Editing Surveillance (section)

====RFID tagging====
[[File:Paypass chip front.png|thumb|upright|left|RFID chip pulled from a new credit card]]

[[Radio-frequency identification]] (RFID) tagging is the use of very small electronic devices (called "RFID tags") which are applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. The tags can be read from several meters away. They are extremely inexpensive, costing a few cents per piece, so they can be inserted into many types of everyday products without significantly increasing the price, and can be used to track and identify these objects for a variety of purposes.

Some companies appear to be "tagging" their workers by incorporating RFID tags in employee ID badges. Workers in U.K. considered [[strike action]] in protest of having themselves tagged; they felt that it was [[dehumanisation|dehumanizing]] to have all of their movements tracked with RFID chips.<ref name="rfid-strike-uk">{{cite news|url=http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/print/6294|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207145117/http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/print/6294|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 7, 2012|title=Two Stories Highlight the RFID Debate|date=July 19, 2005|work=RFID Journal|access-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref>{{vague|date=March 2012}} Some critics have expressed fears that people will soon be tracked and scanned everywhere they go.<ref name="usatoday-verichip"/>  On the other hand, RFID tags in newborn baby ID bracelets put on by hospitals have foiled kidnappings.<ref name="rfid-strike-uk" />

In a 2003 editorial, CNET News.com's chief political correspondent, Declan McCullagh, speculated that, soon, every object that is purchased, and perhaps ID cards, will have RFID devices in them, which would respond with information about people as they walk past scanners (what type of phone they have, what type of shoes they have on, which books they are carrying, what credit cards or membership cards they have, etc.). This information could be used for identification, tracking, or [[targeted marketing]]. {{as of|2021}}, this has largely not come to pass.<ref name="mccullagh-rfid">{{cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/2010-1069-980325.html|title=RFID Tags: Big Brother in small packages|last=McCullagh |first=Declan|date=January 13, 2003|work=CNET News|access-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref>

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