Hitachi develops RFID chip for bank notes, documents

[Atlant]

http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0%2C10801%2C84543%2C00.html

Hitachi develops RFID chip
for bank notes, documents

By Martyn Williams
SEPTEMBER 02, 2003

Hitachi Ltd. has developed a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip that requires no external antenna and makes possible the embedding of tracking and identification chips in bank notes, tickets and other paper products.

At present Hitachi's Myu chip, and many competing chips from other companies, require antennas through which data is received and transmitted to a chip reader and also power is drawn. In the case of the current-generation Myu chip, this antenna can be 5 cm to 7 cm long, said Keisaku Shibatani, a spokesman for Hitachi.

Even though the chips themselves are very small, at 0.4mm square, the large antenna effectively limits their use in certain applications. The new Hitachi chip is the same size as the current model but requires no antenna, making it suitable for a wider range of uses, including embedding in bank notes and documents, said Hitachi.

In May, a Japanese media report said Hitachi is talking with the European Central Bank on a project to embed RFID chips in euro bank notes. Shibatani said today that such a project is not under way.

The announcement confirms that such a project will soon be technically feasible although several other potential hurdles remain, such as pricing the chips low enough to make them cost-effective and also combating growing consumer resistance to RFID.

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[ahimsa]

1. Nice way to spot potential donors

They can scan you on your way to a Bush fundraiser and send you to the 1st Amendment Zone if you don't have enough cash in your pocket.

:tinfoilhat:

[htuttle]

2. Security firm develops RFID blocker

http://news.com.com/2100-1039-5068910.html

Researchers at a major security firm have developed a blocking technique to ease privacy concerns surrounding controversial radio frequency identification technology.

The labs at RSA Security on Wednesday outlined plans for a technology they call blocker tags, which are similar in size and cost to radio frequency identification (RFID) tags but disrupt the transmission of information to scanning devices and thwart the collection of data.

(snip)

The idea isn't to disable RFID tags, but instead to disrupt the transmission of certain information to scanning devices when consumers want privacy. Blocker tags could be embedded in watches or bags.

Juels said the issue of privacy with regards to RFID technology has been overblown but that there is a need to establish how to best address those concerns before the technology becomes more prevalent.

"If we don't think of it now, it will be more difficult in the future," he said.

Technology giveth, and technology taketh away...