Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

1. Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

2. Standards for RFID • International Organization for Standardization (ISO), • International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), • ASTM International • There are also several specific industries that have set guidelines including the Financial Services Technology Consortium

3. Terminology A radio-frequency identification system involves hardware known as interrogators or readers and tags, also known as labels, as well as RFID software or RFID middleware.

4. RFID tags • RFID tags can be either passive, active or battery assisted passive. Passive RFID does not use a battery, while an active has an on-board battery that always broadcasts or beacons its signal. A battery assisted passive (BAP) has a small battery on board that is activated when in the presence of a RFID reader. • Most RFID tags contain at least two parts: one is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal, and other specialized functions; the other is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal

5. An EPC RFID tag used by Wal-Mart.

6. RFID mandates • Wal-Mart and the United States Department of Defense have published requirements that their vendors place RFID tags on all shipments to improve supply chain management. Due to the size of these two organizations, their RFID mandates impact thousands of companies worldwide. The deadlines have been extended several times because many vendors face significant difficulties implementing RFID systems. In practice, the successful read rates currently run only 80%, due to radio wave attenuation caused by the products and packaging. In time it is expected that even small companies will be able to place RFID tags on their outbound shipments.

7. RFID tags used in libraries Square book tag, Round CD/DVD tag and rectangular VHS tag.

8. Libraries • Among the many uses of RFID technology is its deployment in libraries. This technology has slowly begun to replace the traditional barcodes on library items (books, CDs, DVDs, etc.). The RFID tag can contain identifying information, such as a book's title or material type, without having to be pointed to a separate database (but this is rare in North America). The information is read by an RFID reader, which replaces the standard barcode reader commonly found at a library's circulation desk. The RFID tag found on library materials typically measures 50×50 mm in North America and 50×75 mm in Europe. It may replace or be added to the barcode,

9. RFID in libraries first began • Rockefeller University in New York may have been the first academic library in the United States to use this technology, whereas Farmington Community Library in Michigan may have been the first public institution, both of which began using RFID in 1999.

10. RFID has many library applications that can be highly beneficial, particularly for circulation staff. Since RFID tags can be read through an item, there is no need to open a book cover or DVD case to scan an item. This could reduce repetitive-motion injuries. Where the books have a barcode on the outside, there is still the advantage that borrowers can scan an entire pile of books in one go, instead of one at a time. Since RFID tags can also be read while an item is in motion, using RFID readers to check-in returned items while on a conveyor belt reduces staff time. But, as with barcode, this can all be done by the borrowers themselves, meaning they might never again need the assistance of staff.

11. J-Chip 8-channel receiver next to timing mat. The athlete wears a chip on a strap around his ankle. Ironman Germany 2007 in Frankfurt.

12. Human implants

13. What Are the Benefits and Risks of Fitting Patients with Radiofrequency Identification Devices?

14. In 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a radiofrequency identification (RFID) device that is implanted under the skin of the upper arm of patients and that stores the patient's medical identifier. When a scanner is passed over the device, the identifier is displayed on the screen of an RFID reader. An authorized health professional can then use the identifier to access the patient's clinical information, which is stored in a separate, secure database. Such RFID devices may have many medical benefits—such as expediting identification of patients and retrieval of their medical records. But critics of the technology have raised several concerns, including the risk of the patient's identifying information being used for nonmedical purposes.

15. The device converts this external energy into a signal that can be received and translated by the transmitter. The information thus captured is specific to the person carrying the implanted appliance or to the device to which it is attached (such as a surgical sponge). • Ethical concerns regarding the use of RFID devices arise from issues pertaining to informed consent, the privacy and accessibility of stored information, and the purposes for which the transmitted data will be used. Patients must trust that RFID devices will not be implanted or removed without their prior consent. When seeking patients' consent to implant an RFID device, physicians must do two things. First, they must disclose the possibility of unauthorized access to the information stored on the device. Second, they must allow patients to determine how their stored information is to be used, and who will have access to it. • Patients must also be confident that their personal information will be used solely for clinically beneficial purposes. Physicians must therefore take additional responsibility for ensuring that human-implantable RFID devices are used only to improve patient care and are not abused for nonclinical ends, such as identification of the presence, age, and/or other personal information of an individual. Moreover, physicians must take efforts to ensure that implanted devices are able to keep clinical data confidential and protected from unauthorized access. Such unauthorized access could potentially result in social discrimination, the loss of health care coverage, or the publication of potentially sensitive medical information.

16. RFID Criticism • As with many new technologies, people fear what they don't understand. In the case of RFID, consumers have many fears, some of which may be justified. This debate may be one of the few in which you'll find the American Civil Liberties Union and Christian Coalition on the same side.

17. RFID Criticism cont: • While we can choose whether or not to put RFID chips in ourselves or our pets, we have little control over tags being placed on commercial products that we buy. In the book "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID," Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre describe the most extreme implications of RFID tags. They describe how RFID tags could be used to gauge your spending habits and bank account to determine how much you should be charged for the products you buy. This may sound paranoid, but hackers have proven that some RFID tags can be tampered with, including disabling their anti-theft features and changing the price that corresponds to their product. Better encryption is needed to ensure that hackers can't pick up RFID frequencies with super-sensitive antennae.

18. RFID Criticism cont: • What's more, some critics say that relying on RFID as the primary means of security could make human security checkpoints lazy and ineffective. If security guards rely solely on the RFID anti-theft devices in merchandise and RFID technology of government-issued identification to screen for criminals or terrorists, they might miss the criminal activity happening right in front of their eyes.

19. Closing Thoughts • RFID will be as beneficial or detrimental to the human which operates.