RFID Use For Human Tracking: Are The Benefits Worth The Risk?
I read an article the other day that describes how the Department of Homeland Security has begun to implement the use of RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology to track immigration detainees. These detainees will be outfitted with bracelets that use triangulation to establish their physical presence within a five-to-fifteen foot radius, depending on whether the detainee is inside or outside. Potential ways that this information will be used include ensuring that officials can prove the exact location of detainees following an incident. The facility itself will be wired with RFID readers scattered liberally throughout the building and grounds to ensure that there is adequate coverage at all times.
There is an Alzheimer’s facility in Florida that recently agreed to pilot-injected RFID chips into some of their disoriented residents to ensure that, should they wander off, the staff is able to use GPS to track the chip and locate the resident and ensure that they find their way home safely. Those who support this technology explain that using an article of clothing or jewelry to store the RFID chip may not be effective because disoriented people are too likely to shed these items.
At face value these seem like practical solutions to potentially tough problems. There are the obvious technical issues and costs that are associated with implementing such complex technologies, however, assuming these issues can be adequately resolved, there is no reason to assume that these solutions should not be applied to prisons and extended care facilities all over the world.
Those of us who are less trusting of authority can agree with the potential value of using RFID technology in these practical applications, while still demanding that society spend some precious time and resources establishing some guidelines and principles for how these potentially intrusive technologies can or cannot be used.
RFID technology is being used in everything from manufacturing to inventory control to quality control. Embedding RFID chips into everything from pharmaceuticals to clothing and personal items is becoming widespread. Currently the majority of these implementations involve small tags with very limited range and functionality. As the use of RFID becomes more sophisticated and the capability of RFID chips increases, those of us who value personal privacy and liberty are concerned that we will one day wake to find that we have become victims of a surveillance society without a conscious intent for that to occur.
I encourage all of you to research the ways that RFID is being used and to spend some time and attention on the potentially transformative nature of this technology. The most effective means we have at our disposal to ensure that RFID use is properly balanced with the values of a democratic and free society is to stay informed and to speak up when we see applications of this technology that threaten personal privacy and liberty. We are ultimately the arbiters of our own future experience but only if we devote the necessary resources to molding events rather than reacting to them once we discover things have not turned out to our liking.
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