Tear on the dotted line
IBM recently demonstrated a novel and innovative way to help preserve privacy. They have patented a device called a Clipped Tag RFID chip.
RFID chips, or Radio Frequency IDentifiers, are very small semiconducting devices that can be embedded in other objects and remotely interrogated. They are widely believed to be the future of inventory control, because unlike bar codes, they don't require immediate adjacency to be read. Unfortunately this remote sensing feature has privacy advocates up in arms because they have the potential to turn a consumer into a walking billboard, broadcasting personal information to anyone within dozens of feet with a receiver. Not only are these chips going to be used by retailers, but the State Department is putting them in all US passports by next year. In addition to inventory control (read: shoplifting), retailers are also looking forward to using RFIDs to facilitate returns and exchanges.
So what did IBM do? Their Clipped Tag has a perforation on it, inviting the customer to rip a piece of it off when they bring the purchase home. This effectively reduces the range of the chip's antenna from 20+ feet to a few inches, removing most of the privacy threat to the consumer, yet still permitting the chip to be read for exchange purposes.
Bravo IBM. It's been a long time since I can remember them innovating a product that addresses a social problem. It's good business and if it works the way it claims, a damn clever solution.
Posted on May 05, 2006
