Imagine buying groceries or clothing without having to stand in the checkout line. For business owners, what if there was a way to drastically cut the amount of thefts in your store. For everyday consumers, what if the government could draw a profile on you based on the products you buy… and keep tabs on everywhere you go?
This situation is coming closer to reality with the use of RFID tags, which may become embedded in everything you purchase.
An RFID (radio frequency technology) tag is a microchip with an antenna attached to transmit information to a third party. First used in WWII, RFID technology was used with Britain put transponders in Allied aircraft to help radar crew distinguish their own planes from the Germans. In the 70’s, the U.S. government tagged trucks who entered and leaved secure facilities to track where else the trucks traveled. In 2003, the government mandated that all crates and cartons be tagged with RFID.
Because the cost of these tags are low, it enables companies to use them more frequently. As a matter of fact, 2.24 billion tags were sold worldwide. But, what exactly are these companies using the tags for? Microchips are being placed in computer printers, library books, Viagra bottles, and car keys (ever seen someone crank their car by merely pressing a button on their key chain?), and especially payment cards like American Express’ “Blue and ExxonMobil’s “Speedpass.”
RFID-enabled refrigerators could warn about expired milk, generate weekly shopping lists, and you could even see “personalized” commercials for the foods you have a history of buying. Your microwaved could even read a TV dinner that has a “sniffer” attached and cook it without instruction.
If you look at it in the perspective of benefiting the consumer in several ways, it does not seem like RFID tags have a cause for concern. But what does the future hold? Most likely, RFID tags will be placed on every product you buy, like shampoo, chips, clothing, etc. Katherine Albrecht, founder of anti-RFID group, CASPIAN, states, “Nobody cares about radio tags on crates and pallets. But if we don’t keep RFID off of individual consumer items, our stores will one day turn into retail ‘zoos’ where the customer is always on exhibit.”
What’s more, placing tags on so many things enables unauthorized third parties to have the ability to not only have a glimpse into your private life, but also to draw conclusions and use them to their benefit.
So, where does it end? Are RFID tags a way of stopping the sales of counterfeit drugs, preventing thefts in stores, and non-check-out grocery shopping?
…Or can it become much more than that?
