Woman gets dressed. Then she notices there’s an RFID in her clothing—it’s not just her

Noticing a small, unfamiliar tag stitched into a piece of clothing can raise some questions—especially for those who try to be conscious of what makes contact with their skin.

One shopper's discovery of a strange symbol on her shirts' tags has turned into a viral crash course on retail technology.

‘I was just getting dressed … please look at this'

Content creator Kaylah Hodgins (@kaypodgee2) shared a video after noticing an RFID tag in her clothing. Her video has since accumulated more than 1.6 million views.

“I was just getting dressed, and guys, please look at this,” Hodgins said, holding her camera up close to the tag of one of her “newer” shirts. It had a small symbol that said “RFID.”

Cutting her video to feature the tag on another, “older” shirt, also bearing the RFID logo, Hodgins included a screengrabbed definition of RFID onscreen.

“Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects,” Hodgins' screenshot read.

While some of Hodgins' viewers seemed confused by her concern, others weighed in with explanations in her comment section.

Viewers are convinced: ‘That tag doesn't track you'

“The industry is moving toward making RFID tagging standard,” a self-described “corporate retail buyer” wrote. “And it will making tracking inventory so much easier by eliminating the labor of hand counting the units! The tag is linked to a UPC barcode. No conspiracy theory here.”

“The RFID chip is there for inventory and checking out at the stores,” another viewer commented. “It's pretty cool. You just drop the clothes you want to buy in a bin and it automatically registers each item.”

One commenter insisted that “that tag doesn't track” anyone. They also wrote that Hodgins should be more worried about “the phone [she's] holding in [her] hand,” which tracks her “more than anything else in the world.” 

Yet another viewer, who said they work in loss prevention at a large retailer, offered one more bit of comfort.

“RFID only works within the store,” they wrote. “It allows retailers to see where their inventory is going and it helps them assess the amount of loss within the store. It can show whether that item went through the checkout, straight out the door, or was zeroed out for some reason (damage, recalled, etc.).”

What exactly are RFID tags in clothing?

Hodgins' commenters were correct in their assessments. According to retail technology firm CPCON, RFID apparel tags are “passive devices” that “cannot track consumers outside of stores.” These tags are also easily removable after purchase.

“They have no battery, no GPS, and no cellular connectivity,” CPCON writes. “They can only be read by a powered RFID reader within 3 to 10 meters, and they transmit only a numeric identifier — not personal information. The tag itself stores no customer data. Any association between a tag and a customer occurs in the retailer's backend system … not on the tag itself.”

Yahoo Finance reported that RFID tags require dedicated reader equipment that “only [works] from 10 to 30 feet away.” This means tags cannot track a customer's whereabouts once they've left a store with the tagged item.

RFID tags serve a practical purpose for inventory. CPCON reported that “barcode-based inventory systems deliver 65 to 75 percent accuracy in apparel environments, while RFID consistently achieves 95 to 99 percent.” This is why brands such as Nike, Adidas and Lululemon use this technology for inventory and supply-chain purposes.

Buzz News has reached out to Hodgins via TikTok comment.