RFID readers--could "sweep" protest crowds for IDing people

[rainbow4321]

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,65243,00.html

But federal mandates for adding RFID chips to driver's licenses would create an impossible burden for states, which will have to shoulder the costs of generating new licenses, and installing reader devices in their motor vehicle offices, said a states' rights advocate.

RFID tags inside driver's licenses will make it easy for government agents with readers to sweep large areas and identify protestors participating in a march, for example. Privacy advocates also fear that crooks sitting on street corners could remotely gather personal information from individual's wallets, such as their birth dates and home addresses -- the same information many bank employees use to verify account holders' identities.

RFID tags, which respond to signals sent out by special reader devices, have in some tests demonstrated broadcast ranges up to 30 feet. Reader devices have proven to possess similar "sensing" ranges. This is what has some privacy advocaters worried, including one testifying tomorrow before the Virginia legislators.


RFID tags, which respond to signals sent out by special reader devices, have in some tests demonstrated broadcast ranges up to 30 feet. Reader devices have proven to possess similar "sensing" ranges. This is what has some privacy advocaters worried, including one testifying tomorrow before the Virginia legislators. "The biggest problem is that these tags are remotely readable," said Christopher Calabrese, council for the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Program

[htuttle]

1. ...and a small device that costs about $6 in parts...

...can jam the whole thing. (speaking of a low-power RF jammer).

:eyes:

[mike_c]

2. 30 seconds in a microwave oven will likely disable the chip...

...permanently.

[Salviati]

4. Or a simple tin foil envelope...

I mean you didn't think there wasn't actual science behind the :tinfoilhat:

[UL_Approved]

5. Very true

A little Gaussian shield to brighten your day...

[w4rma]

7. We're all going to need tin-foil wallets with these things.

</serious>

[paineinthearse]

3. Long RFID subcutaneous thread.....

I made a very detailed series of subcutaneous RFID postings on another forum. Anyone interested in the topic PM me and I will give you the link. If someone wants to port my posts here, be my guest.

[AndyTiedye]

6. Wallets Made of Metal May Become Very Popular

Put that sucker in a Faraday cage and watch them try to read it.

[3 DanO]

8. Any device that can read and RFID chip at 30 feet

can be detected itself at a much greater distance.