Zeitgeist Movie vs. RFIDs

In response to the video we showed in class, the YouTube clip from the movie American Zeitgeist (2006), I feel that it was greatly over exaggerated and completely bias. Yes, the video seemed to be very convincing and somewhat frightening but I think they focused more on theories rather than fact.

            I had watched this video before really doing much research on the RFID technology. The reason why I think the video was effective was because the average person doesn’t know much, if anything, about radio frequency identification so it was able to use shock value to prove their point rather than presenting all of the facts and letting the audience decide. I also feel that the video stretched the truth and made assumptions that aren’t necessarily true. I cannot say that the information they presented was false, it did inform us on some possibilities RFIDS can offer, but it was definitely one sided.

            After researching information of RFID technology, we found information that did not necessarily disprove the video, but it did make me look at the video from more of a neutral perspective. For example, we found the difference between active and passive RFID tags. The most common RFID chip or tag is passive. This means that they don’t contain any battery power and can only transmit data when they are zapped with a reader. Active tags are more expensive and carry some battery power. The chips that were talked about in the video, the chips that can be implanted into the human body are passive so they can only be read by readers from a few inches to a few feet away. So being tracked by the government is out of the question in this point in time. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are advancements that could make it possible to do that in the near future but the video makes it seem like the process has already started by showing the first family to be implanted with RFID chips.

            The video, instead of being an instructional video on RFIDS, was a conspiracy video on the government. We showed it the class not really to educate the class on what an RFID does, but what they have to potential to do. Like I said before the video was very bias and made assumptions. Assumptions like everyone in power, and more specifically the government, is evil and corrupt. With the knowledge we have on historical rebellions and civil wars in the past, I really can’t see the government doing something like in the video to take away our rights and freedoms without expecting a major backlash.

            I do not want to come out and say RFIDS will only be used with good intentions and for the good of the individual because it is impossible to know that. I feel that the video showed one end of the spectrum and I am contesting that so it would be wrong to ague the other end. I would like to take a neutral stance on it. All we can do is to inform ourselves on this technology as best we can, ask questions, and think about what we want out of it. We should be a little sceptical with a technological advancement like this because it does have the potential to work against the average person no matter how unlikely.

R. McGann. American Zeitgeist (2006)

Sieberg, D. Is RFID tracking you? <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />October 23, 2006, retrieved on November 10, 2007 from http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/07/10/rfid/index.html