RFID chips: Are we one step closer to 1984?

| July 12, 2008

Show Notes:

Whether it be George Orwell’s 1984 or Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, the writers have helped us imagine it. That surveillance society where we have no privacy, where are moves are tracked and our actions controlled.

When you find out more about Radio Frequency Identification or RFIDs and it is hard not to think of those infamous Big Brother stories.

RFID’s are little chips that can be implanted in products and people for tracking purposes.  They are being used in new U.S. passports and are even being implanted in people from employees to those with alzeimer's and even people at resorts, so they don't have to carry wallets and ID.

And their use is becoming more and more prevalent.

Stark Raven talks with Richard Rosenberg about RFID's and their implications. Richard is the president the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association. He is also professor emeritus of Computer Science at UBC and is on the Board of the BC Civil Liberties Association.
 
To find out more about RFID's check out www.spychips.com and Electronic Privacy Information Centre.