CS Disclaimer: This article is a mixture of facts and opinions. Anything that is represented as a fact is a fact to the best of my knowledge. Anything that is represented as opinion is my opinion (which I am entitled to). I assert that nothing in this article has been fabricated by me, I have no investments, long or short, in this company and no motivation for writing this article other than wanting to see corporations begin to put the best interests of people before profits.

Corporations-Suck.com's report on RFID Chips

    Pepsi, Gillette, Walmart, Michelin, Johnson & Johnson, Home Depot, Target, Proctor & Gamble along with other companies, may start using RFID. The British grocery chain, Tasco, is also interested in the RFID.

    RFID tags, or radio frequency identifier chips, were developed by the Auto ID Center at MIT. There are 85 million multi-national corporations that fund the Auto ID Center, including the Department of Defense and the US Postal Service. This chip will allow companies to track their inventory by satellites. This technology is supposed to be used by companies to make sure their items aren't stolen, however, skeptics fear that this will have the potential to be exploited in obvious ways. Companies will have the option of turning off the tracking once the item leaves the store. Eventually, the Auto ID Center is looking to use ePC (electronic product code) which can provide unique information and be placed on each product.

    Read down and find a picture of the chip. The chips are 0.4 mm x 0.4 mm in size but can hold up to 128 mb rom data for authentication, identification, and tracking purposes.

    One of the companies that will be selling this RFID chip, is Alien Technology. Alien Technology also has RFID readers, which allow networking. They also sell a battery so that data can be collected over a period of time. Alien Tech is working with partners Rafsec and Avery Dennison for manufacturing parts for the tags.

    Caspian, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering is starting a list of chains that don't use tracking or monitoring devices or RFID chips. Caspian has a Consumer Advocacy sign-up for those interested in standing up against technology that violates consumer's rights as well as newsletter updates, several links for resources on how to get involved.

Sources and more information:
http://www.nocards.org
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2003/200304/20030429.html
http://www.eds.com/thought/en_tamed_lightning.pdf
http://www.alientechnology.com

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