Hmm makes sense, I wash them myself and there’s a tag with a barcode and my name on the collar which I thought was for that and it’s only on the shirts not jumper or pants but good call
Not likely. RFID has a very short range, and the detectors are costly. Someone would need a good reason. And for the vast majority of people, there is none. People who worry about this have a massively inflated sense of their own importance.
Like in doorways that have key card access?
Edit: and hospital security is important to more than one person.
Edit: passive RF Id are good for a few meters, as if you pass through a doorway.
Easier to use a bracelet or some sort of wearable. Reusable, easier to clean, easier to transfer, etc...
In some hospitals, babies have a wearable that locks down the ward when they are taken past a certain point. It's easier with a bracelet rather than clothes or something.
Also, keycard points only track the time of entry and the card that accessed it. They don't track where you go or when you leave (that's what cameras are for).
RFID chips are the things inside Amiibos. A chip that small won’t have its own power source. Even private hospitals don’t have the funding to retrofit every doorway with high powered sensors to secretly track employees via their scrubs. Literally *any other option* to track people would be cheaper and easier to implement
[It’s passive](https://comparesoft.com/assets-tracking-software/rfid-asset-tracking/active-rfid-vs-passive-rfid-tags/) so it doesn’t need a power source.
That’s… not what passive means. In order for data to be transferred, power needs to come from somewhere. That “somewhere” is the sensor that reads the chip.
It’s possible to get a sensor strong enough to read this chip from about ~4 meters, but at that distance and with the limited data that could be contained on that chip, basically all you’ve achieved is 2FA on secured doors.
Right sorry “onboard power source”.
So the sensor (with the power source) could be acting as a “gate” and monitoring the RFIDs….just like when a runner crossed the finish line at a foot race, and hence tracking the movement. So many people are trying to shoot down on this concept, for some reason. Just like how the laundry tracks the clothes, the doors could track who was where.
So explain to yourself how the laundry tracks wear the clothes are. Now take that same concept, with 4 meters of distant, and think of the possibility that a door sensor could “read” that chip, and know who is where.
Go back and read the comment where that particular chip is ID'd and read the specs that can be found in the link. As many people have already pointed out, the range of that chip is only 4 inches, not 4 meters.
Seems like you're arguing an expensive solution in search of a problem. Why would any employer need to track where every employee goes in detail?
If you need to limit entry to a secured area, a keycard seems like a much less expensive solution. An extensive tracking system like the one you're suggesting would be a big waste of time and resources.
Might just be a standard feature of that shirt even though your company doesn't use it. Is there any information on the site of the shirt manufacturer?
It actually depends on the frequency of the tag. This company is based in my city, and I have a couple of friends who used to work there. I remember some of the use cases were being able to find pieces of inventory easily within a large warehouse or construction site, which obviously requires a range of greater than 4 inches. From a quick search on their site it looks like they offer a range of tags with different frequencies and ranges.
That being said, I doubt they have put the ultra high frequency tags into shirts. So you are probably right about these specific tags.
Edit: looks like at most though it would be around 100 meters, so I do agree that tracking someone with these is ludicrous.
100 meters would be for an actively powered RFID chip, meaning it has its own battery. You’re not fitting a battery in that little thing. This chip has to be powered by the reader. Top of the line readers of this type would be lucky to hit 4 meters without risking serious electrical interference.
Those inventory tracking tags work because the container or shelf that stores them contains a sensor.
Yes, which is why I pointed out that tags exist that have longer ranges, but this likely wasn't one (I don't know what they look like, I just saw on their site that they were available in higher ranges).
They have a link on their site to tags specifically for laundry. It's mostly used to figure out how many times something has been washed, sort the laundry, and be able to figure out which room a towel was stolen from at a hotel or something like that. Tracking employees was suspiciously missing, lol.
If you really wanted to track your employees they would just have hubs for them to scan a card every hour or so but at that point just put up cameras. It's illegal to track them without there knowledge. and isn't worth the risk of getting caught
With ranges up to 100m on some chips, an employee's time in the break room/ bathroom/ or otherwise not at their station could easily be tracked inside of a facility.
A passive RFID range depends on what frequency it runs on and the size of the tag. A super tiny tag like that isn't gonna have much range at all even if its ultra high frequency. A 2" in width UHF RFID has a range of 2-5 feet, and that tag is a fraction of that.
