Hitachi has developed Radio Frequency Identification tags the size of dust particles.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are tiny passive radio transponders with enough memory to store a 128-digit ID number. When hit with an incoming radio signal, a passive RFID tag uses power from the signal to transmit its ID in response.
RFID tags have been used in place of barcodes to track merchandise, as well as cattle. The tiny chips are used in US and UK passports to contain all the passport information, including a digital picture of the owner. They’re used in car keys (without the correct RFID chip, the car won’t start), libraries, quick-pass toll collection cards, and, yes…even humans: nightclubs in Barcelona and Rotterdam let VIP customers use chips implanted in their hands to pay for drinks.
The Smallest RFID Tag Yet
And now, Hitachi has made an RFID tag that’s only 0.05 x 0.05 mm — the size of a grain of powder. Hitachi plans to have these chips on the market in 2 to 3 years.
One of Hitachi’s current mu-chips is pictured on the left. New chips, 64 times smaller, are pictured on the right, along with a human hair.
Since existing RFID chips can already be embedded in paper (gift certificates, currency, etc.), one wonders what applications Hitachi has in mind for the new chips?
Think about this: RFID readers can be secretly located anywhere, including doorways and sidewalks. As Technovelgy points out, “…suppose you participated in some sort of protest or other organized activity. If police agencies sprinkled these tags around, every individual could be tracked and later identified at leisure, with powerful enough tag scanners.”
In fact, the FDA has already approved RFID implants in humans, and members of Congress have already discussed requiring seasonal immigrants to implant the tags before being admitted to the United States.
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[tags]RFID, privacy, surveillance, tracking, 1984, mark of the beast[/tags]
