Today, the public uses RFID tags for many applications including electronic toll collection, E-ZPass for example, or the Speedpass which is used as a credit token for the purchase of gasoline.
The retail supply chain uses RFID tags to monitor the passage of pallets and cases at loading dock doors.
The concept of the clipped tag was first introduced in a paper authored by IBM researchers Paul Moskowitz and Guenter Karjoth in 2005, RFID Journal, November 7, 2005.
In their paper, presented at the 2005 ACM Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society, the authors suggest that by providing the consumer with a means to shorten the antenna, the read range of the tag may be reduced from many meters to just a few centimeters.
According to Wired, Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said "The Clipped Tag shows that IBM is addressing privacy concerns, even those that are unreasonable."