RFID smartcards mail home to keep track of kids

It’s no secret that here at TechRadar we’re big fans of anything with a GPS chip in it, but privacy concerns are clearly just around the corner should Big Brother decide to use the technology to keep tabs on us.

That’s yet to happen – as far as we know – on any large scale, but in Japan, there are several models of mobile phone aimed at allowing parents to keep a constant eye on their kids through GPS and email alerts.

Oversight too far

Such phones might seem useful in theory but the reality is that few people old enough to carry a mobile phone are going to be overjoyed about being tracked at all times.

Now, however, into that potential breach steps another one of our favourite technologies – RFID. The Pasmo transportation card that we’ve mentioned before now has an added trick that performs much the same function, only far less intrusively.

The company behind the card is offering a service that links the ubiquitous card readers in train stations and buses to extra terminals at school entrances and domestic residences [Japanese link].

When Pasmo-bearing children arrive at where they’re supposed to be, the system emails parents to tell them so. Otherwise, it makes like pink Floyd and leaves those kids alone. We like its style.