RFID: Protection and Privacy

Monday, April 4, 2011

Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, are referred to by some as smart labels, while others tend to refer to them as ‘spy chips’. No matter which way you choose to refer to them, their usage is increasing at a very quick pace.

They have a wide array of uses, from business to personal use, theses tiny tags are used to grant access to property, track goods being transported and are widely used daily for financial business purposes. RFID technology is encountered at least once a day by everyone without them even having knowledge of it.

RFID technology relays gathered data through electromagnetic waves from a small tag to a reader. The tags are more widely used, because they can be read from a long range, which is more convenient than traditional bar codes. Money companies have started the use of the RFID tags, for tracking their goods through the supply chain, and helping to keep track and stock their inventory.

As RFID continues to infiltrate our daily lives, there have been security and privacy concerns raised about the possible misuse of the technology. The possibility of tracking a person’s movement with the technology has upset a few privacy groups. Another issue that has been raised is the possibility of the misuse or abuse of the collected data. Then the notion of the possibility to trigger a bomb, has people on edge.

With the fear over losing information from RFID tags and its technology, people tend to forget that each time their credit card is scanned, the information is stored in a database.That’s how the credit card company knows what and how much an item or service cost and where you purchased it. Then they know what to put on your statement.

RFID is good technology, and with a greater understanding of it, and it’s cost effectiveness, it will be even more widely used and accepted.