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[FYI] (Fwd) FC: Weekly column: Could we be tracked by micro RFID tags?
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 22:12:27 -0500
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: politech@politechbot.com
Subject: FC: Weekly column: Could we be tracked by micro RFID tags?
Send reply to: declan@well.com
http://news.com.com/2010-1069-980325.html
RFID tags: Big Brother in small packages
By Declan McCullagh
January 13, 2003, 6:26 AM PT
Could we be constantly tracked through our clothes, shoes or even
our cash in the future?
I'm not talking about having a microchip surgically implanted
beneath your skin, which is what Applied Digital Systems of Palm
Beach, Fla., would like to do. Nor am I talking about John
Poindexter's creepy Total Information Awareness spy-veillance
system, which I wrote about last week.
Instead, in the future, we could be tracked because we'll be
wearing, eating and carrying objects that are carefully designed to
do so.
The generic name for this technology is RFID, which stands for
radio frequency identification. RFID tags are miniscule microchips,
which already have shrunk to half the size of a grain of sand. They
listen for a radio query and respond by transmitting their unique
ID code. Most RFID tags have no batteries: They use the power from
the initial radio signal to transmit their response.
You should become familiar with RFID technology because you'll be
hearing much more about it soon. Retailers adore the concept, and
CNET News.com's own Alorie Gilbert wrote last week about how
Wal-Mart and the U.K.-based grocery chain Tesco are starting to
install "smart shelves" with networked RFID readers. In what will
become the largest test of the technology, consumer goods giant
Gillette recently said it would purchase 500 million RFID tags from
Alien Technology of Morgan Hill, Calif.
Alien Technology won't reveal how it charges for each tag, but
industry estimates hover around 25 cents. The company does predict
that in quantities of 1 billion, RFID tags will approach 10 cents
each, and in lots of 10 billion, the industry's holy grail of 5
cents a tag.
It becomes unnervingly easy to imagine a scenario where everything
you buy that's more expensive than a Snickers will sport RFID tags,
which typically include a 64-bit unique identifier yielding about
18 thousand trillion possible values. KSW-Microtec, a German
company, has invented washable RFID tags designed to be sewn into
clothing. And according to EE Times, the European central bank is
considering embedding RFID tags into banknotes by 2005.
[... remainder snipped and available at
http://news.com.com/2010-1069-980325.html ...]
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