In-Stat Market Research released a report a few days ago projecting that RFID tags will soon take their place alongside personal computers, cell phones, and the Internet itself as a disruptive technology:
RFID Tag Market to Approach $3 billion in 2009
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
RFID tags are poised to become the most far-reaching wireless technology since the cell phone. Worldwide revenues from RFID tags will jump from $300 million in 2004 to $2.8 billion in 2009.
The general public is already familiar with RFID tags for "EZ-Pass" lanes on toll roads and as credit-card replacements at gasoline pumps. Staying with the transportation theme, the In-Stat report notes a project at Arizona State University tagging bicycles so that only their owners can use them. (PDF versions of the ASU faculty research papers are available here (6 pages) and here (44 pages).)
But those applications just scratch the surface. Here are some recent articles about RFID tags for products, people, pets, and passports:
Like any powerful technology, RFID can be powerfully abused. Privacy advocates are especially worried, as explained on the RFID page of EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center:
The proposed uses of RFID tags pose exponentially greater risks to personal privacy. Many technology experts predict the development of a seamless network of millions of RFID receivers strategically placed around the globe in airports, seaports, highways, distribution centers, warehouses, retail stores, and consumers' homes, all of which are constantly reading, processing, and evaluating consumers behaviors and purchases. In addition to undermining a consumer's ability to enjoy a lifestyle in relative anonymity, critics of the technology counter that the information gathered by RFID readers could be obtained by the government for surveillance or monitoring the activities of citizens, or even misused by hackers and criminals. Even more, the ever-expanding use of RFID chips would leave no aspect of life safe from the prying eyes of retail and corporate giants. Chips integrated into commonplace products such as floor tiles, shelf paper, cabinets, appliance, exercise equipment, and grocery and packaged products would allow even our most intimate activities to be monitored.
EPIC's RFID page has a wealth of useful information whether you think the technology is merely disruptive or decidedly dangerous. Check it out.
Steve
This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.
