Posted on 02/20/2007 5:09:22 AM PST by Calpernia
It would be positively Orwellian if corporate America was using high technology to track your whereabouts without your knowledge. Welcome to "1984."
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology can be thought of as a next-generation bar code. A simple RFID tag consists of a microchip and antenna, which when stimulated by a remote "reader," sends back information via radio waves. Like a bar code, an RFID tag identifies the product it is attached to for inventory or purchasing purposes; but an RFID tag can do more. For example, RFID tags can hold information related to the expiration date of a product, record whether a product has been exposed to excessive hear, or could be used to assist with product recalls. An RFID-tagged product can be tracked as it moves in commerce, providing better ways to identify and meet consumer demand for products.
"If the device remains on the item," says Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, "it can also track the whereabouts of the individual who purchases it and I believe that's an invasion of privacy." Surely such technology is reserved for only hi-tech gizmos and the most expensive wares a store has to offer, right? Wrong? Watson Coleman says, "RFIDs are in your clothing, in your underwear, in your razor blade packages, any item that you purchase."
The purchaser of the item is usually unaware of the presence of the tag and unable to remove it. The tag can be read from a distance without the individual being aware that it is being read and if an item is purchased using a credit card or a loyalty card is used at the time of purchase it would be possible to tie the unique ID of the tagged item to the identity of the consumer.
The majority leader is sponsoring a bill would require businesses purveying items with RFID tags to post notices on their premises and labels on the products and would also require the removal or deactivation of the tag at the point of sale. 14 other states have similar legislation pending.
I know what you mean, but that's still different for everyone, and my point was directed at the impression one makes on clients.
That's the trick isn't it. I really can't get on people if they drive what most would consider a piece of crap. But I can however get a little pissy if a guy pulls up in a 150k Mercedes who makes his living off commission or sales from money out of my pocket. I'm middle class, If I were upper class maybe that would be more fitting. But thats the breaks.
Fortunately, then, I don't have that kind of job, because I'm never going to invest a lot of money in something like a car (which only depreciates). That might make me cheap, but then again, my husband and I decided yesterday to go to Paris for a vacation in about six weeks, just because we feel like it.
Unless the car is a rustbucket I don't personally see an issue if you have a kind of job where you meet clients.
Nope. Saturns aren't rustbuckets, since they're mostly made out of plastic. :)
What if the guy is just very successful? It doesn't mean he rips off people.
He may well be, but the perception will be there for most people.
If the company is worried about impression to customers, they could rent a car or have acompany pool car for customer trips. An employees car is his own business.
Our salesman at the printing plant drives a turbo Porsche and has expensive rings, sparkling diamond earrings and is usually seen driving around town with beautiful blonds affixed to his forearm.
I called him a playboy once to the girls at the receptionist's desk and they all burst out laughing...he, however, heard the comment later and wasn't too pleased!
He's a slightly silly figure, in my opinion, as he looks like he'd rather be a model in Las Vegas than selling print jobs in a rural community!
Ed
Some companies do, others you write-off the expenses of the vehicle.
I don't think the problem is the technology.
IMHO, the real issue is the way in which the technology is allowed to be used - and who is allowed to use it.
I think it's a constitutional right to privacy issue that needs to be addressed.
[force them to erase the records of all RFID signatures when you sell a tagged item or it leaves your place of business.]
That wouldn't stop some entity from scaning the tags on items in your residence and building a profile based upon the still active tag signatures.
"Can RFID tags be sewn into clothing?"
"Yes. A number of companies make RFID tags encased in protective plastic. These tags are designed for use in the laundry and uniform rental business. The tags used are typically 13.56 MHz tags, which have a read range of less than 3 feet (1 meter). Today, there is no way to embed a tag that is undetectable to the consumer into clothes. Companies that are testing RFID systems for tracking clothes in the supply chain are putting the RFID transponder on a hangtag that the consumer cuts off before wearing the item."
Besides, the arguments regarding RFID tracking of humans will be rendered moot once THEY are fully able to exploit this:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Millimeter+wave+identification+DNA
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