US to slap tourists with RFID (radio chips)

[orthogonal]

The US Department of Homeland Security has decided to trial RFID tags in an effort to make sure only the right sort of people get across US borders.

. . . .

The testing phase will continue until the spring of next year. The exact way RFID will be used with the travellers is not yet known.

RFID chips will be used to track both pedestrians and vehicles entering the US to automatically record when the visitors arrive and leave in the country.

. . . .

US Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security, Asa Hutchinson, said in a statement: "Through the use of radio frequency technology, we see the potential to not only improve the security of our country, but also to make the most important infrastructure enhancements to the US land borders in more than 50 years."

Full article: http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39127374,00.htm

----
Kenneth, what is your frequency?

[DRoseDARs]

1. Oh boy. Privacy Rights groups are gonna go apeshit over this...

*Pops some popcorn in the microwave*

[kimpossible]

2. Tattoed on their foreheads, right?

[0007]

53. .....and tattoed on their chest, "Do Not Resuscitate"

[renaissanceguy]

56. What will the fundies and the rapturists say

when their leader promotes this? ::GASP:: He must be the antichrist!!!!

Nahhhh... it's all Clinton's fault. BAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/466053

[VegasWolf]

3. Inserts in the anal cavity in less than twenty minutes. n/t

[NYC]

4. They can't be serious.

This should put a dent in tourism.

[maryallen]

34. George Orwell is rolling over in his grave ...

[realFedUp]

5. ummmm...where are these tags placed?

kill me now...I want my country back.

[babylonsister]

6. OMG! Any educated guesses on how these tags

will be inserted? I can't even imagine...

[ultraist]

7. If they are not implanted in the body, they are worthless

They can be passed around or left somewhere otherwise.

I wonder if the "guest workers" will be considered tourists, thus be the guinea pigs for this experiment.

[shanti]

44. not if you don't know where they are being placed

....n/t. these things are TINY, from what i've read.

[mn9driver]

28. Easy. This device already exists:

http://www.yenra.com/electronic-security-bracelet/

All they have to do is make it tamperproof, like the ones used by home-monitored offenders:

http://www.co.lane.or.us/Sheriff_Corrections_ESP/

Is this a great country or what?

[VegasWolf]

8. They will plant them under the skin of the forearm. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

9. Reciprocity...

I can just see it now. US citizens visiting Brazil will have notches clipped from their ears for tracking purposes.

[ElectroPrincess]

13. Yikes, if the government starts tagging USA Citizens

Well I'm Moving! And that's no bull! LOL

[happyslug]

31. And sold as runaway indentured servants?

Notching the ears was the punishment given in Colonial periods to Runaway indentured servants, more evidence we are returning to our pre-revolutionary roots.

[htuttle]

10. Ear tags? We're going to tag tourists?

What tourists? Won't be any after this change.

[stevedeshazer]

17. No kidding

Why would anyone WANT to come here?

beep...beep...beep...beep....

[SoCalDem]

20. Yoicks!!! Our president has been tagged already

[babylonsister]

...not MY president! nt

[SoCalDem]

25. nor mine :)

:)

[NYC]

30. Stop criticizing his earrings.

[ElectroPrincess]

11. Damn, chips used to only be promoted to be embedded in a pet's

(dog/cat) neck for identification in the event they were lost. Gosh, even back in the early 90s such a procedure was controversial as the chip, if not placed properly may migrate and harm the animal. I choose NOT to have my dog "chipped" for ID.

And NOW, those representing our Fatherland oops! I mean Homeland Security within Government are doing THAT with tourists.

I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I HATE how the world has been *forced to change* (endless government fear mongering) after 911.

[pinerow]

14. The pet thing was the 'test-run'...then some parents allowed their

children to be implanted as a way to track them in case of a kidnapping...and the slippery slope continues to get even more slippery...:wtf:

[ElectroPrincess]

19. Too funny, I'd harness my little tyke at busy International Airports

but I sure as hell wouldn't of considered implanting a radio transmitter in her little skull ... well unless it programed her to always "Obey your Mommy!"

