What Is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)?

You're probably familiar with RFID already, but here's a quick refresher: it stands for Radio Frequency Identification, and it's a way to use wireless communication between a tag and an interrogating device (read: a reader) to identify and track the physical location of each object automatically. A tag's transmission range is limited to several meters from the reader, and a clear line of sight between the tag and the reader is not necessarily required. What does that mean for you? Well, let's say you want to keep track of your bananas. You could put an RFID tag on each banana, then use an RFID reader to scan for those tags when you want to find out how many bananas are left in your inventory. The reader would be able to tell you how many bananas are in their range—and since there are no wires involved, you don't have to worry about tripping over them! It also means that if someone steals one of your bananas from the store shelf—which is usually pretty crowded—the thief will probably take off with the entire bunch before anyone notices something amiss. However, those pesky thieves won't get very far with RFID tags before an alarm goes off at HQ! On the one hand, RFID tags are the best thing since sliced bread. They can help us track our luggage and ensure we aren't lost in a crowded mall. On the other hand, they're also kind of like a huge security flaw waiting to happen. Don't get us wrong: We love how easy it is to use a phone's GPS to find a way around town, but that's not the same as RFID technology. As some tags can be read from afar, a rogue individual can carry a customized reader to scan an RFID-enabled passport and obtain holder information from a distance. We all know how much more secure our tickets are than our phones!