This week’s column: Big brother is watching

A friend of mine, John Lochridge, recently sent me an article he had written for a local paper on RFIDs, Radio Frequency Identification.
I told him I hadn’t quite made up my mind on the issue – and still haven’t.
You may have seen other articles or even television commercials touting the helpfulness of the small “barcodes of the future.”
RFID tags are small microchips and antennas, used mainly in packaging and shipping, that’s assigned special serial numbers which can be transmitted to nearby readers.
The RFID tags can help computers keep track of inventory, product shipments or any number of details, via radio waves through non-metallic materials.
The technology has been available since the 1970’s, but not until recently has it been readily available or affordable for most users.
While retailers and businesses see RFID as a huge improvement in inventory tracking, many consumer groups and privacy advocates fear RFID is the beginning of a much broader scale of privacy invasion.
Katherine Albrecht, speaker, Harvard doctoral student, and the founder of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), warns that retailers are experimenting with new ways to implement RFID’s into every day products.
Experiments have embedded RFIDs into footwear and clothing — including undergarments.
With readers in place, RFIDs can help retailers track an individual’s purchase from the moment they walk out of the store.
Like Cookies on the Internet, RFIDs can help retailers better understand purchase patterns and consumer use.
But retailers aren’t the only ones interested in RFIDs.
According to Lochridge, the FDA recently approved embedding RFIDs under a persons skin to keep track of a persons medical history and conditions.
Similar technology has been in use for a number of years with household pets.
A small RFID chip implanted in the back of a cat’s or dog’s neck can help veternarians find a pets owner if it’s lost.
This year the Texas Legislature also proposed embedding RFID chips on cars across the state.
Texas state representative Larry Phillips (R-Sherman) proposed HB 2983, which included a portion calling for the embedding of RFID tags into vehicle registration stickers.
The RFIDs would allow car registration information to be read and collected by a scanner from a distance.
A car could be identified by readers in nearby vehicles, notifying law enforcement if the car was stolen.
The requirement for RFID tags was removed from the legislation as a result of negative public reaction regarding the issue.
Spring ISD in Texas has already embedded RFID tags into student IDs to track students across the district.
“Dallas residents can expect to hear more about RFID in the future,” Lochridge writes. “The Dallas technology community is very interested in the technology. According to the Metroplex Technology Business Council, there are over 100 local firms actively involved in the development of RFID technology.”
I’ve personally seen and read both sides of the issue and can understand both.
Many fear this is the start of the mark of the beast written about in the book of Revelation.
At what point will RFID tags become required for everyone to track and “spy” on individuals?
The problem with technology is that the more it encroaches on our lives, the less privacy we will have.
Take a look at the movie “Minority Report,” with Tom Cruise.
I think that’s what we’re heading to.
Advertising is becoming more and more targeted and RFIDs will help companies do so more efficiently.
What if everytime you walked in to a store or turned on the television you only saw products you were already interested in?
You don’t have to watch a commercial for a product you would never personally buy. There’s also the issue of safer travel in the future.
Researches are working on cars that drive and fly themselves.
Without the human interaction, there will be less possibility for human error.
But for that to happen, satellites and other devices will have to keep a constant tab on where vehicles are at, within inches.
Also, RFIDs would help airlines keep track of passengers and ensure the right people are boarding the planes.
We must either accept technology, or shun it.
If we accept it — we will chose to give up a piece of our own privacy pie.
And each of us must decide how much we want to give up.
For information visit nocards.org, spychips.com and rfidjournal.com.