RFID - The Looming Threat to Privacy

Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a serial number that identifies a person or object, and perhaps other information, on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the identification information to a reader. The reader converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information that can then be passed on to computers that can make use of it. RFID is not necessarily "better" than bar codes. The two are different technologies and have different applications, which sometimes overlap. The big difference between the two is bar codes are line-of-sight technology. That is, a scanner has to "see" the bar code to read it, which means people usually have to orient the bar code toward a scanner for it to be read. Radio frequency identification, by contrast, doesn't require line of sight. RFID tags can be read as long as they are within range of a reader. Bar codes have other shortcomings as well. If a label is ripped or soiled or has fallen off, there is no way to scan the item, and standard bar codes identify only the manufacturer and product, not the unique item. The bar code on one milk carton is the same as every other, making it impossible to identify which one might pass its expiration date first. RFID is therefore definitely the better technology, depending the needs of the users.

But every new technology brings with it apart from the obvious advantages, some serious disadvantages too. Thus Albert Einstein never could have imagined that his equation E=MC2 could one day be used to manufacture nuclear bombs. RFID too brings with it serious considerations that RFID tags could invade individual privacy and security. Already Hospitals in the USA are considering the implanting of RFID chips inside the patients' bodies, to track them and post-treatment health trends. Many American Agro companies are using RFID tags to track animals like cows, pigs etc.Soon major companies could think of implanting RFID chips and tags in their employees to track them in and out of office. If this is not invasion of privacy, then privacy invasion has to be redefined. The possibility of the governments planting these 'spychips',as RFID chips are called, in the bodies of citizens and tracking their every single movement and action, is clear and distinct.Enemy Nations could implant these spychips inside persons handling sensitive portfolios in National Defence and the Armed Forces. Spying and spying techniques could undergo revolutionary changes, eliminating the need for physical presence of the spies inside enemy terrirtory. A combination of spy satellites and spychips could render privacy as a thing of the past. These are real concerns.

Laws must be enunciated to counter these possibility, ensuring the sovereignty of personal privacy and limiting the use of RFID tags and chips.

PKP IYER, SENIOR EDITOR, EXCELLONE TECHNOLOGIES. EXCELLONE TECHNOLOGIES ARE QUALITY WEBDESIGN AND WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY FROM INDIA

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Padmanabha_Iyer

Tags: computer and information technology