RFID chips raise
privacy issues because of potential tracking capabilities.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) are small computer chips approximately the size of a grain of rice. Inexpensive to manufacturer, these chips hold approximately 2,000 bytes of data. When first introduced, researchers intended RFID chips for use in tracking information on clothing, parcels and medication bottles. Read by a small scanner that translates the data into easy-to-read information, RFID chips raise several privacy concerns. Thought the technology has been available for several years, the debate rages on.
Consumer Privacy
The largest concern over RFID chips is consumer privacy invasion. If you purchase something with a barcode on it, the manufacturer knows that it sold the product, but they don't know where it sold or who bought it.
RFID chips enable manufacturers to know more about the consumers who buy their products. For example, a manufacturer would be able to tell where the product was purchased, the state, the store and as some analysts worry, the actual person who bought it. While the availability of that specific tracking information is still years out, the potential is there. This means that consumers would no longer have the privacy that they have enjoyed. Medication use could possibly be tracked and even the type of razor you prefer could be monitored.
In defense of RFID chips in their current state, they can only be read by a scanner that is within twenty feet. After the point of purchase, any additional information could not be collected.
Identity Theft
Eventually, RFID tags could be used to store exact information about the person who purchased an item, such as their name, address, credit card number and even their social security number. If scanners fall into the wrong hands or are used improperly, this could put consumers at risk for identity theft.
In addition, there are concerns over who has the right to this kind of information and just how much data should be stored and accessible on these chips.
Environmental Concerns
Even though RFID chips are quite small, they still contain chemicals and metals that would contaminate landfills. If millions of these chips are produced and then thrown away as they are intended to be, this could wreak environmental havoc.
Environmentalists raise concerns that chip chemicals would leach into the soil in landfills, eventually contaminating ground water supplies. This concern could become greater if everyday items such as razors, clothing and pill bottles all have RFID chips installed, since these items frequently end up in landfills across the country.
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