RFID-tagged.

by Hermilia C. Banayat-Nas
(5th entry)

Thank goodness cars are now pre-registered for two years.

Car owners, transport operators and the public have been ran over (and over) this week by bad news: the change in MMDA's color scheme, increase in pump prices and the additional RFID registration fee.

Php350.00 for a tag that ruins newly armor-all-coated windshields leaves a red mark in the books. And many motorists ask: RF-what?

Radio frequency identification is not a new technology. It is used in the consumer market on products like authentic computer software and hardware, in other country's traffic management particularly as an alternative to paying cash in tollgates and, of course, as a security measure.

RFID is like bar code only that the RFID reader would not need very close proximity (or physical contact) to decipher the information on RFID tags. This means that merely passing through the line of vision of the reader (probably a 45-degree range from the point of origin and widening until its limits) enables identification details to be read. The fact that a tag is moving together with the "tagged" would not impair the results of the information relay. The reader, on the other hand, would be transmitting the details it got from the tag and transmits it to a computer which interprets the details into understandable information.

Tagging a vehicle is a very tempting security measure because within seconds traffic enforces may be forewarned of a passing crazy driver. Thus, even if our MMDA's vehicles can run at a great speed of 30kph, as long as the vehicle and the driver is previously identified and it's route secured, there is a higher possibility of apprehending the violator.

However, RFID is not merely for traffic management or monitoring. All information capable of being represented by binary numbers can be stored in this microchip, as long as the memory space is big enough. This means that as the technology allows more memory spaces in super microchips, there would eventually be no point in wasting all that potential memory space. The temptation to input the make, color, or plate number of the vehicle would be as strong as the temptation to include information about the vehicle's driver/s, as well.

So, if there is something odd about this RFID then maybe here it is: the threat to invade our privacy.

(image from http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/wp-content/uploads/rfid.jpg)