Technology industry and privacy advocates clash

Radio Frequency Identity technology, the communication over certain radio frequencies between a small microprocessor with an antenna and its reader, has been used for decades to track inventory and for shipping purposes.

Increasingly, small chips outfitted with the technology are implanted in domestic pets and livestock too. The technology is also used in the health care industry and in new U.S. passports. In California, RFID is probably best known, though, for enabling the FasTrak system to speed commuters through toll bridges. In fact, FasTrak devices in cars also provide the information for billboards that advertise traffic delays.

But as the wonder-technology has expanded its reach to security applications in California--like identification documents at colleges and entrance cards to secure buildings like the Capitol--a diverse coalition has formed to address privacy fears that the RFID industry believes are unwarranted.