SEATTLE - A new technology could change how you shop and save you time in all kinds of ways.

Local technology companies, including Microsoft, are leading the way to find new uses for what's called RFID. And as this technology gets cheaper, retailers like Wal-Mart are jumping on the bandwagon.

But a technology that could revolutionize the industry has some wondering: Is your privacy at stake?

At Blue C Sushi, customers pick sushi as it passes by their table on a conveyor belt. What most people don't realize is that every plate has a tiny microchip embedded in it.

"They don't expect to find it in their neighborhood sushi restaurant," said manager Nicole Laverty.

The idea is to know immediately what customers are taking, what the chefs need to make next, and if a plate has been on the belt too long.

The technology is called RFID, short for radio frequency identification.

An RFID tag has two parts: an antenna that's as thin as a piece of paper and in the center, and a microchip that's about the size of a grain of sand.

"Remember the original PCs we got, we were so excited to get, there's more processing power in this chip than in the microprocessor in that old computer," said Chris Diorio, founder of Impinj.

Impinj, a semiconductor company with a 150 employees, is located in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.

Diorio is convinced that this is the biggest breakthrough since the bar code.

Imagine a day when everything you buy has a little chip attached.

"Let's say I'm shopping and I come to check out, I literally just put the tote down on the table, and the system right here has read 22 items," said Diorio.

Right now, there's one bar code for each kind of product. If you have two identical products, they share the same bar code. With RFID, every item has a chip with its own, unique serial code.

With RFID, retailers can track every item instantaneously.

"You come up to the table, and it will show up on your computer monitor, what sizes are on the table. So if I come up and I happen to know my pants size, and I want a certain size, I don't have to go thumbing through every single item on the table and figure out what it is," said Diorio.

And when you take an item into the dressing room, the store knows exactly what you're trying on.

"A little screen pops up and says, essentially, people who bought that white shirt and blue suit, like this tie. Would you like this tie? And you push a button and the sales associate can bring you that tie. That's pretty cool," said Bill Colleran, President of Impinj.

Pretty cool? Or is it starting to make you a bit uneasy?

"Basically, it's an intrusive technology," said State Representative Jeff Morris of Anacortes.

Morris says the difference between bar codes and RFID chips is that you don't know where the chips are, or when someone is reading them.

Buy a shirt with a chip in it and you might be giving the store a way to track you.

"Once consumers are aware, they choose not to buy products that have these chips in them because they're concerned about their privacy," said Morris.

Any mention of RFID brings up a futuristic scene from the movie "Minority Report," where retailers know you've entered their store and market things directly at you.

Morris is proposing a bill to outlaw unauthorized reading of chips and require that consumers give consent.

"What I'm trying to avoid here is to have a technology released, have it used in an inappropriate way," he said.

"If you ask me, I can say yes or no, but you're not giving me the option of saying yes or no. And that's the problem," said Sam Sprangenberg of IOActive, a Seattle security company.

In reality, RFID technology is not that new. Primitive forms have been used for years as security tags to prevent theft, or those key cards that many businesses use.

The microchips don't transmit by themselves, but they do respond when they get close enough to a reader that sends out a radio signal.

Now that the cost to produce RFID has come down so dramatically, the technology is showing up everywhere.

Of course, everyone agrees that tracking sushi is a great thing, but now that the state is using RFID to collect tolls, there's suddenly a record of who has driven across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and when.

The state's new enhanced driver's licenses have the chips, as do new passports.

Sprangenberg says if you're out carrying these chips, you're vulnerable.

"We could put this inside of a briefcase, have a little trigger on it, walk up next to you, and push the magic button, and we could read RFID information on your badge. If we pushed the other magic button, then we could clone your badge, and now we can follow you into the office," said Sprangenberg.

And there's another scenario that has the ACLU worried. If you're carrying a chip in your wallet, could police officers scan and identify who's at a protest, or a meeting without you ever knowing it?

RFID developers say these fears are overblown:

"You give up a lot more privacy with your phone on a daily basis than you do with RFID. This phone is continuously transmitting, it's assigned to me, it's continuously transmitting to cell towers, they know where I am," said Diorio.

One thing to understand: These little chips do not transmit on their own. They only respond when they get close to a reader that sends out a radio signal.

Developers say stores would need huge antennas and readers all over the place to track you, and it's just not practical.

But skeptics say, this technology is evolving quickly.

This week, the state legislature may consider a bill to outlaw unauthorized reading of chips and to require that consumers give consent.

There is a lot of apprehension about a technology with a lot of potential.