"The Social Life of Objects"
Although they've primarily been used to track inventory in various ways (see
RFID Journal for examples), Radio Frequency ID (RFID) chips open up new possibilities for research on proximity and movement of nearly any object. For example, tiny RFID chips in luggage tags could be used to easily
track airline baggage. Or to collect data on the
migration of circulating books to let subsequent readers know where the book has been. Or to track
interactions among schoolchildren in classrooms (here's the
NSF page on project).
The small size and extremely low cost of the chips allows them to be used in a wide range of applications. This is both a great opportunity and a great danger: RFIDs would provide interesting and important data on how object move around in space, over time. Sensors that controlled HVAC based on people actually moving within different areas of a building. A library card catalog that could provide the physical location of any book, even if it was mis-shelved. (Hell, my office and home bookshelves could use this.) Social science data on interactions and proximity of people in differing situations.
All of which suggest a parallel problem of surveillance: The chips are both small and passive, meaning that they can be used to track people, the movement of automobiles, etc. Wikipedia has
some additional overview material and links to worry about. As
Declan McCullagh points out, one company has designed RFID chips that are washable, specifically designed to be sewn into clothing. Foe romeo (from whom I swiped the title of this, and linked to the book scenario above) provides some thoughts about the fact that you can "
RFID people."
Posted by johndan at October 20, 2003 09:32 PM
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