Are there any health issues involved? And does RFID have green certification?
—Name withheld
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That’s actually three questions, so I’ll take them one at a time.
We don’t make recommendations regarding any particular applications, because companies must weigh the costs and benefits for themselves. There are benefits to tracking school children: It reduces the time that teachers must otherwise spend keeping track of the kids; if there is a problem at a school and the building needs to be evacuated in a hurry, authorities can quickly determine if any students did not get out; and so forth. But there is also some controversy over tracking children: Some say it infringes on their privacy, while others worry that it will lead to a society in which everyone accepts that they can be tracked at all times (see
Finally, RFID does not have green certification. Tags with metal antennas do end up in landfills, and this is likely to be an issue as the technology proliferates. Companies are currently experimenting with biodegradable polymers that can be used for antennas, but the performance is not yet good enough for many applications.
Finally, RFID does not have green certification. Tags with metal antennas do end up in landfills, and this is likely to be an issue as the technology proliferates. Companies are currently experimenting with biodegradable polymers that can be used for antennas, but the performance is not yet good enough for many applications.
—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal