RFID Implementation for People Tracking, Research Paper Example

People tracking and tagging can actually have an ominous overtone, for sometimes people think it interferes with their privacy. However, there special, limited circumstances when RFID can be highly efficient. Parents would love to have a gadget where they could simply press a button and find their child lost in the park or elsewhere. Staff member of hospitals and other medical institutions would not want to endanger their patients’ lives, because the outside world is not the safest place for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or Down syndrome. They can also make their working environment safer with RFID systems. Nevertheless, predominant number of free people does not want their movements to be detected and tracked by any systems without their prior knowledge, and even more are suspicious of hidden motives. Therefore, it is usually doubted as to whether it is ethical or not. There are certain companies offering effective RFID solutions for different organizations, which are mostly ethical and legitimate, for they actually help people and benefit the community.

Cross Point RFID company offers multiple solutions and services in the area of people protection and access control. For people protection and people tracking they suggest the following systems: Stand-Alone wander prevention, Safe Care, Safe Staff, Tracing & tracking of people and assets, and Hands free access control. Stand-Alone wander prevention system offers basic solutions to prevent and protect wandering patients in hospitals and other medical institutions. The fact of loosing track of patient’s location can lead to parlous consequences. Therefore, one of the primary goals of medical facilities and hospitals in terms of patient care is preventing wandering patients from leaving their secure environment, which can be accomplished using a solution from Cross Point company. While it does not limit the patient’s freedom of movement, the system won’t let the patient to leave the secure environment. Basically, the system is implemented through personal tags for every patient, as well as special personal tag for each and every staff member. As the patients gets within a locator’s energy field the signal activates the tag which transmits the message with the patient’s ID and his/her location to one of the staff members. After that, this ID is saved in a tag, which will trigger the door to lock or send and alarm message to the nursing facility. Consequently, the door will remain locked until staff members push the button on their tags to guide a patient out. The primary benefits of Stand-Alone wander prevention system are the ease of installation and programming, fair economical price, push-button tags, and no need for additional controller and software. Safe Staff system is specially designed web-based solution aimed to ensure the security of staff members and establish secure and safe working environment. Again, without limiting the freedom of movement, the system creates a safe working environment, thus protecting the workers from aggressive client behavior. The employee who is potentially at risk simply has to press the button on his/her ID tag, thus sending an alarm message to the security personnel and other staff members. This system is efficient mainly because it is easy to install, it ensures employees safety, includes detailed alarm message, and does not limit the freedom of movement. Tracking & Tracing RFID system and Hands-free access control RFID system are implemented into Safe Staff and Safe Care solutions, thus using long range RFID readers so that staff members don’t have to scan their tags intentionally to readers, but can simply walk around the facility with their tags scanned automatically. Such locators and receivers are mainly installed in the doorways of the building, and every time somebody passes them it registers this movement in the system. In case of unauthorized access the system sends an alarm message using e-mail, paper, SMS and DECT. This system includes the following features: minimizing misplacements of valuable assets, operating in one system with one user-interface, automatic detection of movements and alarm handling. Therefore, Cross Point offers highly efficient systems of people tracking and tracing for hospitals and other medical facilities. In this case it would be ethical, because the whole purpose of these solutions is helping patients, thus protecting them from wandering into places that may put their lives at risk. For example, the outside world is unsafe for a patient with Alzheimer’s disease or Schizophrenia, thus not keeping them within a facility will endanger his life. It also ensures safe and secure working environment for the employees.

Not only RFID systems are implemented in hospitals and other medical institutions, but also they are necessary in prisons and correction facilities. That is made in order to ensure that none of them will ever leave the area of imprisonment without proper permission or before release, thus protecting the society. Moreover, prison officers will feel safer and more secure knowing prisoners’ exact location. So, the whole system is implemented through tamper-evident wristbands for prisoners and belt-mounted transponders for security officers. Each and every prisoner is assigned a unique identification number encoded on the wristband, which is similar to an industrial-size watch. The tag broadcasts its identification number every two seconds, and this message is received by readers spread throughout the facility. RFID software compares the given location of a prisoner with the zones in which he can operate and sends and alert message in case if the prisoner is in a prohibited area. Moreover, the system is also counting the prisoners every two seconds and sends a report in case somebody is missing. Corrections staff does not know the prisoners by face, thus may not always be able to identify them. However, the RFID system provide and unmistakable method for administrators and security officers to accurately identify a particular individual and to track and verify his location within the facility. Such close and effective control can also reduce violence among inmates for they are aware that they are monitored. Moreover, the system appears to lower the operating expenses, thus automating monitoring functions like internal investigations and headcounts. In this case, active tags and proprietary algorithms are used to process thousands of tags at once and to define and monitor the location of a certain requested tag.