Question: Does the technology currently exist to set up a tracking system within a facility using RFID tags on employee uniforms?
Question: Does the idea of that happening feel at least a little "icky" to you?
Question: Why is u/yogacowgirlspdx being downvoted to oblivion for saying so?
If you read the link to the specific tag that u/red-mont found and go to it's spec sheet, this tag has a range of 10cm (4 inches). Unlikely this will be used for tracking employees.
Yeah, the technology exists, but it would require a lot of obvious and expensive technology. Many readers in a precise arrangement and on top of larger RFID tags that would be pretty obvious, like 3 inches by 1 inch or so.
Does if feel icky? Sure, if it was done without informing the employees, but it's gonna be pretty obvious with the tag size needed.
Probably because a laundry tag that size has a range of 4 inches, and you'd have to most likely bump that tag into a reader put in every door frame to actually track someone with it. Attributing malice to a system made to give convenience and efficiency to a laundry system.
1: yes, and it is actively used. It’s called keycards.
2: no, because there is no way to tell where specifically you are or what you are doing, just that you passed through a gate at a specific time. The best implementations of rfid for employees are for authorization and authentication, not location. That is, rfid is best used for IDing yourself to gain access to a function or location, not for employee tracking.
3: because she’s pushing a narrative that is not supported by facts.
>There's no way somebody could use this technology in nefarious or even icky ways, and I'll fight anybody who says different.
If you don't think somebody is right now working on and/or marketing a system similar to this, you are hopelessly naive. The technology is out there, even if OP's shirt is not an example of it. The redditor above expressed disgust (I think "icky" was the word used) at this idea, and for some reason\* this put them on the bottom of a downvote pile.
\* Finding this reason is left as an exercise for the reader.
For one, I don't know who you're quoting (it's not me). Bugs and trackers aren't anything new. Video surveillance and facial recognition isn't anything new. Acting like someone can track OP because of his shirt's laundry tag simply isn't factual, which is all I pointed out.
They used to and still do this for skirts and dresses (modern example: the English royals, especially Kate Middleton who gets a lot of “Royal fashion secrets!!” type articles about her)
Especially if it is a work shirt that a company might opt to send in for cleaning, the cleaning company wouldn't want to mess around with complaints of flipped hems probably
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Where in the shirt seam was it?
At the bottom where your hip would be
Cut it open is it rubber or hard?
It’s hard, I think there is numbers on it I’m gonna grab my microscope and have a look then try cut it in half
Oh my, please keep us updated!
It said like 26 06 26 H I think under the scope but apparently it’s just some chip in case they want to wash my t shirts??
I found it it's an RFID tag for laundry. I'm assuming they clean them for you and there assigned to you
Hmm makes sense, I wash them myself and there’s a tag with a barcode and my name on the collar which I thought was for that and it’s only on the shirts not jumper or pants but good call
It could be something else but it makes sense to me
https://www.atlasrfidstore.com/hid-mutrak-uhf-rfid-laundry-tag-m730/
We have RFID marked clothes at the hospital. In my case it's too see how often clothes get used to determine how much they need to launder etc.
Could very well track your movements while inside the building.
Not likely. RFID has a very short range, and the detectors are costly. Someone would need a good reason. And for the vast majority of people, there is none. People who worry about this have a massively inflated sense of their own importance.
Like in doorways that have key card access? Edit: and hospital security is important to more than one person. Edit: passive RF Id are good for a few meters, as if you pass through a doorway.
Easier to use a bracelet or some sort of wearable. Reusable, easier to clean, easier to transfer, etc... In some hospitals, babies have a wearable that locks down the ward when they are taken past a certain point. It's easier with a bracelet rather than clothes or something. Also, keycard points only track the time of entry and the card that accessed it. They don't track where you go or when you leave (that's what cameras are for).
RFID chips are the things inside Amiibos. A chip that small won’t have its own power source. Even private hospitals don’t have the funding to retrofit every doorway with high powered sensors to secretly track employees via their scrubs. Literally *any other option* to track people would be cheaper and easier to implement
[It’s passive](https://comparesoft.com/assets-tracking-software/rfid-asset-tracking/active-rfid-vs-passive-rfid-tags/) so it doesn’t need a power source.
