A working group of major companies—IBM is the charter member—and advocacy groups announced May 1 a set of RFID best practices to protect consumer privacy as it relates to item level tagging.

The group, led by the CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology), includes a who's who list of companies involved one way or another in RFID testing or software development: Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems, Proctor & Gamble, Eli Lilly and Co., American Library Association, National Consumers League, aQuantive, VeriSign and Visa.

On the flip side, Levi Strauss & Co., one of the nation's largest clothing manufacturers, confirmed April 28 its testing of RFID "hang tags" on clothing shipped to two retail outlets in Mexico and one in the United States—a move that many consumer advocates point to as an outright invasion of privacy rights given the tags will be attached to individual items consumers wear.

Levi is using RFID to track inventory at the test stores at the retailer's requests; it has no plans to use RFID in any of its 18 Levi's brand stores, according to Jeff Beckman, director of worldwide and U.S. communications for Levi Strauss in San Francisco.

"Our philosophy is that [RFID tests] are being driven by retailers," said Beckman. Read the rest of this eWEEK story: "Levi's New Style: RFID"