http://www.spychips.com/
Albrecht and McIntyre paint a chilling picture of information collection and invasion of privacy. ( )

"Imagine a world of no more privacy."

That is the first sentence of and apprehension that motivates Spychips, an exploration of the history, technology and perceived dangers of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags. RFID tags are silicon computer chips with a unique identification number and a flat metallic antenna attached. The antenna allows the chip to communicate with RFID readers via radio waves. The chips, some as small as a grain of sand, can be imbedded in anything from products, the packages they come in, credit or frequent shopper cards, or even human skin. The radio waves allow the tag to be read from a distance through whatever it is in without the knowledge of the person possessing it.

Authors Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre are among the principal U.S. critics of RFID tags, which they call “spychips.” They are the leaders of an organization called CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) and their book both explores "spychips" and serves as a call to arms of the dangers they believe the devices present to personal privacy.

Promoters of RFID technology say it is a breakthrough for tracking products. For example, with an RFID reader at a checkout counter, merchants can know immediately and exactly what their inventory and sales look like. RFID tags differ from the ubiquitous UPC symbol because every 16-ounce can of a particular beverage has the same UPC code. With RFID, however, a unique number is assigned each and every individual can.

While it seems innocuous enough, Albrecht and McIntyre say the plans and efforts of the RFID industry and government to date reveal the true threat of the technology. For example, IBM filed a patent application in 2001 for the "identification and tracking of persons using RFID-tagged items" by collecting RFID numbers at cash registers and storing them in a database. When the purchaser of an item returns, their "exact identity" can be determined from any tags they have with or on them and the tags can be "used to monitor the movements of the person through the store or other areas."

Balance of review at http://prairieprogressive.com/?p=650

You can see they really did alot of research, there is no shortage of footnotes. I had a hard time buying into the fear, maybe it's not being presented in the right light. It would seem that you have to have too much faith in some omnipotent corporate evil plan. Too bad that the technology changes too fast for the mammoth players to organize their dreaded global stranglehold as foreseen here.
It is a good "heads up" kind of book, though. I ended up knowing and thinking about RFID as a threat to my perceived freedom, which is a better viewpoint than complete ignorance.
It is an interesting mile-marker on the road of our technological progress, but not a survival guide to some brave new world.
I got kinda wordy there didn't I? ( )

RFID, which stands for Radio Frequency IDentification, is a technology that uses computer chips smaller than a grain of sand to track items from a distance. And as this mind-blowing book explains, plans and efforts are being made now by global corporations and the U.S government to turn this advanced technology, these spychips, into a way to track our daily activities-and keep us all on Big Brother's short leash.