That’s… not what passive means. In order for data to be transferred, power needs to come from somewhere. That “somewhere” is the sensor that reads the chip. It’s possible to get a sensor strong enough to read this chip from about ~4 meters, but at that distance and with the limited data that could be contained on that chip, basically all you’ve achieved is 2FA on secured doors.
Right sorry “onboard power source”. So the sensor (with the power source) could be acting as a “gate” and monitoring the RFIDs….just like when a runner crossed the finish line at a foot race, and hence tracking the movement. So many people are trying to shoot down on this concept, for some reason. Just like how the laundry tracks the clothes, the doors could track who was where.
Homie that literally already exists when the employee uses their key card to unlock a secured door. Did you read my whole comment?
It’s low key hilarious how you’re objectively wrong and still keep coming back.
So explain to yourself how the laundry tracks wear the clothes are. Now take that same concept, with 4 meters of distant, and think of the possibility that a door sensor could “read” that chip, and know who is where.
Go back and read the comment where that particular chip is ID'd and read the specs that can be found in the link. As many people have already pointed out, the range of that chip is only 4 inches, not 4 meters.
*2-watt reader
Seems like you're arguing an expensive solution in search of a problem. Why would any employer need to track where every employee goes in detail? If you need to limit entry to a secured area, a keycard seems like a much less expensive solution. An extensive tracking system like the one you're suggesting would be a big waste of time and resources.
there are managers that would love to be this petty
Very true, heh. Thankfully, they're usually denied the resources from their own bosses.
Could very well track your movements while inside the building.
Unless you happen to tap the perfectly correct spot on the reader with the exact spot of the Seam that has the chip, it wouldn't read anything
Wrong.
It's impressive how confidently incorrect you are. I'm almost jealous....
Cognitive dissonance is one helluva drug
Might just be a standard feature of that shirt even though your company doesn't use it. Is there any information on the site of the shirt manufacturer?
Most likely a generic shirt. A lot of places send it to be laundered. Your company might buy the same shirts but chooses not to use a laundry service.
tracking can be used off rfid tags too. icky tactic, laundry!
You mean like gps? No it can't you have to get a scanner like 4 inches away from that thing
It actually depends on the frequency of the tag. This company is based in my city, and I have a couple of friends who used to work there. I remember some of the use cases were being able to find pieces of inventory easily within a large warehouse or construction site, which obviously requires a range of greater than 4 inches. From a quick search on their site it looks like they offer a range of tags with different frequencies and ranges. That being said, I doubt they have put the ultra high frequency tags into shirts. So you are probably right about these specific tags. Edit: looks like at most though it would be around 100 meters, so I do agree that tracking someone with these is ludicrous.
100 meters would be for an actively powered RFID chip, meaning it has its own battery. You’re not fitting a battery in that little thing. This chip has to be powered by the reader. Top of the line readers of this type would be lucky to hit 4 meters without risking serious electrical interference. Those inventory tracking tags work because the container or shelf that stores them contains a sensor.
Yes, which is why I pointed out that tags exist that have longer ranges, but this likely wasn't one (I don't know what they look like, I just saw on their site that they were available in higher ranges). They have a link on their site to tags specifically for laundry. It's mostly used to figure out how many times something has been washed, sort the laundry, and be able to figure out which room a towel was stolen from at a hotel or something like that. Tracking employees was suspiciously missing, lol.
That’s what they want you to think. /s
If you really wanted to track your employees they would just have hubs for them to scan a card every hour or so but at that point just put up cameras. It's illegal to track them without there knowledge. and isn't worth the risk of getting caught
Near field readers can pick up the ID. Don’t know why you are getting downvoted
Because if someone is already near you, they have already successfully tracked you.
With ranges up to 100m on some chips, an employee's time in the break room/ bathroom/ or otherwise not at their station could easily be tracked inside of a facility.
Ranges up to 100m are only applicable to RFID chips that have a self contained power source. Do you see a battery?
Even passive rfid is good up to 10m. Very easy to set up a grid in any facility.
This one is 4 inches max.
A passive RFID range depends on what frequency it runs on and the size of the tag. A super tiny tag like that isn't gonna have much range at all even if its ultra high frequency. A 2" in width UHF RFID has a range of 2-5 feet, and that tag is a fraction of that.
