I am an RFID system developer. Been in the business about 5 years.
I am not a fan of tagging people. Too many of the fears expressed here and elsewhere are indeed true.
We may not be able to track everyone everywhere or to read tags through walls TODAY, but just wait! Technology is moving very, very fast. And reading tags in hard to read places is a very, very important part of today's research.
Who would have thought "Echelon" for the Internet a few years ago. Who would have believed the USA government would be listening to your phone calls.
One does not have to have access to the "database" to track someone. I would suggest that a simple modification the the ubiquitous CCTV surveillance cameras popping up everywhere today could easily provide RFID "read" capability. Same infrastructure for moving data back to the monitoring point!
Simply seeing the same tag many times and in many places -- ie a Mall -- would provide you a good deal of useful information; such as which stores are frequented, what is purchased. If you are familiar with Web "tracking cookies" you know exactly what I mean...
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Line of sight comment is simply incorrect.
You definitely do not have to have line of sight to read RFID tags. Some walls can however block the signal. The new US passport card coming out this year is designed to be read through your vehicle. At least they have thought far enough ahead to provide a shielded card sleeve to protect the card holders privacy. The credit card industry has not bothered. You can read my Chase Blink contactless credit card through my wallet while it is still in my jeans pocket. I can pull up the credit card number, name, and expiration date on my PC through the reader. No line of sight there either. I bought those Identity Stronghold secure sleeves to shield my credit card so the number won't get stollen.
RFID Facts
I am a reseller of RFID equipment and I've had various types of security related questions asked to me with regard to RFID. This article surely does provide a good fact vs fiction comparison. I wonder if security or ROI is the biggest factor determining investment in RFID technology around the world.
yogesh@infinit-tech.com
http://www.infinit-tech.com/Aeroscout-RFID-Tags.php
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