Used mostly for building access and package tracking today, RFID is not privacy friendly technology. With a range of at least 3 meters RFID chips can theoretically be hidden in products from laptops to shoes without the user’s knowledge and can be used to track the users movements and behavior across a network of scanners.
I know that one of the security problems is that the cards can be readily cloned - if you sniff a scanner, then sniff a card on that network you can clone the card as many times as you like just by duplicating the key.
Most businesses in major cities give employees RFID cards to use like building keys. We’ve started recommending that clients use RFID for secondary internal access only, say between zones or departments within a building, like access to server rooms. Primary access to a facility should be granted only after people have been identified by a less vulnerable means (Mark 1 eyeball for instance).
It's worked pretty good.
Oh most certainly. The potential for tracking is beyond current comprehension. If less than one decade we could easily be living in a society where your every move is tracked. Think about it. Your sneakers have a tag that tracks it through production and shipment. That tag, hence, those shoes, gets tied to your name through your credit card purchase. Those shoes’ tag then announces your presence and movement throughout any store with appropriately equipped scanners and purchased access to the above info. Very simple endeavor for startling tracking ability.