Wireless Tiny Tracking Tags Provoke Privacy Concerns

'A washing machine that can ‘read’ the clothes it holds and choose the perfect setting for the garments. A refrigerator that scans what is inside and sends a short text message reminder to buy milk, eggs or butter. Both are possible with radio frequency identification tags, the postage-stamp-size chips that are revolutionizing the marketing and inventory businesses. But the revolution is also igniting debate in Europe over what some fear could be a new threat to personal privacy. In unscrupulous hands, according to experts, these RFID tags would pose a serious threat to privacy. The tags, now limited to functions like inventory tracking, highway toll payment systems, London Underground passes and security in new car keys, could one day be used to tag and track people and their belongings, not just in supermarkets or shopping malls, but around the world, experts say. ‘This type of information would be invaluable to marketing people and law enforcement,’ said Ross Anderson, a professor of computer security engineering at Cambridge University. ‘Down the road, there could be a real threat to privacy.’