Slashgeo

Slashdot links and discuss a The Register article about an Hungary airport which will tag all passengers with high-powered RFID tags. The Slashdot summary: "From the Register article: 'People will be told to wear radio tags round their necks when they get to the airport. The tag would notify a computer system of their identity and whereabouts. The system would then track their activities in the airport using a network of high definition cameras. "[The tags] have got a long range, of 10m to 20m," said Dr. Paul Brennan of University College London's antennas and radar group which developed the tags, "and the system has been designed so the tag can be located to within a meter, and it can locate thousands of tags in one area at a given time."' The system is being touted for 'Improving airport efficiency, security and passenger flow by enhanced passenger monitoring.' BBC is also reporting this story, and brings up such hurdles to the project as 'finding a way of ensuring the tags cannot be switched between passengers or removed without notification.' As for any mention of the 'hurdle' of people's rights, the article vaguely and briefly states that 'The issue of infringement of civil liberties will also be key,' but doesn't bother to go into any pesky details."" See also related stories to remember stories about the same issue in the US.

Slashdot offers a on new RFID tattoos for tracking cattle and humans. Their summary: "The Register reports that a St Louis based company, Somark Innovations, has successfully tested RFID tattoos to be used for tracking cattle and other animals. Details are limited for the actual tattoo, but it's said to contain no metals and can be read up to about four feet away. Engadget has some more details on the matter. And yes, the article does mention RFID tattoos are possible for people, specifically the military. From the article: 'The system developed by Somark uses an array of needles to quickly inject a pattern of dots into each animal, with the pattern changing for each injection. This pattern can then be read from over a meter away using a proprietary reader operating at high frequency.'"

Slashdot discuss a story about a proposal to track students using RFID and WiFi. Their summary: "The BBC reports on a proposal to use RFID and wi-fi to track students wherever they go on campus: 'Battery-powered RFID tags are placed on an asset and they communicate with at least three wireless access points inside the network to triangulate a location.' At The Wireless Event in London, 'Marcus Birkl, head of wireless at Siemens, said location tracking of assets or people was one of the biggest incentives for companies, hospitals and education institutions to roll out wi-fi networks.' The article points out that integration of RFID and wi-fi raises the possibility that RFID can be used for remote surveillance."

Slashdot discuss a where we learn students in U.K. are tracked with RFID chips. Their summary: "Ten kids in a pilot program in the Hungerhill School in Edenthorpe, England will participate in a program that puts RFID chips in students' uniforms to keep track of their whereabouts. A group called 'Leave Them Kids Alone' is opposing the program. Bruce Schneier blogs: '...Now it's easy to cut class; just ask someone to carry your shirt around the building while you're elsewhere.'" If you find this story interesting, take a look at our previous RFID-related stories...

Here's a few recent stories on the uses of RFID. Here's Microsoft using computerized grocery carts to serve ads: "The new carts will also display advertisements depending on where in the supermarket the cart is, using RFID technology to help locate it.". We learn a proposal in the U.K. for prisoners to be implanted by RFID for tracking purposes. Here's two entries discussing technology and the ethics of tracking students at school. There's still useful applications of RFID such as tracking miners. See also previous related stories, since most of these issues were brought up before.