Informed Consent: Ethical Considerations of RFID

He who mounts a wild elephant goes where the wild elephant goes. Randolph Bourne

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has incubated in relative obscurity for over 60 years, quietly changing our lives with scant attention outside the technology community. First used to identify Allied aircraft in World War II, RFID is now well integrated in building security, transportation, fast food, health care and livestock management.

Proponents hail RFID as the next natural step in our technological evolution. Opponents forewarn of unprecedented privacy invasion and social control. Which is it? That