Follow that KORAN!

If you haven't seen it, take a look at the library rfid blog created by Laura Smart. It brings up a scary scenario, even for libraries with the bestest of best practices. What if someone goes through airport security with a copy of the Koran checked out from a public library? Airport handlers already see who is carrying the book, but with the persistent identfier aspect of RFID tags, security could track the book and whoever's carrying it from that point on. When publishers start routinely using these tags the jig is up, but at least these tags will presumably be killed by bookstores or others. Libraries don't kill the tags while a book is checked out. That would defeat the whole purpose of using them. Will library books with RFID hurt patrons who check out controversial books?

Comments

[Jason Martine]

Consumer Product: HomeSeer RFID Starter Kit
You have no doubt read that RFID will one day blanket the consumer home, making lost remote controls a thing of the past. Well apparently that day is already here. Retailing for $477.95, The "HomeSeer RFID Starter Kit" comes with software, RFID reader, cable, and power source. (Tags sold separately. Sheesh.) The idea, of course, is that you tag whatever object, pet, or - yes - person, you want to keep tabs on, and the system will allow you to monitor its location. The literature offers some ideas:

* Detect if vehicle is in the garage.
* Get reminders to take out the trash if the garbage can is still detected at the house on garbage night.
* Get notified if pets wander outside of a given range.
* Track physical assets and perform notification if one is "removed" from an area.
* Arm or Disarm Security by individual tag.
* Track the location of domestic help or children by logging in to your HomeSeer system from anywhere in the world.

Given its price tag and the abundance of technical jargon used in the product description, it would seem that the HomeSeer is targeted more to the hobbyist than the average joe consumer. But its very existence does make one wonder how long it will take for such an application to go mainstream.

For those of you horrified by the prospect of a "home seer," feat not. Last week we reported on another novel consumer RFID application, the TagZapper!, targeted at HomeSeer's polar opposite demographic. A small handheld device, the TagZapper! "kills" any RFID tag found on the person, allowing the privacy-conscious to party like it's 1983.

[Jill Liberson]

I know a friend who used the Tagzapper on a box that came in to the shop and it killed the rfid chip. The boss was so mad and fired that guy because the shop spent so much money on the investment.

[Stan Jensen]

All you should do is use the Tagzapper and zap that darn rfid chip to the moon.