What Is a TID?

Can you please define that term for me?

—Tanaka-san

———

Tanaka-san,

TID means “tag ID” and it refers to a unique serial number written to a RIFD microchip when the chip is manufactured. It cannot be altered. The tag ID differs from the serial number written to the tag after it is made. Some serial numbers may be programmed to the tag at the time the tag is manufactured, while others are programmed by the user after the chip’s acquisition. The TID and serial number are sometimes used together to confirm a tag’s authenticity. For example, a counterfeiter might buy microchips and program serial numbers to them to match serial numbers used by popular brands. But the brand owner could confirm a tag is fake by looking up whether it ever received tags with the TIDs in the counterfeit tags, even if the serial numbers looked the same as those it uses.

—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal