RFID technology

This blog will give an introduction to the RFID technology which is probably going to be big business in the near future. This blog will discuss what RFID actually is and how it can be used. I will also give some predictions of how RFID will be applied in the future.

What is RFID?
RFID is an abbreviation of Radio Frequency Identification. RFID is a technology which uses radio signals to identify goods and vehicles and perhaps in the future also to identify people and animals. This technology is developed to work more efficient, to guarantee the security and to increase the usability for some products.

How does it work?
A product with a RFID chip can catch radio signals from special devices, so called readers. The chip uses the energy from the radio signal to send information or a message back to this reader. This message contains information about that specific product and is connected to a database where the information can be processed. Every chip in each product contains their own specific product information. Some chips have a bigger reach than others, because they differ in frequency. Obviously, a higher frequency results in a bigger reach.

RFID and people’s privacy
As shown in the short video below, it is for companies in the United States already legal to build RFID chips in for example your shoes, so that it can work as a tracking device. Obviously, the question raises why companies would “follow” us and what the practical benefit is. Using RFID chips in the clothing of people can be very advantageous for crime investigation for example, but the key point is to find the right balance between the privacy of people and the benefits of using RFID for the “ordinary citizens”. It is imaginable that the RFID technology could be very advantageous for our society, but it is obvious that there are some questionable points which need to be investigated.



RFID in the future
As mentioned above, there has to be a lot more investigation about the RFID technology before all objects and living beings have their own chip, but I think it is pretty imaginable that this technology will take the place of a lot of working people with serious consequences. I definitely can see the benefits of RFID, but I doubt the fact that RFID is “the solution”. For example, the RFID technology is going to substitute cashiers by the time that all products in the grocery store have their own chips. It is plausible that in the future every person has their own chip. So when one is going to the grocery store to go shopping, one can fill his basket or cart with the products he needs and while walking out of the store, a device scans what someone just bought. So this device can also “see” what the shop has in store at a certain time and what the supplier needs to bring. At the moment of passing the device which measures your products, money from your chip (which everybody is wearing in their hand or arm) is going to be paid to the grocery store and one is ready to go. This is an example of how RFID is going to substitute cashiers, but I think a lot of people will loose their jobs in the future by the implementing of this technology.

What do you think? Please leave a comment!