Lost Privacy with RFID Tags, is This Good or Bad?

How afraid are you of losing a little bit more of what little privacy you still have? Privacy has now become a thing of the past; video cameras are everywhere you go, from the local store or eatery, to the traffic lights you are always being watched. The majority of people are not even bothered by this thought, simply because they give it no thought since this is all so common place now. What most people don't know or even understand is that it has increasingly been getting worse.

RFID which stands for radio frequency identification. This is a tiny transmitting device attached to some consumer products. It makes it possible to track inventory, counterfeiting, and helps to personalize your shopping experience. Which basically means that anything anyone buys with this device in or on it can be used to track the person who bought the said item. Once tracked they can find out any and every bit of information about the consumer who purchased the product. Should you be running out of toilet paper someday a store can and just might call you and tell you to come in and get some more before your supply runs out. That is very creepy. A couple of the major players as far as consumer concerns go are; Walmart as well as Proctor and Gamble. It is being said that the push for RFID tags in stores is increasing. This would put an end to any personal privacy you might want to have. While this would send most people into a panic if they actually took the time to learn what it is, some people argue that it would be worth it since items could be returned without a receipt. So that's it? Are we that lazy and simple minded that we can not handle hanging onto a receipt in case of the need for a return?

Homeland Security uses these as well to help make it easier to spot those who might be a terrorist and those who are not. Anyone willing to have one inserted into their own hand can pass through the airport security a lot easier than someone who has not. But at what price? This device in your hand can and will show exactly who and what you are and have been since the day you were born. Anything you might not want known can and will be known . These tags can and will be used for anything and everything, everywhere and anywhere they can be put to use they will be.

Something being argued for the use of RFID tags is medical conditions. That is how people will be so easily turned onto the idea . If you can save yourself or loved one with a simple chip in your hand from undergoing the wrong treatment at a hospital then great. Why not get one implanted into your hand? It just seems to be too pushed onto the public and it will only get worse. A different approach needs to be made in order to make most people not feel so vulnerable to the loss of their privacy.

While the RFID tags are out and have been for awhile now and are used in various ways, it will probably take awhile to have them come into such effect that it will be mandatory for everyone to have one. One could hope that such a loss of privacy will not happen in their lifetime, but it just might. In this day in age we are all used to a slight loss in privacy, it's just common knowledge. In order to urge people into being law abiding citizens we are being watched, better get used to it now.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rfid

www.coasttocoastam.com/tags