Information & Ethics committee  Thank you. I was kind of hoping you'd come back to that question, because we didn't get to it the first time. Radio frequency identification systems typically consist of these components: the tag itself, which may or may not have processing capability; the antenna, which is part of the tag; a reader that emanates radio frequency energy, which is used to power passive tags; and then the software that interprets the information that comes back from the tag to the reader, because usually all that the tag contains is what's known as the electronic product code.

Information & Ethics committee  The tipping point seems to come at the point where the tags come in contact with individuals. For example, supply chain optimization is great technology, and we're all for that simply because it makes things more efficient, more cost-effective, and so on. At the moment, that's where the bulk of RFID use is.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not aware of anything dealing specifically with identity theft. I know there are efforts under way under the OECD to deal with cross-border enforcement of privacy law. That is going to be a huge issue, considering how easily personal information can be moved across borders. It involves harmonization of legislation, putting in place agreements between law enforcement agencies to enable mutual assistance, and so on.

Information & Ethics committee  I'll get to that. Unless you have a very high degree of assurance that the individual presenting the credentials is entitled to do that, what you end up doing is issuing a very secure document obtained under false pretences. In terms of RFID, there are efforts in several countries to embed these in various forms of identity documents—driver's licences, health cards, etc., the notion being that it will make the particular transaction that the card is designed for quicker, more efficient.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you. The major problem that seems to crop up in any discussion of national identity cards is proving the identity initially. For example, when you go to get a passport you produce a birth certificate, a driver's licence, a health card, what we refer to as foundational documents.