RFID In The News

Speaking of privacy, over at the Boston Globe there is another one of those "RFID is going to let people know everything about us" articles. An interesting note: mentioning IBM, the author notes that "The company filed a patent application in 2001 which contemplates using this wireless snooping technology to track people as they roam through ''shopping malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains, airplanes, rest rooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, museums, etc.""
I think the article is way overboard, but yet RFID opens up a whole new world of surveillance technology -- both to governments and to the average citizen. Not only are we going to track cans of beer, you can bet we're going to track people too with RFID.
Don't believe me? Try the RFID automatic door lock, where you wave your RFID card and the door automatically opens. Those of you who know RFID understand there is no reason to actually wave the card -- most readers should be able to pick up a card from your wallet. Walk up to the door and presto! Opens right up. Just like on Star Trek.
ESI technology is looking to integrate all of this into a suite of applications. From the press release:

-- Presence indication -- Showing each employee's status, in or out, by lighting or unlighting each DSS key programmed for his extension on all phones.

-- Access control -- Automatic control of door locks, making it simpler to control who enters and exits the building. The system controls who can use specific doors, based on the day of the week and the time.

-- ESI's Personal Call Routing -- Performs immediate and automatic control of station functions for users as they scan into and out of the building. For example, scanning out of the building can automatically forward an employee's calls directly to his cell phone or other external phone, while scanning back in automatically routes calls to his desktop phone.

-- Time and attendance logging -- The Time and Attendance Management Option documents employees' time records based on their scans into and out of the building. This automatically creates timesheets which can be exported to a payroll system such as QuickBooks or ADP, eliminating manual timesheet preparation and payroll entry.