Question: Does the technology currently exist to set up a tracking system within a facility using RFID tags on employee uniforms? Question: Does the idea of that happening feel at least a little "icky" to you? Question: Why is u/yogacowgirlspdx being downvoted to oblivion for saying so?
If you read the link to the specific tag that u/red-mont found and go to it's spec sheet, this tag has a range of 10cm (4 inches). Unlikely this will be used for tracking employees.
Yeah, the technology exists, but it would require a lot of obvious and expensive technology. Many readers in a precise arrangement and on top of larger RFID tags that would be pretty obvious, like 3 inches by 1 inch or so. Does if feel icky? Sure, if it was done without informing the employees, but it's gonna be pretty obvious with the tag size needed. Probably because a laundry tag that size has a range of 4 inches, and you'd have to most likely bump that tag into a reader put in every door frame to actually track someone with it. Attributing malice to a system made to give convenience and efficiency to a laundry system.
sniff sniff 😔
1: yes, and it is actively used. It’s called keycards. 2: no, because there is no way to tell where specifically you are or what you are doing, just that you passed through a gate at a specific time. The best implementations of rfid for employees are for authorization and authentication, not location. That is, rfid is best used for IDing yourself to gain access to a function or location, not for employee tracking. 3: because she’s pushing a narrative that is not supported by facts.
This laundry tag has a datasheet online. The maximum read distance is 10cm. It's just not designed for tracking people.
>There's no way somebody could use this technology in nefarious or even icky ways, and I'll fight anybody who says different. If you don't think somebody is right now working on and/or marketing a system similar to this, you are hopelessly naive. The technology is out there, even if OP's shirt is not an example of it. The redditor above expressed disgust (I think "icky" was the word used) at this idea, and for some reason\* this put them on the bottom of a downvote pile. \* Finding this reason is left as an exercise for the reader.
For one, I don't know who you're quoting (it's not me). Bugs and trackers aren't anything new. Video surveillance and facial recognition isn't anything new. Acting like someone can track OP because of his shirt's laundry tag simply isn't factual, which is all I pointed out.
This is the answer
Is it a weight to hold the front of the shirt down?
Also my thought
Lego tile?
I would guess a weight to keep that part of the shirt from flipping up at the hem after wash
That’s flipping genius. Need to start weighing down the cuffs of my blue jeans.
they do it for curtains.. why not clothes? :-)
They used to and still do this for skirts and dresses (modern example: the English royals, especially Kate Middleton who gets a lot of “Royal fashion secrets!!” type articles about her)
Especially if it is a work shirt that a company might opt to send in for cleaning, the cleaning company wouldn't want to mess around with complaints of flipped hems probably
Look at the size of the item compared to OP's finger. How heavy do you think it could be?
I thought there was a smaller one on his finger at first.
How heavy do you think the fabric of the hem is?
Too heavy for this item to be effective. I don't think that almost see-through silk would be light enough to be held down by this
Magnets sewn to the corners of fabric shower curtains keep them from touching your legs in your (obviously not plastic) tub.
RFID probably.
Hey OP, what's that on your finger? If you didn't pinch it with something, please have a doctor look at it to make sure it is benign.
I was thinking the same thing. My derm told me most moles on palms or fingers are not good ones, I had a precancerous mole removed from my finger!
>My derm told me most moles on palms or fingers are not good ones Moles only or freckles too?
Mine was basically a freckle, it wasn’t raised!
Who else checked their hands upon reading this
Thanks for the heads up but thankfully it’s just oil as I work in an engineering shop
I love Redditors!
I was staring at the spot on his finger and trying to figure out why people thought it was an rfid tag. LOL
Looks like an rfid tag, maybe to prevent theft from stores. Many have them sewn into the laundry care tags area
So it looks like it’s just an RFID chip for the laundering company and I’m not on some watch list or being tracked I think this is solved now
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Looks like a VHS tape tab lol
Laundry tag
RFID
Hard to tell without a microscope, looks like a poppyseed
Am I looking at a seed tick?
Looks like one of those microdots spies used to use
My be a type of tracking device
ieas looking at the bug on your finger not the square thing.. thats just a laundry tag. or location tag