How RFID Technology Will Invade Your Life

With RFID technology a store owner knows everything about the item you take to the checkout including price, color size etc.

The USA now wants to put this technology into passports which would allow people to be mass processed through custom control, without having to form queues. You know what it is like when you arrive home late and there is a queue of 200 people in front of you at the Passport desk.So a convenience would be faster people handling.

Credit card companies would be able to read your card simply by you waving it near a reading device. So we face a revolution in the use of RFID technology.But security on terrorist activity may be compromised because he could alter his passport to get though without an official actually seeing the falsified document.

And then there is the issue of personal privacy. You buy an item using RFID and for the rest of the day a scanner could pick up the fact you just bought it and how would this compromise you if you are holding a RFID credit card.

Also consider the supply chain structure. Now thieves could know what's being held in premises and what its value is.

There are some solutions for specific cases. So for example when you buy something, there should be a tear off section your ticket to remove the device. So you will not be readable after you have bought your items.

Credit cards are a different consideration.

What would be the diving line between being close enough for the scanner to pick you up but not close enough for a thief to scan the card in your handbag?

An unacceptable situation would be where thieves could wander around shopping centers and simply get close enough to your wallet to scan your card. Clearly there is some extra thinking to be done here and it may be some time before this is solved, where convenience is improved but your privacy is secure. Maybe aluminum wallets are the answer? Time will tell.

Counting devices
Client counting solution to the retail sector offers a system is aimed at providing pertinent management information on client visit habits and related transactions.The system comprises client movement logging hardware - deployed in-store and a software suite which would typically run within head office and provide web browser access to count statistics.

Benefits
o Sales to look into conversion rate analysis to ascertain sales effectiveness and help improve Average Transaction Value and Units
o Marketing to assess the effectiveness of advertising and marketing campaigns
o Operations to provide insight into the effectiveness of staffing levels
o Security and exceptions will note movements after-hours and differences between people entering and exiting the store
o Environment to look at through-store footfall to ensure appropriate floor layout andcustomer awareness of in-store departments
o Low impact and quick installation
 

Management information
A simple to use browser-based software suite provides immediate access to management information right across your enterprise.Integration with management data allows automated linking with transactional and staffing data so you can see how wisely or not you are spending you money.

Sales transaction data should be automatically imported on a daily basis and the system database should be queried by third party products for further integration/analysis as necessary. Client counting can improve your operational cost-effectiveness, improve your advertising impact on sales and enhance the customer experience by ensuring staffing levels are appropriate to customer flow.

Arthur Stoller advises customers on the use of retail technology. Find out how you can implement protection for your shop by visiting http://www.rto.com

Magazine in Spokane, Washington

National Archives Needs to Embed RFID Tags in Ink

Perhaps we should have printers with ink which has metallic properties which would simulate RFID Tags in pages scattered throughout the reports and papers of secret documents, then if one decides to do something unethical to steal the paper work then the report itself will trigger an alarm, even if one puts it in their socks or underwear, under a hat. As one leaves the building through a detector like at the bookstores, gotcha!!

These technologies are being developed now, so we may as well put them to good use. It is fascinating that we even have these problems with those instilled with the citizen trust to serve us, yet not so unpredictable, this could answer the problem of secret information leakage in FBI, Pentagon, CIA, National Archives, even DOE, Los Alamos, Defense Contractors and may as well apply it to library, especially for the two most books stolen: "The Bible" and "The Joy of Sex". Yes this is true, and it shows how clearly divided we are a species between morals and desires, guilt and honor, power and force, flesh and abstinence.

Certain books in libraries would be sprinkled with some type of odor smart dust, which would also prevent decay of the paper and set off an odor detector on the way out. There are mini odor detectors used now for nuclear material, explosives, bio-pathogens, anthrax and a multitude of other things, used for anti-terrorism, illegal immigration, drug trafficking, etc.

The National Archives are a national treasure and should be guarded as such. We need to put this technology to work to keep integrity of our system, our government and our leadership.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington