http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=1030Sep 06, 2005-The use of new electronic devices to track products, pets, and people using radio frequencies is growing at what privacy advocates say is an alarming rate, given concerns that the technology is being implemented without proper safeguards, in both the public and the private sectors.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is used around the world in everyday consumer products from produce to beer kegs to DVDs. Increasingly it is being tested as a method to track people and in schools, prisons and transit systems.
Most disturbing to privacy advocates and civil libertarians are US government proposals to use RFID tags in passports and drivers’ licenses, and in a new pilot program launched this summer that has placed RFID tags in immigrants’ visas.
RFID devices, from pinhead sized minichips to flat tags inserted into a piece of paper, contain miniscule antennas that pass the information it contains after entering the range of a scanning device. Most RFID technology in use now is "passive," which means it does not contain an internal power supply and can only transmit information from a distance of up to about 30 feet. "Active" tags have an internal power source, can be read from further distances, and can store information sent from a transceiver.
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http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=1030
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