RFID

Radio frequency identification, or RFID, as defined by the RFID Journal, is “a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects.” The most common practice of the technology 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.”

Background

RFID tags carry specific data about the objects they are attached to, and, unlike barcodes, they can be recognised and read by a reader as long as they are in the same range. The amount of data they can carry depends on the manufacturer and the form of application, but the current versions can carry up to 2KB of data, which is enough to store all the basic information about a product in a simple format.

Purposes of use

RFID is claimed to bring the advantage of every item being tagged with a unique proof of identification, making tracking of products so much easier and with fewer errors. This way, it is expected to improve production line efficiency for many companies. The technology also helps companies in the way that it allows better access to product sales statistics. The main aim is stated to be “to reduce administrative error, labor costs associated with scanning bar codes, internal theft, errors in shipping goods and overall inventory levels.”

Drawbacks

The major drawback of the technology that prevents it from being used by many companies is that it is expensive to implement. Although the tags are reusable in a certain system, say, in one company, they have to be very cheap to obtain to go out of the system as they cannot be used in another system unless all the systems work together and create a whole network of tracking.

The disadvantage is created by the absence of a universal system of RFID. Considering that the target now is to create a universal system, we come across some other, and much more serious, problems with respect to the practicable limitations of the whole network of RFID.

People getting chipped

The formal explanations of the system only includes pets and products; on the other hand, there are examples of people who have been “tagged” with RFID microchips. The practice of inserting RFID devices into people for purposes of club memberships and payment procedures are not a dream – the ideas of employing the system actually dates back to at least 2004.

Further applications of the system would present a more dreadful example of the NIR (National Identity Register) in the UK, where all the information of citizens is collected under a database. Porter, in his article, mentions the outcomes of a system being employed, and used by the state for social and political control of its people.

Resources

• BBC News website, “Barcelona clubbers get chipped,” by Simon Morton, 29 September 2004, accessed 19 November 2008.
• Best, Jo, Silicon website, “Schoolchildren to be RFID-chipped,” 08 July 2004, accessed 19 November 2008.
• Porter, Henry, Guardian website, “Beware of card tricks,” 11 July 2006, accessed 19 November 2008.
• RFID Journal website, accessed 19 November 2008.