Anton Watt (04237889)

RFID – Privacy Issues
Imagine a world full of money that can tell you where it’s been spent. Hitachi has developed an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) chip that requires no external antenna and makes possible the embedding of tracking and identification chips in bank notes, tickets and other paper products.
In terms of monitoring illegal activities this would prove to be advantageous in the sense that organisations such as the FBI could track down and prevent many crimes, such as drugs deals, form occurring.
However, by knowing where all the money in the world is at any point in time an individual/group could also know the location of large stores of money (hidden vaults etc). The privacy of these individuals is breached. And if the whereabouts of this information came into the hands of an individual/group with malicious intent; it would potentially lead to more crime.
RFID requires further development before the possibility of “chipping” money can become a reality. There are security issues regarding ensuring this information does not come into the hands of the wrong people. And also privacy issues that need to be addressed, we cannot jeopardise an individuals personal information for the sake of gains in other areas.