EAS tags that could be attached to items in stores were invented by Arthur Minasy in 1964. He filed a patent for his "Method and Apparatus for Detecting the Unauthorized Movement of Articles" in 1965 with the patent being granted in 1970.

Types

There are several major types of electronic article surveillance systems:

• Electro-magnetic, also known as magneto-harmonic or Barkhausen effect
• Acousto-magnetic, also known as magnetostrictive
• Radio frequency (RFID, 8.2 MHz)
• Microwave
• Video surveillance systems (to some extent)
• Concealed EAS surveillance systems