When RFID was a in rave, I predicted that one day each of us will carry several on us all the time: in the shoes, glasses, sewed into the clothes, or even implanted into our body as part of some medical devices like artificial joint or pace maker. Since each of them can be traced and kept in databases, the collection of those RFIDs can statistically identify a person as surely as his genome, fingerprint, or retina scan.
How do we know this person is Mrs. Jones? Well, she carries all three RFIDs that were implanted into Mrs. Jones: an hip joint replacement, a pace maker, and a insulin pump. There is no need for any other IDs. How do we know that kid is her son? Let’s see, we have previously seen him 15 times and collected 250 RFIDs during those encounters. This person carries 7 of those 250 RFIDs. Statistically, we are over 99% certain that is the boy.
With RFID, who needs facial recognition?
It was a nice fantasy and a wrong one. Almost a decade passed and the great RFID revolution never came. Today, I carry zero with me. The sophisticated software system I dreamed is nowhere to be found. Then I moved to Washington State and got my Enhanced Driver License.
This thing is part of the West Hemisphere Travel Initiative. It has a built-in RFID so that I can, theoretically, zip through custom without evening taking it out of my wallet. To get one, all I have to do is make an appointment at the local DOL (Department of Licensing) office, show my passport and California driver license, and stare into a vision exam box. No “knowledge test” was required. Too bad it works only for crossing the borders via land or sea, but not air. I can drive or sail to Canada with this EDL, but not by airplane.
Honestly, I do not know if the slightly more expensive EDL offers any real benefit over the simple driver license. If I had an existing WA license, I would probably not bother to upgrade, but since I will have to make a trip to the DOL, I thought I might as well get an enhanced one. After all, don’t we all want something that is enhanced?