RFID Biometrics - Personal Bar Codes for the Future

In part one of this RFID series you will discover that these chips have been around a lot longer than you may have known about and are utilized in ways which are not widely reported on. Although there is a loud outcry about biometric passports and their shortcomings, the progression toward the use of these chips in all sorts of identification seems inevitable.

Dawn of the worldwide RFID
The introduction of the biometric passport (ePassports), which contains a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip, was hailed as the future of secure documentation. It took the traditional 'paper' passport and combined it with the chip so that more data could be, in theory, stored securely and contain a wide variety of information such as fingerprints or iris-scan information. The technology of ePassports is akin to smart cards and even, to a lesser degree, RFID chips which have replaced bar codes for Wal-Mart, the United States Department of Defense, and others.

The data on the chip is read using an RFID tag or transponder. The majority of RFID tags consist of two parts: an integrated circuit for storing and processing data, handling of the RF signal, and other specialized functions, while the second part is simply the antenna for sending and receiving the signal. Chipless RFID is a more discrete and effective method of identification as it is without an integrated circuit.

Currently RFID chips are used and welcomed for pets such as dogs and cats in order to offer a quick identification of whom the pet belongs to and contact information in case the animal is lost or injured. Other uses for over a decade include encoded keys for high-end cars, public transportation passes, and some libraries. These chips are also used as keys to businesses and housing across the world.