A technology that has been around for decades, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is familiar to drivers who zip through highway toll booths using the EZ-Pass system while others wait to pay, or to skiers with modern lift passes.

But now the antennae the size of a grain of salt are expected to eventually do away with traditional bar codes and revolutionize retail business, executives gathered at the CeBIT high-tech fair said.

As soon as the tiny transponders are affixed to a object, the information contained on them can be read collectively with one "beep" using radio waves without direct contact with a scanner.

RFID's capability to speed up and improve the accuracy of any kind of processing -- from packages in a warehouse to fans entering a stadium -- has inspired developers in dozens of industries.

All tickets for the soccer World Cup in Germany this year will be affixed with RFID tags in a bid to stamp out scalping and fraud.

The Vatican library has registered its two million books with RFID transponders to keep tabs on its precious collection.

Taiwan ordered "high risk" sex offenders to wear the electronic tags after their release from jail to clamp down on violent crime.

And all US passports from October will include RFID labels to foil forgers, while pharmaceutical company Pfizer has started using them on packages of the male impotency drug Viagra to stop copycats.

Major retailers such as Wal-Mart in the United States and Metro in Germany are whipping their warehouses into shape with smart labels on every box.

And even farmers in Peru have started implanting the chips behind the ears of some alpacas, a breed of llama prized for its wool, in a move aimed at discouraging rustlers.

Some imagine that one day the chips will be implanted under human skin to allow doctors instant access to a patient's entire medical history.

In fact the Baja Beach Club nightclub in Barcelona has already started injecting them in its guests at the door to allow cashless, if not entirely painless, payments.

Metro is trying to capture consumers's imaginations at the CeBIT with a sprawling stand featuring RFID-driven technology.

On display are instant checkout counters at the supermarket, smart refrigerators that can write their own shopping lists and intelligent washing machines that can "read" instruction tags on clothing.

Global spending on RFID technology reached 1.85 billion dollars last year and could mushroom to 12.4 billion dollars in 2010, according to industry research group IDTechEX. Deutsche Bank Research, even more optimistic, says the figure could top 26 billion dollars.

But its success will be strongly dependent on three factors: cost, standardization and security.

The high price of the chips has so far prevented their more widespread use, even if the price has fallen from more than 50 US cents to around 15 cents at present. Cost is the main reason executives say a broad-based use of the technology in retail is still 10 to 15 years away.

An industry organization known as EPC grouping 700 companies around the world is working toward a single standard but a rivalry could slow the timetable.

And the biggest fear, that the "little Big Brothers" could undermine civil rights and privacy, has the potential to scare off consumers.

"Paying attention to the customer's fears will play a big role in the future of RFID," said Stefan Heng, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Research.

"Even though the horror scenario of the 'transparent customer' that can be traced at all times has to be put into perspective, security concepts are required that can largely rule out unauthorized access to and manipulation of stored data."

EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a speech at the CeBIT that consumer protection legislation might be what it takes to alleviate those fears.

"If it requires legal measures to build this confidence I will be willing to take them. The business opportunities of RFID can only be built on a basis on mutual trust," she said.

The CeBIT is running through Wednesday in the northern German city of Hanover.

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