Don't forget your tin foil hat!

Seriously though, I wouldn't worry that much about RFID tags. I've got a huge bag of RFID tags which are embedded in a plastic disc so they're easier to handle. All they've got is a serial number encoded inside it. I've got two readers, one only works very close up to the tag and is used to identify individual items. The other is a longer range one which just tells you what tags are nearby. You can't tell what the tag is attached to however. In theory you could encode the exact details of what the item is inside the tag but that involves a lot of extra complexity in manufacture which isn't necessary. They're basically equivalent to a barcode which you can read from a distance with RF.

One example the article gives is that thieves might use it to locate houses with high value items by the RFIDs on the packaging. Sounds like a lot of effort to me considering most packaging has already got all the information printed all over it anyway!

If you really want to worry about big brother then go search for information about Kevin Warwick. He's a lecturer at Reading University over here in the UK. He's got some odd ideas about cybernetics and likes to do big PR stunts. I personally find him annoying but that's just me Anyway, a while back he had the equivalent of a RFID tag embedded in his skin for a few days. A few rooms were then wired to detect his presence and would turn on and off the lights when he entered.

Last report I read about facial recognition systems states that they weren't that reliable. The chance of detection is fairly low as the software is very easily fooled. The latest iris scanner can scan you from a distance of several metres and with a very high level of confidence identify you from your stored pattern. Iris and retina are the two most reliable methods of implementing biometric identification. Iris is prefered however as most people find retina scanners too invasive.

I agree that technology could be misused but thats the price of technological advancement. *shrug*

- Trevor