Question
Hi There!
I'm a homeowner who is getting tired of having my potted plants, garden art, patio furniture and outdoor sculptures stolen. Since I can't prevent having people take my things while I'm at work (forget cameras or alarms), there MUST be a way to track my things once they've found a new home. I've found plenty of systems that would help me if I wanted to track a stolen car or a criminal or a kidnapped child, or comply with the standards of WalMart. But RFID technology would be so useful in finding a stolen bench or a lost pet. What about retrieving valuable merchandise that has been shop-lifted? What is available for homeowners or small businesses?
Thanks for any information or advice you may be able to offer.
—Gail Johnson, San Luis Obispo, CA
Answer
A "Tech Talk" staff member responded:
Thanks for your interesting question. Essentially what you are talking about is using a transmitter device similar to what is currently used by "LoJack" for automobiles, to track any variety of items that potentially might be stolen. The issue here is the relative cost versus read range for the RFID tag. A device similar to what you are describing would be feasible but would be too expensive to use on most items. Such a transmitter would need to be an "active" tag meaning it would need its own power source, plus the device would need to transmit over considerable distance - perhaps several miles in order to be useful for law enforcement. This type of device would be priced much too high for the average consumer except to be used to track our most valuable items, such as our car or our children. Most of the action in RFID today is in the "passive" tag area where the tag is quite small, does not have its own power source, and transmits over a very short distance perhaps one foot to maybe twenty feet. These characteristics make such tags relatively affordable and more feasible for mass usage. The power for passive tags is drawn from the reader when they are within physical proximity of each other. Further, to reduce shop lifting, many retailers currently use a form of RFID at the item level on relatively expensive items such as electronics and clothing, but again the read range is limited. Therefore, this technology may be used to alert officials when the item passes through the store doors that are equipped with RFID readers, but would not be useful in locating items that have already left the store. Thanks again for you interest in Tech Talk.
Sincerely,
Tech Talk Staff
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