RFID: The U.S. SAFETY Act — What You Need To Know With Raymond Biagini, McKenna, Long, & Aldridge LLP

Used with permission from AIM Global. AIM Global, the trade association for the Automatic Identification and Mobility industry, is the source for technically accurate, unbiased, commercial-free, and up-to-date information on all AIM technologies. For additional information, please visit www.aimglobal.org.

RFID Connections: You recently spoke at RFID Journal Live about the U.S. Government's SAFETY Act. Could you briefly outline what that Act covers, please?
First, let me state that I conceived of the SAFETY Act and wrote its core provisions back in 2002. It was passed as a statute in November of 2002. And, essentially, it is landmark legislation that eliminates or minimizes torte liability for companies that sell or provide anti-terror technology, which technology could be both products and/or services that has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security. And that elimination or minimization of torte liability occurs if lawsuits arise in the U.S. after an act of terrorism.

How does the Act apply to suppliers of RFID products and services?
The RFID folks who are supplying products and services by definition are involved in helping to prevent the terror, minimize the possibility of a terrorist attack occurring because by definition the RFID is tracking products and making sure that people that need to know where those products are, what their whereabouts are, in fact, are well informed of the whereabouts of such products.