Slippery slope indeed. :P

[soaky]

38. there's a clothing label (can't recall who OTTOMH)

who already uses these chips, sewn into the label. For marketing purposes allegedly. The new 'melway' here (city directory) has them embedded in the spine.

[Spazito]

12. Geez, and I thought it couldn't possibly get weirder....

was I wrong! Kiss the tourism industry goodbye as well as any other industry that would need to bring in people from other countries for even short term work.

[adigal]

15. Scary...Rapture Nuts think that a computer chip

in the body will identify those fighting for the Christ to be indentified from those fighting for the anti-Christ. Meanwhile, the wacko christians will be in heaven, alive, in their glorified bodies, watching the action of all of us suckers.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

16. It is the Mark of the Beast!!!!!

here cometh the Rapture my brothers and sisters in the Lord!!! hang on tight were going to be pulled into heaven and watch from there as crashcart makes it so that nobody can goeth or cometh, purchaseth or selleth except he that taketh the RFID chip ;)

edit:adigal beat me to it damn!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

51. Now THIS is scary....

:scared:

[Skip Intro]

18. They'll attach to the skin, and it will be visible. Definitely numbered

Probably attached to some part of the body that remains exposed so that the new peace officers can see them at a glance.

And they'll evolve, with breakthroughs such as being "tattooed" onto the person, for their comfort and safety, of course, removable upon leaving the US (or our "freedom states").


Soon........ ?

"And as president, I say we tag the good citizens of America, and put our resources to helping them when they're in trouble." It may take some "new pearl harbor" to get the people to buy it, but they're old hats at that. Who wouldn't want to walk around with their medical histroy on their arm?

And some people will say, "thank you government."

And some people will say, "where did my country go?"



Don't like this at all.

[ElectroPrincess]

22. Oh yes, a logical extension to the ole 12 number Bar Code

or maybe an extension of that and chip incorporated within?

We "non-ruling classes" can have both visible numbers AND a radio transmitter that will contain all our vital information.

Brings whole new meaning to Seger's lyrical lament, "I feel like a number."

This is freaky stuff - Hold me Mommy?

[alarimer]

23. I don't like this either

Truly frightening.

[VegasWolf]

26. Small red forehead patch. n/t

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

35. Numbered?

Auschwitz, anyone?

[Ouabache]

40. Odd this comes out same day as some of the Auschwitz commemoration

?I think so.

[DulceDecorum]

21. Tourists? What tourists?

Masochists United?

[Stockholm]

57. My thoughts exactly

I always wanted to visit the US, but I think I will wait a while - some four years.

[NuttyFluffers]

24. Welcome to Fortress America.

"intestinate!...." :wtf:

[codebuster11]

27. richard clarke?

didnt richard clarke predict something exactly like this?

[Sufi Marmot]

29. We'll see what the travel industry has to say about this...

I would think they'd scream bloody murder if foreign tourism to the US plummets 95% because of this policy. A lot of Canadians visit the States regularly and I don't see many of them agreeing to this. Many places in the south, in order to specially attract Canadians, offer them a 1:1 $US:$CDN exchange discount in the off-season. And think what this would do to Disney's gate revenue, a substantial portion of which must surely come from foreign tourists...

-SM

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

37. I work for a U.S.-based company in Canada...

... and I hate each and every time I have to travel to the U.S. on business. Before September 11, 2001, I would happily travel to parts of the U.S. for business and for pleasure. This is yet just another reason for me to avoid all travel to the U.S.

I am currently pursuing a position with a Canadian company. There are several reasons for this (primarily having to deal with the misplaced overkill known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but that's a topic for another thread): eliminating travel to the U.S. is a strong factor.

There are too many issues with the RFID passport/visa proposals. I wonder which Bush-friendly corporations are lined up to slurp at this trough.

{Edited for clarity, I hope}

[canadianbeaver]

55. Was to come down this year for reunion......won't be now....n/t

[poe]

32. fences and borders-cages and walls-the giuliani group

employees at the attorney generals office in mexico city are required to have a micro-chip implant. security. courtesy of the giuliani group.

