Radio frequency identification
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a method based on storing and automatically retrieving identification data transmitted over the radio frequency spectrum. Devices called "RFID transponders", "RFID tags" or "chips" are transponders that transmit the stored information to a remote sensing device. An RFID tag can be attached into a product, or implanted in an animal, or a person, for the purpose of identification. RFID tags may require no internal power source, in which case they are called passive tags, whereas active tags require a power source.
RFID is used to time sporting events, inventory control, and the collection of tolls on highways.
The increasing use of RFID tags has come under intense scrutiny, especially as companies are beginning to use them to track consumer purchases in stores, and as the development of injectable RFID tags (in pets, and even in humans) is becoming a reality. Many Christians see this as related to the Mark of the Beast prophesized in the Book of Revelation, and the book Spychips by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre (ISBN 0-452-28766-9) was a recent best-seller warning of the potential issues with RFID tags.
References
- Albrecht, Katherine and Liz McIntyre. Spychips. Plume/Penguin Books, 2006 (paperback); Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005 (hardcover).
