RFID and Cookies - evoking Big Brother?

I've been busy this week researching for my program on using RFID in the meetings industry at the upcoming IAEM Expo! Expo! in Atlanta.

It's been fascinating - I've heard so many different views of the status of this technology in terms of it's cost, reliability, and return on investment.

But one thing has really stood out - there's a deep mistrust among attendees around the privacy aspect. I heard from one meeting planner that even the mention of the word "tracking" was enough to have some of her folks rip the chip off their badge!

It's clear that people want to know the deal - if you're using this on me, exactly what information about me is readable, where are you tracking me, and what are you doing with the results?

Which reminds me a lot of the cookies debate. Cookies can be so useful to improve the visitor experience on a Web site, allowing pre-populating forms, reflecting already established preferences, etc.

But you have to be really clear with your visitors about how you're using cookies, and whether and how you share information with any other parties.

Otherwise, they're likely to refuse them, or delete them in short order (some software is now doing that automatically).

Which I guess is the online equivalent of ripping the chip off your badge!