RFID Tags and Invasion of Personal Privacy Essay

Personal interest in the right to privacy has intensified in recent years along with the rapid development of new technologies. A century later, these concerns remain, but many others have joined them. Advances in information and communications technology have increased our ability to collect, store and transmit data about individuals. While these advances could be considered useful, some see them as a situation where anyone can watch and record the actions of every individual, and where the individual has lost control over information about herself and thus over her very life. As a reaction to these concerns, new regulations have been formulated to define the rights of individuals and the limits on the use of technology with respect to personal information.

Should students be tracked with Radio Frequency ID Tags? The same technology that is known for tracking packages in the mail; cars during the production progress; and clothes, and other products to ensure a steady supply chain management, also has been tracking students' whereabouts on k-12 campuses. Schools should have the choice to have “RFID” tags or not, but more importantly parents should have the choice to have their children tracked like cattle or not.

As we can see now RFID technology is becoming very popular around the world. However, in my opinion, I would like to say that RFID tags pose a risk to personal privacy. RFID tags easily to be stolen by hackers. They could steal your personal information such as your credit card or your passports. For example, now in some states of the U.S, the government allows the citizen to use RFID passports. However, many citizen still disagree to apply RFID passports because they think it contains many issued such as it is vulnerable to wireless attack by hackers (it can be read up to 30 feet away and copying without permission from the RFID owner). In addition, it is even more dangerous when the RFID passports can contain information that is corresponding to the photo of the RFID tags owner. So just think what will happen if someone hack your passports and what they can do with its information from that RFID passport? Therefore, even RFID tags is becoming popular and can be the next generation technology in the real world, but now, in my opinion, I would like to say that RFID still contains many problem that can harm to personal privacy.

In response to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, there has been renewed interest in the creation of a national identification system, typically embodied in a "smart" ID card, as a component of a national counter-terrorism strategy. National ID cards have been advocated as a means to enhance national security, unmask potential terrorists, and guard against illegal immigrants. "The core issue can be expressed as a question: What actions should the federal government take to certify the identity of its citizens and other persons in its jurisdiction, and what role should computing technology play in that process? To deal with questions like this, lawmakers, leaders, and government agencies often begin the policymaking

It allows companies to easily share data from the internet and many more. (Roberti, 2007). Is it ethical to implant this device in humans for the purpose of identification and storing medical data? This paper will examine the pros and cons of implantable chips into humans.

One example of their impact is the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems proposed for use in public school children in California and other states, and as the new electronic passport for travelers. EPIC’s position, is that the RFID system would make access to the child or traveler’s personal information with out their knowledge easy for unauthorized individuals by merely scanning the RFID while in range of a scanner. “EPIC and other civil liberties groups have filed comments (pdf) to urge the State Department to scrap its plans to require RFID passports for all American travelers.” (www.epic.org).

The RFID system will open new sales opportunities to larger markets such as the Department of Defense (DoD) and Wal-Mart. Who are now demanding that RFID tracking as a condition of contracting.

One of the main and most controversial issues with the RFID chip is that it poses as an invasion of privacy (Freeman, 2007). According to Freeman, “security and privacy experts agree any new technology is always one step ahead of their best possible efforts to secure it.

Using RFID chips in school is a bad idea because parents are complaining about students privacy. The RFID chips could be tracking the students. According to Michele Tatro, whose daughter received a badge, thinks her child might be getting tracked. She says "I'm not willing for anybody to track me... I don't think my children should be tracked either."(Zetter) In other words, scanners above bathroom doors were found in the school. From the information above this seems like the RFID chips are invading students personal space. Also, the chips were found in classrooms doors too. The school required the students to only wear the chips or badges. It is clear to see why parents were complaining about the RFID chips invading students

In recent discovery by the NBC News humans of the US are predicted to be tagged with microchips. This medical chip is said to track medical health for every American. According to the reports, the technology is forced to ask serious questions towards the statement “I am who I say I am.”

For this policy paper I have chosen Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. RFID is able to provide a lot of advantages in the supply chain management, health care system, government operations. RIFD uses electronic magnetic fields for automatically identifying and tracking the tags attached with the objects. The tags contain electronic information. The RFID devices consist of an antenna which emits a radio signals for activating a tag and read and write the electronic data to those. The technology is able to provide a lot of advantages to the users but there are several ethical considerations associated with the use of this technology. Mostly the ethical issues are associated

Today, individuals are sacrificing privacy in order to feel safe. These sacrifices have made a significant impact on the current meaning of privacy, but may have greater consequences in the future. According to Debbie Kasper in her journal, “The Evolution (Or Devolution) of Privacy,” privacy is a struggling dilemma in America. Kasper asks, “If it is gone, when did it disappear, and why?”(Kasper 69). Our past generation has experienced the baby boom, and the world today is witnessing a technological boom. Technology is growing at an exponential rate, thus making information easier to access and share than ever before. The rapid diminishing of privacy is leaving Americans desperate for change.

The government shouldn’t be permitted to implant a chip in one’s brain because it invades their privacy. The RFID tag contains all the information, such as identification and medical records, of the person. According to Advantages & Disadvantages of RFID Technology in Humans, the tag can be read by anyone within a few feet, which gives them access to track one’s movements without knowing. This proves that someone can have knowledge of an individual and be able to track their motion. Implanting a chip into one’s brain leads to no privacy for them.

RFID, or radio frequency identification, is the new system that is replacing the use of barcodes. RFID tags allow users to more quickly obtain information from the object that the RFID tag

RFID technology is not only used at gas stations, restaurants, and department but also at