While radio frequency identification technology (RFID) may offer potential benefits, it also raises privacy fears. Despite these fears, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) argues in a recent report that these fears should not lead to legislative controls of RFID. Rather, the CEI believes that “prompt deployment of, and experimentation with, RFID would best serve the interests of the public and the economy.” Perhaps, but those people harmed by perceived privacy invasion will not be pleased in the meantime.
RFID is moving along such that it is soon to be ready for prime time as a real alternative to bar codes (Uniform Product Codes — boxes of vertical bars and spaces). Most of us are readily familiar with bar codes on most consumer goods. RFID already is being used in the shipping and logistics industry, in transportation access cards, and for use in some identification cards. In terms of personal identification, RFID already enables key card holders to enter secure buildings and pass through toll gates rapidly.
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