RFID Tags: Fearing the Future
Tracking Everything, Everywhere, All The Time
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Are you ready for the future? It isn't as far away as you might think. Most expect full-scale rollouts of RFID technology to be taking place by 2005. Not long after that and you can assume that most of what you buy will have RFID tags embedded in them, complete with unique Electronic Product Code numbers that can be scanned at a distance by anyone with a reader.
The government, retailers, and even criminals may start using scanners to track your movements, monitor your possessions, and maintain records about everything you do. The basic technology already exists for all of this; all that remains is the political will to implement it. If there is no public outcry, then there will be nothing to stop them because the data is simply too valuable to voluntarily walk away from.
Ideally, the government would require warning labels that inform people when they are buying something that has an RFID tag on it. It's unlikely that they will have the choice to buy products that don't have tags, but at least they would be aware of the issue. Ideally, the government would also require warning signs that let people know that RFID scanners are in operation so that they will know if they are being tracked; again, they may not have the choice to go someplace where there is no tracking, but at least they'll know.
Best of all, though, people should have the ability to destroy any RFID tags in any property that they own. It is, after all, their property - the presence of tracking and surveillance technology may be useful to the government and to corporations, but people shouldn't be required to allow such tracking just for the privilege of owning anything. Unfortunately, the growth of RFID technology has occurred mostly without notice - people aren't aware of what is coming. This makes it all too likely that it will hit without enough of a public outcry to force legal restrictions that could protect privacy and personal autonomy.
Industries behind RFID tags don't want to see such an outcry. They are already mobilizing to counter efforts by consumers to change what is happening. Their very language reflects contempt because they refer to the need to develop messages that "pacify" consumers and privacy groups. They have lists of "experts" - sociologists, anthropologists, and more who could testify that RFID tracking of our movements is quite acceptable. Other plans include making RFID devices more palatable by renaming them to something like "green tags" or "improved bar codes."
And so whatever semblance of privacy you might currently be managing to eke out will essentially disappear - but again, only if you do nothing. Or, even worse, if you voluntarily trade it away in exchange for convenience and lower prices. Benjamin Franklin said that people who trade away necessary freedom for temporary security deserve neither, but I wonder what he would say about those who trade away freedom for mere consumer conveniences?
More than likely he simply wouldn't believe it - but he never experienced the mass-consumption consumer-capitalist society what we have around us today. All the time people trade away little bits of their privacy, their freedom, and their very identities for the sake of some convenience or discount. The idea of either the government or private corporations having access to such massive amounts of personal data as provided by RFID tags is staggering in its ethical, political, and social implications.
Somehow, I am pessimistic that many will pay much attention to the changes - and most of those who do will only end up seeing the conveniences and discounts, not the ethical or political problems. The industry's own research shows that 78% of surveyed consumers consider RFID a problem for privacy; at the same time, the same people are mostly apathetic because they believe that nothing they can do will change anything. I think that RFID tags will be adopted across the continent, and I fear that nothing will ever be the same again.
More: What Are RFID Tags?
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