’t include for the record the other titles you had on you that cover surviving spousal abuse, because you bought them at a bookstore that doesn’t yet use RFID tags.

    Reply

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