RFID and the consumer

RFID is a technology that is used in a retail and consumer setting and there are mixed opinions about this use.

As mentioned in the section above RFID is a monitoring and tracking service and it is predicted to grow even bigger in the future, and it is thought that it will replace bar codes on products eventually. Some 'passive' tags can be very very small and have no battery of their own. This means that they will be detected by a scanner when they are within a certain distance of that scanner. Other RFID tags are larger (and more expensive) but contain their own power device, meaning that they can be detected from greater distances. Scanners that detect these devices can be either static (stationary) or mobile and it is already possible to buy a mobile phone that has a scanner built into it.

Within retail, RFID tags were originally used within batches of a product to monitor movement between the manufacturers and the retail base for instance. If they do indeed go on to replace barcodes this could save a lot of time when queuing pay at the tills for instance. Instead of having to scan individual items the whole trolley could be scanned in one go as the scanner does not need to see the tag to be able to read it.

However, although there are benefits with this technology in retail, there are some concerns for the customer. Firstly, the issue of surveillance and privacy for the customer. It is thought that RFID is likely to be involved to a significant degree in 'pervasive computing' and the fact that there will be 'chips in everything' does raise the issue of the average consumer being under significant surveillance.

RFID tags can be put into items without the customer knowing. It could very easily be sewn into clothing for instance and it may also be possible for scanners to become 'hidden' e.g. in carpets of floor tiles.