Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)

RFIDs are chips that use radio waves to send data to a reader - which in turn can be connected to the web.

This technology is just one of the current ways of allowing physical objects to go online - a concept dubbed the "internet of things", which industry insiders have shortened to IoT.

This is when not only your PC, tablets and smartphones can connect to the web, but also your car, your home, your jeans and even the sheep and cows on a farm.

Is not a little bit stranger? Well, is the new generation technology. These chips have the power to do something without your permission. Imagine, you have just bought a blouse, and this blouse start tweeting about your location as you cross the Central Park. At least is embarrassing.

Everything that you bought or that you have, if these things have this RFID chip you can be found wherever you are. The first impression of this technology is not that good, but thinking about the future it can almost save lives in an emergency.

In such a new context, the ethical worries are under consideration to what extent can surveillance of people be accepted. 

Either way, these RFID tags can improve the work of firefighters in fire, locating exactly where the people are. They may help to police work. And can be useful even helping up in traffic enforcement, since your car has a tag it can be picked up on radar, or placed for trailers.

These chips are also like a GPS for cars, they have sensors in them that send data online via a wireless low-power technology. With help of a special app on your smartphone, drivers can receive data from sensors installed in parking spaces, telling them where the closest free spot is. The car will update its and the driver's location. But have the negative point, the privacy issues. It's hard to predict how well all these issues will be addressed once the entire planet gets on the web.

José, Laís, Lina