I spend a fair amount of time thinking about the surveillance possibilities for radio frequency identity tags. Now a company has created RFIDs for home use. Never lose your remotes or keys or glasses again! Unless, of course, you lose the remote locator for the RFIDs!
The system has two modes:
Locate – lets you find any tagged item up to a range of 600 feet (180 metres) using directional, audio, visual and vibration technology, guiding you to within 1 inch (2.5cms) of your lost item.
Alert – prevents things from getting lost in the first place: when a tagged item moves out of your pre-set “safety zoneâ€, Loc8tor informs you immediately, what’s missing and directs you to where it’s gone.
The company is marketing the alert mode for businesses as a way to monitor goods that employees may “remove” from a business site. I originally thought that companies might begin marking all sorts of low-priced items like office supplies, which tend to “walk” off the premises at the beginning of the school year. However, at approximately $30CN per tag, only the more valuable items will be tagged.