A means of identifying an item e.g. a product, parcel or transport unit by a machine (device) entering the data automatically into a computer. The most widely used technology at present is bar code; others include radio frequency, magnetic stripes and optical character recognition.

Automatic identification (auto ID) is a process of automatic data identification via a set of methods, technologies and devices, such as bar code readers, radio frequency identification (RFID), magnet [..]