[suffragette]

33. not for tourists only

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,65412,00.html
"New U.S. passports will soon be read remotely at borders around the world, thanks to embedded chips that will broadcast on command an individual's name, address and digital photo to a computerized reader."
-snip-
"But civil libertarians and some technologists say the chips are actually a boon to identity thieves, stalkers and commercial data collectors, since anyone with the proper reader can download a person's biographical information and photo from several feet away."
-snip-
"Even if they wanted to store this info in a chip, why have a chip that can be read remotely?" asked Barry Steinhardt, who directs the American Civil Liberty Union's Technology and Liberty program. "Why not require the passport be brought in contact with a reader so that the passport holder would know it had been captured? Americans in the know will be wrapping their passports in aluminum foil."

Yet another use for aluminum foil, brought to you from the guys and gals at Homeland Security.

[orthogonal]

36. UPDATE

Update: the Washington Post reports that the RFID tags would be affixed to documents, not implanted in people.

But as "poe" reminds us, RFID tags are already being used on government employees in Mexico.

Which reminds me of my earlier speculation that this was done possibly at the behest of the U.S. government

[yellowcanine]

39. On documents? That's a drag. I was hoping for some trendy nose rings at

least. Or perhaps a discreet belly button stud.

[oppositionmember]

41. Staple it to their ears!

If they don't like it they can go to Euro-Disney!!!

[Flagg]

54. It's called Disney Land Paris Resort now.

[shanti]

42. stamped into their passports?

way to go, bushit.

[Ilsa]

43. Friedman, in today's NYT op-ed was talking about how Europeans don't

want to visit the US because of the hassles at the borders. This is one more offensive road block for them.

[Ilsa]

45. If they do this to US citizens, it would be like something from

The Revelation of John. "The Mark fo the Beast" is supposed to be some form of state ID. These nuts are devising their own version of the armageddon story.

[ChicanoPwr]

46. I got the solution, why not use: The RFID Tag Blocker

RSA Security has the answer.

The Blocker Tag: Selective Blocking of RFID Tags for Consumer Privacy
http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2060

Abstract: The RSA® Blocker Tag is an invention of RSA Laboratories scientists in conjunction with Prof. Ronald Rivest. Consumers will almost certainly wish to possess live RFID tags in many of their belongings -- for "smart" appliances, prescription refills, automated payment, store returns, and so forth. At the same time, they do not want their RFID tags to be scanned indiscriminately. The RSA® Blocker Tag is itself a RFID tag -- in size and cost much like a conventional RFID tag. The RSA® Blocker Tag, however, helps consumers to manage their live RFID tags in a privacy-protecting manner.

One may think of a the RSA® Blocker Tag as "spamming" any reader that attempts to scan tags without the right authorization. (The RSA® Blocker Tag manipulates the reading protocol with the aim of making the reader think that RFID tags representing all possible serial numbers are present.) When a Blocker is in proximity to ordinary RFID tags, they benefit from its shielding behavior; when the Blocker tag is removed, the ordinary RFID tags may be used normally.

Thanks to their selective nature, RSA® Blocker Tags are designed not to interfere with the normal operation of RFID systems in retail environments. They help prevent unwanted scanning of purchased items, but do not affect the scanning of shop inventories. Thus RSA® Blocker Tags are designed not to be usable, for example, to circumvent theft-control systems or mount denial-of-service attacks -- only to protect the privacy of law-abiding consumers.
--------------------------------------------------

talk about worlds within worlds

[Robert Oak]

47. big deal a terrorist only has to illegal cross the mexican border

not only is that a serious invasion of privacy...it doesn't even
do anything with illegals pouring over the border.

nobody's "tagging" them.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[leesa]

49. Wait til the righteous rich realize they have noone to do their dirty work

These fuckers are so short-sighted they don't even realize they are digging their own graves.

[ChicanoPwr]

50. WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER BOYS AND GIRLS

[LeftHander]

52. OnStar will become mandatory in new cars...

Soon...this technology will creep in and suddenly everybody will be tracked and logged.

[Stephanie]

58. First they came for tourists and I did nothing because I was not a tourist

This is an outrage -