You have heard of RFID tags, right? It is technology that is in most ID cards so that administration or security knows whether staff are in the building or not? Well they are being put in much more than ID cards these days.
They are going into the clothing of a lot of retail stores and even behind the labels on some tin cans. The situation is sure to mushroom.
They are the new generation of bar codes, but unlike bar codes, they can talk back and they can be so small that you do not even know that you are wearing one. I say 'wearing one' because at the moment they are mostly being put into clothing, but the day is not far away when they will be under every label of every can of food that you purchase.
Some stores have even got that far already. Look next time you visit the superstore. Is the check-out clerk scanning a bar code or just scanning 'something'? If there is no bar code to scan, they are looking for the RFID tag.
However, if you had a bar code on your new shirt, you would remove it before wearing it, but an RFID tag is so small and so well concealed, that you may never find it.
Why would that matter, you may be asking yourself? Well, we are told that it does not matter; that people who do worry are just being paranoid, but others perceive it as the thin edge of the wedge.
You see, in a city, you are never that far from an RFID scanner, so really, if you walk past one, your shirt could be crying out: 'He bought me from Wal-Mart'. It could also be saying: 'I only cost 4.99'.
If you do not see that as a problem, all well and good, but what if you are walking down the high street and a loud speaker from a shop shouts at you: 'People who buy their shirts from Wal-Mart usually like Wimpey Burgers!'.
You might think that that is a coincidence or you may have forgotten that you purchased that shirt from Wal-Mart, but the tag sewn into your shirt will never forget and it will tell every RFID reader that asks it. Is that right? You have now become a walking advertisement.
Of course, RFID tags were not introduced for this purpose. They are used ostensibly to help trace merchandise from manufacturer to consumer - point out. They are very helpful for tracking stock in a warehouse, but the fact is that these live beacons of their provenance are not switched off at the point of sale. If they were, perhaps there would not be such a problem being raised about them.
Is there a reason to be concerned about these tags? Probably not, but then that does not mean that there never will be. What if you were on holiday somewhere and there was a smart bomb linked to an RFID scanner concealed waiting for an American and your shirt was screaming out: 'I am a shirt. I was bought for 4.99 at Wal-Mart, store ID 0001, New York, USA'?
They are going into the clothing of a lot of retail stores and even behind the labels on some tin cans. The situation is sure to mushroom.
They are the new generation of bar codes, but unlike bar codes, they can talk back and they can be so small that you do not even know that you are wearing one. I say 'wearing one' because at the moment they are mostly being put into clothing, but the day is not far away when they will be under every label of every can of food that you purchase.
Some stores have even got that far already. Look next time you visit the superstore. Is the check-out clerk scanning a bar code or just scanning 'something'? If there is no bar code to scan, they are looking for the RFID tag.
However, if you had a bar code on your new shirt, you would remove it before wearing it, but an RFID tag is so small and so well concealed, that you may never find it.
Why would that matter, you may be asking yourself? Well, we are told that it does not matter; that people who do worry are just being paranoid, but others perceive it as the thin edge of the wedge.
You see, in a city, you are never that far from an RFID scanner, so really, if you walk past one, your shirt could be crying out: 'He bought me from Wal-Mart'. It could also be saying: 'I only cost 4.99'.
If you do not see that as a problem, all well and good, but what if you are walking down the high street and a loud speaker from a shop shouts at you: 'People who buy their shirts from Wal-Mart usually like Wimpey Burgers!'.
You might think that that is a coincidence or you may have forgotten that you purchased that shirt from Wal-Mart, but the tag sewn into your shirt will never forget and it will tell every RFID reader that asks it. Is that right? You have now become a walking advertisement.
Of course, RFID tags were not introduced for this purpose. They are used ostensibly to help trace merchandise from manufacturer to consumer - point out. They are very helpful for tracking stock in a warehouse, but the fact is that these live beacons of their provenance are not switched off at the point of sale. If they were, perhaps there would not be such a problem being raised about them.
Is there a reason to be concerned about these tags? Probably not, but then that does not mean that there never will be. What if you were on holiday somewhere and there was a smart bomb linked to an RFID scanner concealed waiting for an American and your shirt was screaming out: 'I am a shirt. I was bought for 4.99 at Wal-Mart, store ID 0001, New York, USA'?
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several topics, but is currently concerned with the best RFID printer. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.
