Last Updated on April 20, 2020

RFID (aka Radio Frequency Identification) is a method of automatic identification, based on a silicon computer chip and an antenna, which are built in the so-called RFID tag. A remote reader can scan it and send information to a database. RFID tags can be incorporated into many things, from books or shoes, to living animals or even humans.

One interesting application is the RFID refrigerator, created by Samsung Electronics.

The refrigerator will sense which all items are in low stock and inform you that you need to replenish the stock of all these items as early as possible. Now at your office desk itself you will get to know that what all you need to buy while returning from office as the refrigerator will inform you on your cell phone the status of items in your RFID refrigerator. Besides informing you about the inventory level it will also suggest what all recipes you can make using the existing items in the fridge so you will get to taste a new item each day on your dinner table. If programmed it could also undertake the work of ordering items on your behalf from the nearest grocery store.

There are many concerns regarding the consumer’s privacy. If the tags remain active after the product being sold, the consumer who bought it could be traced.

CBN brings this into our attention, via the following interview, which also explains how the RFID technology works:

What do you think? Are RFID tags a danger to our privacy, or they are just a useful tool which would increase productivity and improve life quality?

Shall we start thinking each time we buy a pair of shoes, that somebody up there is watching all our footsteps?