Consumers are quickly educating themselves about RFID tags which are about to be implemented by major retailers across the USA, and many are worried about its privacy implications, according to the new ''Consumer RFID Buzz'' survey conducted by BIGresearch and Artafact LLC.

     "RFID Consumer Buzz is a new syndicated study designed to track, understand and publish consumer attitudes and opinions as RFID tags become a reality in 2005," said Joe Pilotta, PhD, who is vice president of research for BIGresearch. "We were surprised in the first wave at how many people are already aware of RFID, given the minimal consumer press, but we were not surprised at how concerned they are about the issues it raises around protecting their personal information."

     According the study fielded in September 2004 over one-quarter of US adults are already familiar with the term and can describe it to others. Moreover, nearly two-thirds said they are either "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about the potential for privacy abuse. 116.30.147.133 This article is copyright 2004 UsingRFID.com.

The majority of RFID-aware adults learned about RFID through the internet, which is not surprising given the low level of coverage by mainstream newspapers and consumer press.

     "The results of this study show that retailers and major suppliers shouldn''t ignore consumer concerns," said Artafact''s president, Linda Stegeman. "They need to be proactive in educating consumers on the benefits to them of this major business initiative."

Detailed findings of the study have been made available to download without charge from the BIGresearch web site. BIGresearch and Artafact LLC aim to provide the RFID market with syndicated research providing real-time qualitative and quantitative market data.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                   Extract From Using RFID