Privacy advocates continue to push against invasive technology that allows product manufacturers unabated access to collect data on unsuspecting Americans.
Many opponents suggest developers intend to locate networks or hot zones of millions of, “RFID receivers strategically placed around the globe in airports, seaports, highways, distribution centers, warehouses, retail stores and consumers’ homes…” In addition, new technologies are offering RFID tag users the ability to read multiple tags simultaneously including those of different vendors.
Radio Frequency Identification or RFID will quietly become one of the most applied technologies since the introduction of the bar code. The shear cope of available applications and processes that welcome RFID already exceeds that associated with bar code technology. As the cost continues to fall industries such as, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, health care, retail and logistics all move aggressively toward adopting RFID ignoring the unintended moral and ethical consequences associated with this technology as it seeps into our society.
The most disparaging issue surrounding the use of RFID technology rests with the unspoken realization of those entities in society that look to use it fail to comprehend its reach or inform the public of its unintended consequences. More importantly, “There is no law requiring a label indicating that an RFID chip is in a product. Right now, you can buy a hammer, a pair of jeans, or a razor blade with anonymity. With RFID, tags on the horizon anonymity and privacy may be a thing of the past. With RFID, that very same hammer may one day be located and tracked to your home or RFID chips found within the tires that you purchase for you automobile may be scanned and tracked as you drive along the highways. Some manufacturers are planning to tag just the product packaging, but others will tag the products guaranteeing the seller unobstructed tracking to where ever the products goes.
Some believe that RFID can be introduced in to our everyday life as easily as bar codes, “But critics regard this technology as a growing threat, giving potentially dangerous new power to businesses. A recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union said: ‘Scarcely a month goes by in which we don’t read about some new high-tech way to invade people’s privacy, from face recognition to implantable microchips, DNA chips, and even brain wave fingerprinting.” What is RFID technology? RFID or as it is commonly known, RFID tags were,” Invented in 1969 and patented in 1973, but only now becoming commercially and technologically viable, RFID tags are essentially microchips, the tinier the better… Most RFID tags do not have batteries (How could they? They are 1/3 of a millimeter!). Instead, they are powered by the radio signal that wakes them up and requests an answer.
Do not assume that RFID technology is only an American issue, “The Central Bank is moving forward with plans to embed RFID tags as thin as a human hair into the fibers of Euro bank notes…in spite of consumer protests…consumers fear that the technology will eliminate the anonymity that cash affords.”
In hospital settings, RFID tags routinely operate in conjunction with bracelets or nametags. However, there are increasing instances where tags were placed underneath the skin and become tiny hard drives of information. In today’s ever-changing technology environment, moral and ethical dilemmas appear long after flaws in new technologies are discovered.
Food producers are implementing RFID tags allowing them to follow food from farms-to-forks. “IBM helped develop full traceability solution, providing business consulting and project management services, working with more than 16 supply chain partners, including beef and pork producers, animal feed ingredient producers, feed manufacturers, farmers, processing plants, truckers and a retail grocery chain.”
No one truly knows where this technology will lead us. Moreover, it is important to note that this author does not believe that there is something sinister taking place within our manufacturing community. However, I do believe that the negative aspects concerning this technology are not circulating as freely as its benefits.
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