Delta Air Invests $25 Million in RFID for Luggage

securitas writes "The New York Times' Barnaby Feder reports on Delta Air Lines' plans to invest $25 million in RFID luggage tracking hardware and software over the next two years. This sounds very similar to the Jacksonville Airport RFID plan. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and Hong Kong International Airport have also announced plans to use RFID technology in their operations. More at the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Boston Globe."

Comments

Per airport

[afidel]

is useless. There needs to be a standard definied AND there has to be a mapping back to the current barcode standard so that luggage can still be handled at airports that haven't yet upgraded.

As long as they

[christrs]

Put the RFID chips in their tags, so I can remove them when the flight is over, why should this be a big deal. They already use barcodes on the tags.

Re:Is RFID the new spyware?

[1000101]

WTF? Airlines MUST track your luggage. I want them to track it. Hell, this is common sense. I don't have any need for spyware to track me so it is completely different.

Re:Is RFID the new spyware?

[Sc00ter]

"What is the difference between *INSERT WORD FROM BELOW* and spyware? Both seems to enable companies to track and trace me, where spyware has the advantage that it can be removed by using tools like Spybot or ad-Aware."

- Barcodes
- Credit Cards
- Drivers Licenses
- Grocery discount cards
- License Plates
- Cookies

Re:Is RFID the new spyware?

[Dagny Taggert]

Good point...and, down the road, I'm sure there will be real-world Spybots and Ad-Awares that will scan your clothes and other items looking for RFID items that you can them remove/disable. Remember, there were radar guns and then radar detectors. The marketplace will always respond.

$25 million is small potatoes

[YouHaveSnail]

$25 million doesn't seem like all that large an investment, IMO. What does a single plane cost, after all? My guess is that they'll save $25 million over a few years just in terms of saved labor.

This is NOT a privacy issue

[bshroyer]

As of about ten years ago, air travelers in the US were informed that we were to leave our privacy behind at the security checkpoint. After presenting proof of id, submitting all bags for inspection, and stepping through a detector, the traveler knew that the "authorities" had a record of who they were, where they were going, and what they were (and weren't) carrying.

Face it. If you want privacy in your travel, you have two choices: avoid airports, or develop a very good false identity.

Given that I've left my privacy behind at the security checkpoint, anything that makes it easier for the airlines/airports to handle and transport my bags back to me at my final destination can't be seen as anything but a positive development.

Didn't I see this on a test somewhere?

[ryanvm]

Slashdot is to RFID as Greenpeace is to:
A) Puppies
B) Trombones
C) Nuclear power generation
D) Trees

Let's get this straight people - RFID tags are not the devil. They are a technology with the potential to be VERY useful. Do we really have to see EVERY story about EVERY use of RFID tags in the world? Why don't you guys hold off until someone, somewhere actually does something Orwellian with the technology before you spurt the hackneyed, luddite, anti-RFID propaganda?

Oh and just because you disagree doesn't mean I'm trolling. Fuck, that concept is tired too. Where's my coffee?