Amal Graafstra may be ahead of his time. He can open his car door, his apartment, even log onto his computer with just a wave of his hand.

Embedded in each hand, between his thumb and forefinger, are microchips. They are essentially miniature radio transponders that emit a number when read by an electronic reader.

When the reader installed in his car sees his hand, the door opens. A reader in his computer keyboard lets him log to his computer. Another reader in his apartment door unlocks it when his hand is within six inches.

"I want to use this technology in my daily life," said Graafstra while rubbing the chip underneath his skin.

That technology is called Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID. It's being integrated in things we do and touch every day, and to track everything from cough syrup to clothes to cattle. The technology is also going into credit cards.

A typical RFID system works like this: A digital memory chip is programmed with a unique number. The chip is connected to an antenna that's often paper thin. When a chip passes over an RFID reader, the reader emits a signal activating the memory chip which momentarily broadcasts its unique number back to the reader. That number is then matched to a database that triggers whatever software the RFID is tied to - doors can open, production information appears, even your personal information could pop up on someone's computer screen.

The potential for RFID is enormous, and Microsoft has some up with some unique ways to use the technology. Inside their campus prototype home of the future, they've developed a mirror that can read an RFID tag sown into clothing.

"The system is able to match different items that go with any RFID tagged item," said Jonathan Cluts, Microsoft's Director of Consumer Prototyping and Strategy.

Don't know what to make for dinner? Just through a few ingredients on Microsoft's prototype kitchen counter of the future. Within seconds and a recipe appears on the counter top that includes just the ingredients placed on the counter. The RFID tags in the products are read by a reader underneath the counter.

In downtown Seattle, users of Awarea Corporation's "Omni" system can hear targeted announcements custom made for that user. The Omni device is an active RFID transponder that looks like a keychain. When a person carrying the Omni passes within 35 feet of an Omni Zone, an audio message is broadcasted from overhead speakers. Awarea has cut a deal with Qwest to mount speakers and RFID readers on top of several phone booths.

What the Omni holder hears are often commercial announcements involving stores that are in the same block. Each announcement begins with the user's name.

"Privacy issues are very important to us," says Harry Hart, CEO and Founder of Awarea. "We don't share your location at that moment with anybody."

But is security being compromised for convenience? Privacy advocates believe companies and the government will share what they gather, because every time an RFID chip is read, someone is recording that movement.

"This is a fabulous technology for tracking things, but it's not ready for prime time when it comes to tracking people," says Doug Klunder, Director of Privacy for the Washington State office of the American Civil Liberties Union.

For years the ACLU has been trying to stop the introduction of RFID chips into U.S. passports, but the group has lost that battle. As of October, every new U.S. passport now has an RFID chip embedded inside. The chip contains the passport holder's personal information and their passport picture. The State Department says the information is encrypted, making it hard to duplicate.

"Is there absolute security? No," says Jorge Borchert, Vice President of Infineon Corporation, the makers of the passport chip. Borchert says the chip has over 50 security features to protect it.

But a graduate student at UC Berkeley who just completed a Fulbright study on e-passport use in Germany disagrees. Patrick Riley says the data encrypted US version can be hacked and counterfeited.

"There is technology out there that can also identify information on the passport," says Riley.

Because the passport is so new, we could not find one for this story to verify Riley's claim. But we wanted to know how easy it would be to clone my own building security badge.

"It's relatively simple to clone the cards," says Chris Paget, Director of Research for IOActive, a computer security company in Seattle. Paget and his engineers were able to create a portable RFID reader from off the shelf parts purchased at a local electronics store.

"We spend a hundred bucks on some random components and just built it. It's really that simple to do," Paget said. The reader was connected to laptop that was running software IOActive wrote specifically for this project. The reader and laptop were placed inside a regular computer bag.

Outside, on a busy street corner, Paget was able to read my building security badge that was in my pocket as I stood on a street corner. The reader was only six inches away, but on a busy street I would have never thought twice about a guy with a laptop bag next to me. It took just a matter of seconds.

To raise awareness of the risks of RFID tags on people, we took our test one step further. We rigged up a homemade reader to a make believe bus stop bench. Engineers from IOActive programmed a laptop connected to detonate a smoke bomb only when the reader recognized my unique badge number, a number they had grabbed on the street corner.

"That's kind of scary," says Ted Ispen of IOActive. The idea of the test was to simulate a targeted attack on one single person who had their RFID number copied.

Ted's RFID enabled security badge was similar to mine and made by the same company. When he sat on the bench, the reader picked up and recorded his unique ID number, but did not trigger the smoke bomb.

When I sat down, the reader recognized my number and the laptop triggered the simulated bomb. If a couple of smart tech guys could pull this off with off the shelf parts, who else could do this?