Low-cost Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are becoming increasingly common as they are used on everyday consumer items as "smart labels." While these systems offer significant productivity gains, they also introduce new security and privacy risks. This paper provides an overview of RFID systems and their operation, discussing privacy and security risks specific to low-cost RFID devices. It proposes several security mechanisms and suggests areas for future research. RFID systems consist of radio frequency (RF) tags and readers. Tags respond to RF signals by transmitting data, often including a unique serial number. RFID tags have advantages over optical barcodes, such as the ability to read data without line of sight, through non-conductive materials, and at a high rate. They can also incorporate additional functions like sensors, storage, and encryption. The widespread adoption of low-cost RFID systems could lead to significant cost savings and benefits for various stakeholders, including manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and regulatory bodies. However, the universal deployment of RFID devices in consumer items may expose new security and privacy risks. These include corporate espionage, personal privacy violations, and location privacy breaches. Currently, RFID systems are mainly used for high-value items, allowing for higher tag costs. However, for significant market penetration, RFID tags must be much cheaper, around $0.05-$0.10, and easily integrated into paper packaging. At this price range, strong cryptographic features are not feasible. Therefore, security and privacy must be addressed in the design of RFID tags and readers, with the burden of security falling on the readers, which are less expensive. Research on low-cost RFID systems is ongoing at the MIT Auto-ID Center. Security implications of RFID systems are discussed in various literature, with relevant issues closely related to the resource-constrained environment of RFID devices. The trade-offs between cost and security in smart cards are analyzed, and RFID tags may operate in insecure environments.Low-cost Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are becoming increasingly common as they are used on everyday consumer items as "smart labels." While these systems offer significant productivity gains, they also introduce new security and privacy risks. This paper provides an overview of RFID systems and their operation, discussing privacy and security risks specific to low-cost RFID devices. It proposes several security mechanisms and suggests areas for future research. RFID systems consist of radio frequency (RF) tags and readers. Tags respond to RF signals by transmitting data, often including a unique serial number. RFID tags have advantages over optical barcodes, such as the ability to read data without line of sight, through non-conductive materials, and at a high rate. They can also incorporate additional functions like sensors, storage, and encryption. The widespread adoption of low-cost RFID systems could lead to significant cost savings and benefits for various stakeholders, including manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and regulatory bodies. However, the universal deployment of RFID devices in consumer items may expose new security and privacy risks. These include corporate espionage, personal privacy violations, and location privacy breaches. Currently, RFID systems are mainly used for high-value items, allowing for higher tag costs. However, for significant market penetration, RFID tags must be much cheaper, around $0.05-$0.10, and easily integrated into paper packaging. At this price range, strong cryptographic features are not feasible. Therefore, security and privacy must be addressed in the design of RFID tags and readers, with the burden of security falling on the readers, which are less expensive. Research on low-cost RFID systems is ongoing at the MIT Auto-ID Center. Security implications of RFID systems are discussed in various literature, with relevant issues closely related to the resource-constrained environment of RFID devices. The trade-offs between cost and security in smart cards are analyzed, and RFID tags may operate in insecure environments.