Abstract: RF tags may be used to acquire data. If the tag is attached to a particular article, information regarding that article may be acquired. In an example embodiment, items are fitted with RF tags. A mobile phone or other wireless device can track when the tags are in RF range. When a user wants to know data regarding the article, he may consult the information on the phone. The phones running the system may report any compatible tags that are found, even ones that have no ownership connection to a central server where the data is compiled. “Foreign” tag information is submitted to the server and can be turned over to the owner of the tags. In this implementation, the reach of the system may be increased compared to the previous, local implementation. In an example embodiment, information may be anonymized in the server to deal with privacy concerns.