New technology poses privacy risk

Many of you are probably unaware of how a new technology, which is already in use and is on the brink of replacing barcodes and the bar code system, will affect your lives.

This new technology is Radio Frequency Identification Devices, or RFID for short. According to "RFID: Tracking everything, everywhere" by Katherine Albrecht published by spychips.com and available at http://ww-w.spychips.com/rfid_overview.html, "Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is poised to enter all of our lives, with profound implications for consumer privacy. RFID couples radio frequency (RF) identification technology with highly miniaturized computers that enable products to be identified and tracked at any point along the supply chain."

In short, when you buy something the product is simply scanned over a receiver, much like the way a barcode operates. However, the RFID chip stays active, and it can still transmit data about when, where and how you use the product. RFID chips may be in our paper currency someday, eliminating the last form of anonymous payment that exists. If you had no receipt or proof of where your money came from, it could be instantly confiscated if an RFID record in the currency didn't match up. Even tires with an RFID chip, which is between the size of a grain of sand and a spec of dust, embedded in them can transmit data of where and how far you have driven, even how fast.

The RFID technology may also enhance shopping carts, which automatically bill you once the item is placed in them, eliminating the need for cashiers. Prescriptions in your home medicine cabinet will have an RFID chip to ensure compliance of your prescription. The use of these chips is a direct assault on the privacy of consumers, which is one of the core values in our criminal justice system. This problem becomes especially troubling when you consider that there is no law, ordinance or code mandating that RFID chipped products be disclosed to the consumer.

Products that you have purchased may already have been equipped with an RFID chip without your knowledge or consent. Does your debit card have a WiFi symbol on the top right of the card? This is the new no-swipe feature on bank cards distributed by banks such as Wells Fargo. This technology eliminates the need to even remove your card from your wallet at certain points of sale at some retail locations. The scariest component of these cards is that the receivers for these RFID embedded cards are openly available to the public, meaning that the average Joe could potentially have access to your purchase history and financial information.

This is definitely not a desirable technology. What scares me is the speed in which this RFID technology is being implemented, as well as the blind acceptance this new technology is receiving from us as consumers. I hope it scares you as well so we can prevent this "Brave New World" type of technology from replacing the perfectly fine and more private system of barcodes. At the very least we should all put pressure on the Senate and House of Representatives to pass laws requiring that companies whose products have RFID chips embedded in them disclose this information to consumers.

If you care about making a difference, and if you agree that our legislators should uphold consumer privacy, then you can start by writing to our Senators and voicing your concerns about this frightening new technology. Contact Sen. Robert Bennett at bennett.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email and Sen. Orrin Hatch at http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact.