Website Assignment - Topic

For my website project, I have decided to take a look into the growing use of RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification). One of part of my research (I plan on so far) will be to focus on some of the more common practices by corporations (and maybe even the private sector). This is just one of the many ways RFIDs tie into a class like T101, how we communicate with our products and how these products communicate back. I may make RFID uses two of my four content pages, and discuss how RFIDs have evolved into their current uses. I will also talk about how RFID is still evolving and what may happen in the future. Some of the current uses of RFIDs are already bordering on unethical grounds and the future remains uncertain. These future implications are part of the reason RFIDs are becoming so controversial.

Controversy is constantly associated with a technology like RFID, probably giving RFIDs some of the buzz and coverage it gets. This is an area I want to discuss more in-depth. I would like to find out who is for and who is against RFID technology/use, and to also see if the technology and use is actually as controversial as it seems. Will RFIDs impede on our basic privacies? Will RFID tags be used to collect information on citizens withour their knowledge? Some say this is already happening. What I hope to add to the RFID conversation is how these issues may be addressed in the future.

I have already conducted some basic research, with articles and stories coming from wired.com, wikipedia.org, among others. My research will become much more extensive in the next couple weeks, as I also hope to get an interview with a Social Informatics professor I had two years ago, Prof. Erik Bucy. His expertise on electronic device impact on society and culture will really enhance my work on this topic.