A number of research groups at the University of Washington's Department of Computer Science and Engineering have put together a fascinating--and in my opinion desperately needed--project to investigate user-centric RFID systems like chipped passports and identification cards with the goal of determining how those systems impact technology, business and society.

Here's the bottom line. Besides the fundamental questions around security and privacy that need to be answered regarding RFID-chipped identification cards (and other systems), there is another looming issue: What are the societal impacts of a society that is potentially tracked at every step? Do you really want your daily whereabouts posted on Google Calendar and Twitter? The UW study seems to be addressing these very basic but necessary questions.

The UW project, dubbed The RFID Ecosystem, explores a central question: the balance between privacy and utility. According to the project's Web site, some of the more granular questions the long-term study will explore include: Are there user-centered RFID applications that are truly useful? If so, how can they be designed to minimize loss of privacy? Finally, if these applications are indeed useful, does the utility outweigh the potential loss of privacy?

To gather data UW has set up a permanent, building-wide RFID test bed in its Computer Science and Engineering building. Researchers will tag 50 voluntary participants who frequent the building and track their comings and goings through 200 antennas. The participants can put the RFID tag on either themselves or their belongings (think backpack here) and each tag will be tracked and recorded every 5 seconds. The data will then be uploaded to a database and displayed on a Web site.

According to a Feb. 18 article on ZDNet Asia, students involved in the project (you can find them on the RFID Ecosystem Web site) have developed two separate tools to utilize the RFID data generated from the tags. One tool records a person's movements on Google Calendar. The other tool, defined as a "friend finder," sends instant alerts to the study participants' e-mail or cell phone when friends are at certain location. This tool is linked to Twitter.

"Our goal is to ask what benefits can we get out of this technology and how can we protect people's privacy at the same time," UW associate professor Magda Balazinska said in a statement. "We worry that these technologies are being implemented too quickly, and with this system we want to explore it in a controlled environment, to inform the public and policymakers about issues we might face."

The overarching goal of the study, according to the Web site, is one near and dear to my heart: "To inform the community (including businesses and policy makers) of the risks, benefits, and challenges of user-centered RFID systems while proposing technological solutions whenever possible--and to do so before such systems become commonplace."

One of the study's lead researchers, Prof. Magdalena Balazinska, testified at a public hearing in January in front of the Washington State House Committee on Technology, Energy and Communications. The hearing, according to a UW blog, was on the House Bill 2729, sponsored by Rep. Deborah Eddy, which addresses the reading and handling of identification documents.

Prof. Balazinska testified on the privacy risks of these systems, using examples from the RFID Ecosystem Project. You can read a summary of the bill here.

It's worth noting that the U.S. National Science Foundation and Microsoft Research are funding part of the project, and that Prof. Balazinska is a Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellow

I will follow this topic as more information unfolds. What are your thoughts on RFID-chipped documents like the e-passport, enhanced driver's license and Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative ID card? Are they useful and more importantly, are they necessary?