ActiveWave uses Radio Identification technology to send out and receive information and date without using wires. “ActiveWave RFID tags contain microelectronic circuits that store product information. The tags transmit this information to a remote RFID reader” (ActiveWave, 2007). The company provides complete real-time detection of equipment, assets, and people. Though its main target is to help businesses track inventory and expensive equipment, ActiveWave also works with applying Radio Identification technology to track patients and doctors in hospitals. It is done through attaching special RFID tags to identification bracelets of all patients, or just the patients who need constant attention and care. Moreover, the technology can be used to ensure critical areas of hospitals to be accessed by authorized personnel only, by using ActiveWave access control. In this case, the benefits of using RFID include the following points: ability to locate nurses, doctors, and patients immediately; ability to limit accessibility to high-threat sections to authorized staff; ability to monitor unauthorized individuals; ability to access and review the patient’s information distantly; ability to impose additional control on patients, doctors, and personnel during emergencies, terrorist attacks, and epidemics. Additionally, ActiveWave proposes Access Control and ID badges solutions for organizations interested in hands free access control, provided by a unique Radio Identification technology. It wirelessly connects RFID readers to control computers, and gives a possibility to read the badges and identification cards from a distance of approximately sixteen feet, which can be really helpful for handicapped workers. In case of an unauthorized access, ActiveWave RFID is able to forward an alert to the host computer, which could possibly activate cameras and recorders to gain control over the situation. The technology has the following benefits: wireless, agile, real-time security system; distant badge and ID reading; easy installation and use, due to the absence of wires; ability to trigger video recorders and cameras, in case of an emergency. Lastly, ActiveWave offers RFID technology to “help to assure the security of restricted areas in airports, such as flight lines, baggage handling areas, customs, employee lounges, and other sensitive areas” (ActiveWave, 2007). This method can also be applied to railway stations, bus terminals, and naval ports. ActiveWave hands-free RFID service is able to help locate key employees in emergency situations, keep unauthorized individuals from important areas, and ensure overall authorization of personnel. Moreover, the technology can assist in managing the passenger flow in airports, by means of issuing RFID tags in a form of electronic tickets or wrist bands. Such ActiveWave tickets can contain passengers’ flight information and identification, restricting them to the gate of their departure. As far as the tickets are linked to the RFID database, it can help passengers to walk-on board efficiently and guarantee safety of the boarding process. In order to prevent tampering after penetrating the protected areas, security operators might be notified if a passenger or employee removes or gets rid of  the badge. ActiveWave has developed different user-friendly application for the RFID solutions that include assets, inventory, and people tracking. The RFID host computer is communicating with the readers wirelessly and utilizes a flexible database, which can be changed and updated easily. The RFID Active Tags are very low-cost and compact-size, designed to fit in a wrist band or a badge. In essence, ActiveWave offers a relatively ethical and secure way of people tracking and access control. Provided the employees, passengers, and patients are informed about the presence of RFID in their wrist bands, tickets, or identification cards, and accept the appropriate terms and conditions of use, ActiveWave is a great way to track and secure people.

Super-RFID is a Chinese high-tech company that specializes in RFID technologies, providing coal mines, schools, hospitals, and various businesses with proper identification, security, and tracking. The uniqueness of these RFID gadgets lies in the fact that they have “the first Real Time Operating System (RTOS) embedded on tag”, which is “active, event-driven, independent, secure, expandable and with ultra-low power consumption” (Super-RFID, 2007). The company offers solutions for parents, who desire to know where the child is and whether he is safe and sound. In order to accomplish this mission, children are to wear special identification tags that are read by the RFID readers (for instance, at the school entrance) and immediately send the information to the resolution center, which informs the parents about the location of the kid. Moreover, by means of RFID receivers, teachers and parents are able to communicate with each other sending and receiving messages. The hardware (readers) is installed within appropriate reading range, while ID receivers are given to everyone using the system. The message gateway device is installed for message exchange and independence from school network communications. Moreover, Super-RFID provides solutions for mining industry. “Through the system, dynamic status of workers and equipments underground can be reflected in the computer system on the ground in real time fashion, such that administrators and manager can get all necessary information, such as positions of workers and equipments and their moving route timely and accurately for more efficient management” (Super-RFID, 2007). The technique gives a chance to identify and keep track of people in a certain location, supervise vital sectors, lessen the number of accidents, build reports of arriving and leaving, and more.

Undoubtedly, track and trace applications interfere with our privacy and freedom of movement resulting in countless victims of identity theft and fraud. Thus, it is not ethical to implement RFID application and people tracking in most of the cases, except the situations when they do not harm or assault anyone, while actually enhancing the system and helping people who work, for instance, in correction facilities or hospitals. Many companies offer various RFID solutions enhancing security within different facilities, by providing special ID tags and local tag readers which work wirelessly. However, nobody is actually forced to place those readers throughout their building, for people do it voluntarily. So, as long as it involves business or people protection it is ethical, for it benefits different communities.

References

ActiveWave. (2007). ActiveWave Complete RFID Solutions. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from http://www.activewaveinc.com/

Super-RFID. (2007). Solutions. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from http://www.superrfid.net/english/SOLUTIONS/

Cross Point. (2007). People Protection. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from http://www.crosspoint.nl/nl/peopleprotection/

Brown, D. (2006). RFID Implementation. McGraw-Hill Professional

Finkenzeller, K., & Waddington, R. (2003). RFID Handbook: Fundamentals and Applications in Contactless Smart Cards and Identification. John Wiley and Sons