|
|
|
|
|
RFID Technology Becoming Omnipresent MICHELE M. MELENDEZ / Newhouse News Service | March 4 2006 Your family dog or cat may have it. So may your library books. You may be paying highway tolls with it, using it to get into your office building or to unlock your car. It's RFID: radio frequency identification. Though it has been around for decades, the technology is touching our lives now more than ever. Q: How does RFID work? A: An RFID system has three parts: a tag, a reader and a database. The reader extracts data from the tag and communicates that information to the database. Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Speedpass is one example. The tag is a black plastic cylinder about 11/2 inches long and the width of a pencil; it attaches to a key chain. The customer waves the tag in front of a specially marked panel (the reader) on gas pumps at nearly 9,000 Exxon and Mobil stations. The tag and reader, which have embedded antennae, communicate through radio frequency, making physical contact unnecessary. The tag responds to the reader's signal by sending it encrypted data stored on a tiny silicon chip. In turn, the reader delivers the information to a database that holds the customer's payment information. The transaction takes seconds. RFID tags and readers come in many shapes and sizes. Some tags have batteries; some rely on energy from the reader to activate. The memory capacity of a tag's chip and the distance at which a tag and reader may communicate also varies, depending on what's needed. Unlike bar codes and scanners, tags and readers need not be visible to each other. They can link at angles and through clothes and other matter, even skin. Q: How old is RFID? A: The technology has roots in World War II, when Allied forces used transmitters to identify friendly aircraft. Over the years, it has been used to track products. As it became more sophisticated and production cost dropped, RFID spread. "It's been around, and it's been used by a lot of consumers worldwide in the last few years," said Dan Mullen, president of AIM Global, the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility, a trade group based in Warrendale, Pa. Q: How are consumers encountering RFID? A: In theory, with RFID, people may buy almost any product on demand and more cheaply. Companies can monitor inventory more precisely, as RFID readers in warehouses and on store shelves detect when tag-outfitted products need reordering. "Before, there were lag times of days, months, before (workers) were told: `Replenish,"' said William DeWitt, a teaching fellow specializing in logistics, transportation and supply chain management at the University of Maryland. "It is a radically different way of operating a business." Closer to home, pet owners mark their furry and feathered friends with microchips. They call it "getting chipped" or "tagged." Matt Langan, 34, recently brought his Jack Russell terrier, Vera, to Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C., for a HomeAgain microchip. "We love her too much to lose her," Langan said. The veterinarian slid a syringe containing the chip capsule -- slightly larger than a piece of long-grain rice -- in the skin between Vera's shoulder blades. A number on the chip corresponds to Langan's information in a database. Millions of pets are tagged, so animal shelters, hospitals and clinics routinely scan those who are found. Q: Can people get implanted with RFID tags? A: Yes. In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the VeriChip for medical use. A patient's implant, in the skin above the right triceps muscle, contains a number granting access to a database with that individual's health details. So far, 80 people in the United States have received such implants, about 30 of them VeriChip Corp. employees in Delray, Fla. Last year, Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey became the country's first hospital to use the system. VeriChip spokesman John Procter said the company has agreements with 75 other medical centers to introduce the product, with more to come. In February, surveillance equipment manufacturer CityWatcher.com in Cincinnati became the first U.S. company, apart from VeriChip Corp. itself, to use the technology to grant access to secure areas. Some people are tagging themselves. Amal Graafstra, 29, of Bellingham, Wash., found instant fame on the Internet after he had a chip -- not designed for human implantation -- inserted just under the skin of each hand last year. "I thought, `That's a cool technology. There's got to be a way to use it in my own life,"' he said. The left-hand chip can unlock the doors to his apartment and car and log into his computer. He's using the right-hand chip to test a more secure locking system. Graafstra's notoriety lead to his new book, "RFID Toys: Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment," in which he discusses his implants. Q: Is there a difference between RFID and "contactless chip" technology? A: There is debate here. Both use radio frequency, a tag, a reader and a database. But some contend that contactless chips, promoted in "smart cards" and other devices, are more advanced and secure. MasterCard reports that its PayPass card, which looks like a regular credit card but is embedded with a chip, uses contactless chip technology. PayPass allows customers to place their cards (which also have the traditional magnetic strips) in front of a reader for quick payment at millions of locations where cash usually dominates, such as convenience stores. No swiping, and for purchases under $25, no signing. Murdo Munro, vice president with MasterCard's Mobile/Wireless Centre of Excellence in London, said RFID and PayPass' technology use different frequencies, involve different types of chips and have different capabilities. "Contactless chip is a slightly different phenomenon." Visa and American Express have developed chip-enabled cards, too. "It's not a question of if RFID is going to take over the credit card business, it's happening right now," said Bill Allen, director of strategic alliances at Dallas-based Texas Instruments RFid Systems. Q: What do critics say about RFID? A: Consumer privacy and civil liberties groups see danger of spying. They contend that tags can be hidden in merchandise or sewn into clothing, that secret readers can track individuals' movements and that consumers' anonymity can be jeopardized. Q: What is the future of RFID? A: Researchers see limitless potential as chips become even smaller, cheaper and more versatile. Legislators are discussing its usefulness and possible misuse. As those conversations happen, Marlin Mickle, director of the RFID Center for Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh, predicts, "It's going to be more and more ingrained in our lives." ---------------------------------------------------
Get Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson's books, ALL Alex's documentary films, films by other authors, audio interviews and special reports. Sign up at Prison Planet.tv - CLICK HERE. |
