Building competitive advantage with radio frequency identification tags

Purpose – To analyze the legal and ethical standing of the most promising business applications of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Design/methodology/approach – High potential RFID installations are identified in the supply chain, in operations, and in consumer applications. Pertinent legal precedents are noted and discussed as are some ethical issues beyond legislation and regulation. Findings – Although an extremely attractive technology, legitimate concerns exist about RFID, particularly in consumer applications. Legal protections vary widely by country and are generally not fully applicable to some areas of potential information abuse. Research limitations/implications – This research is not exhaustive to all countries, it concentrates mainly on the USA and EU. Further, legislation and regulation change all the time, so the situation is highly variable. This analysis is only a snapshot at one point in time. Practical implications – Practitioners looking to install RFID technology should be able to better judge the environment within which they operate and where the risks are greatest for change in the legal and regulatory atmosphere. Originality/value – This paper draws together the practical discussion concerning RFID's applications with specific legal analysis. It also begins to draw in different national legal systems.