Retail giant Walmart is going to implement a program in their stores that will place RFID (radio frequency identification) tags on the products in their stores. The tagging program will purportedly allow Walmart to better track their inventories. This seems reasonable. Unless you throw in a contrived twist.
Let's suppose you are shopping in your friendly Walmart (and this could very well happen in any store in the near future) and you pick up a few garments, throw them in your cart and continue walking the aisles. Suppose this particular retailer where you are shopping employs scanners throughout the store. Scanners that read the information on RFID chips.
Now some will say, "So what if a store knows what's in your cart?" Well, is it possible that the scanner could be set up to read the RFID tags on the items you have chosen and also the RFID on your credit cards and/or drivers license? And if it did, would it not then be able to track perhaps forever all of your buying in that store? And if the store kept all of this information about you, isn't it possible that they could sell that information to other retailers or interested parties?
Additionally, could the "Big Brother" government find a way to use this information about you? At that point in time, might the federal government someday require all retailers to turn their scanning information over to them or pay a stiff fine? Might they transmit the scanned information up to a satellite? Could the information somehow be used against you at some point in the future?
Most importantly, is any of this information the government's business? Is this an invasion of your privacy in person and property as defined in the Fourth Amendment? We aren't legal scholars so when the time comes, the attorneys practicing in the realm of the Constitutional law will have to sort it all out in the courts. But as for us, we are very wary of what this information will be used for - now and in the future.
Thankfully, some bright individuals have already figured out how to either block your RFID drivers license, passport or credit cards from transmitting out of your pocket, wallet or purse. Thankfully, there are ways to "zap" the RFIDs. And you should consider protecting yourself, your identity and your credit with the methods and products available to you. Do your homework.
