Sunday, June 05, 2005
Techtalker -RFID
Like the ubiquitous cellphone, these tiny chips seem set to invade our world. Tech enthusiasts call it the ultimate efficiency devices, while privacy advocates term as the biggest intrusion in your personal life.
Only last week, a California school which was using this technology to implement an attendance monitoring system, called it off sparking a huge debate all over the world.
Called RFID, of the Radio Frequency Identification, it is a tiny computer chip smaller than a grain of sand which continously emits radio signals. The signal is tracked by a central monitoring system which is able to identify its exact location. And it seeks to replace barcodes all over the world.
So where can it be put to use? Everywhere you wish, say nerds. Like every library book can have a RFID pasted inside it. So even if the book is misplaced among the numerous shelves, the central computer can pinpoint its exact location.
Great for inventory management, like the one used by retailing giant Marks and Spencer. It conducted a two-month trial on select men's suits, shirts, and ties in April 2003, and followed it with a more extensive six store trial followed in June last. So while it helps them keep track of all their goods, and helps them create databases on say which shirt or which size is more popular. To allay fears, the
company says that customers can remove the tags after they purchased a product.
But privacy advocates are not impressed. It means that companies will have a record of everything that you ever buy. You eating habits, your reading habits, your drinking habits, your clothes, and even the condoms you use -- everything is being tracked. As someone jokes,walking on the street, your undergarment would be emitting a radio signal and others could know your chest size as well.
Declan McCullagh, CNET correspondent recently termed it as ``big brother in small packages''. Others exprss the fear about hidden cameras being installed in RFID devices. And how about human tracking, they ask. Will the office track you through RFID i-cards, as was the case of California school monitoring its students.
It is different from bar codes in many ways. Unlike bar codes, it emits radio signals. While the barcode on chocolate you purchase today only has the batch number, the RFID would give every chocolate its unique number. If the chocolate has worms, the company knows which one of its products is infected.
As technology advances, more powerful RFID devices are likely to appear. You could track your car, and be assured that it is never stolen. Even keep track of the movements of your children, if you wish. Criminals with RFID embedded devices could never escape, provided law allows it use on humans.
In a report released last week, IT research firm Burton Group said that RFID has promise for keyless access to buildings, gates and autos; cashless payments;tracking of high-value goods; highway toll collection; and identifying pets. Already larger companies are placing bigger orders of RFID devices. Gillette recently placed an order for up to 500 million RFID tags from a company called "Alien Technology", says the Spychips website. In India, Infosys is already announced its intention to go ahead with RFID research.
But the debate goes on. Would you purchase RFID products?
Write to me at techtalker at the rate of gmail.com.
Only last week, a California school which was using this technology to implement an attendance monitoring system, called it off sparking a huge debate all over the world.
Called RFID, of the Radio Frequency Identification, it is a tiny computer chip smaller than a grain of sand which continously emits radio signals. The signal is tracked by a central monitoring system which is able to identify its exact location. And it seeks to replace barcodes all over the world.
So where can it be put to use? Everywhere you wish, say nerds. Like every library book can have a RFID pasted inside it. So even if the book is misplaced among the numerous shelves, the central computer can pinpoint its exact location.
Great for inventory management, like the one used by retailing giant Marks and Spencer. It conducted a two-month trial on select men's suits, shirts, and ties in April 2003, and followed it with a more extensive six store trial followed in June last. So while it helps them keep track of all their goods, and helps them create databases on say which shirt or which size is more popular. To allay fears, the
company says that customers can remove the tags after they purchased a product.
But privacy advocates are not impressed. It means that companies will have a record of everything that you ever buy. You eating habits, your reading habits, your drinking habits, your clothes, and even the condoms you use -- everything is being tracked. As someone jokes,walking on the street, your undergarment would be emitting a radio signal and others could know your chest size as well.
Declan McCullagh, CNET correspondent recently termed it as ``big brother in small packages''. Others exprss the fear about hidden cameras being installed in RFID devices. And how about human tracking, they ask. Will the office track you through RFID i-cards, as was the case of California school monitoring its students.
It is different from bar codes in many ways. Unlike bar codes, it emits radio signals. While the barcode on chocolate you purchase today only has the batch number, the RFID would give every chocolate its unique number. If the chocolate has worms, the company knows which one of its products is infected.
As technology advances, more powerful RFID devices are likely to appear. You could track your car, and be assured that it is never stolen. Even keep track of the movements of your children, if you wish. Criminals with RFID embedded devices could never escape, provided law allows it use on humans.
In a report released last week, IT research firm Burton Group said that RFID has promise for keyless access to buildings, gates and autos; cashless payments;tracking of high-value goods; highway toll collection; and identifying pets. Already larger companies are placing bigger orders of RFID devices. Gillette recently placed an order for up to 500 million RFID tags from a company called "Alien Technology", says the Spychips website. In India, Infosys is already announced its intention to go ahead with RFID research.
But the debate goes on. Would you purchase RFID products?
Write to me at techtalker at the rate of gmail.com.
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