RFID – What it is and Why is it Showing Up Everywhere?

So by now you’ve probably heard of RFID. If not this technology is Radio Frequency Identification. At a technological level it’s actually a pretty cool technology that could enable slick things like taking a semi-full of goods and driving it to a dock and sensors could automatically update inventory by reading the tags while the semi was pulling up to the warehouse (no clerks, no data entry errors, not time spent filling out paperwork). This is the same technology used in things like the EZ Pass for bridge tolls in certain parts of the US. Without going into a technical description of RFID, it’s easies to think of RFID as a broadcasting technology. So, when the tag is not “shielded” (think of this a quite literally putting a tinfoil hat on the device) then it is broadcasting information. Where this gets into interesting privacy issues is when this technology is integrated into things that are more personally associated. Think driver’s licenses, bus passes, clothing, pets, passports, charge cards, cell phones and even people. Since this data is remotely collectable this give people with inexpensive readers the ability to track movements as the data is aggregated. Technology like the Enhanced Drivers License also has all the data that is on your driver’s license so that data can be collected (say, like when you take it out as ID at a store).

Some organizations are pretty much against this RFID in all forms (like the folks at CASPIAN) while other folks see it as applicable for industrial use but not consumer products (as Tesco tried so that it could track consumer’s actions in their stores). Still others think this technology is fine as long as it isn’t used in humans. Finally there are those who are volunteering it be tagged. It is probably biasing but worthy of note that RFID “non-removable” bracelets are used at Guantanamo to track prisoners in much the same way that the Nazis used tattooed numbers to track prisoners in their death camps (IBM is one of the leading patenters of RFID technology as well as the folks who made the computer systems for the Nazis).

As it turns out some of this info isn’t even well secured as a German hacker proved with the e-passports. As with any technology, it can be used for good or for evil. In this case, RFID has the ability to be used for significant privacy invasion; the funny part is that there is not that much to gain for individuals when their materials are tagged. This begs the question, why adopt it?

If you want to read about how scary some of the folks patenting this technology are getting (at least in their patents) the book Spychips is a bit alarmist but quite eye opening.