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Katherine Albrecht, founder of CASPIAN, an anti-RFID group, says, "Nobody cares about radio tags on crates and pallets. But if we don't keep RFID off of individual consumer items, our stores will one day turn into retail 'zoos' where the customer is always on exhibit."
So, how long will it be before you find an RFID tag in your underwear? The industry isn't saying, but some analysts speculate that within a decade tag costs may dip below a penny, the threshold at which nearly everything could be chipped.
“Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes Only two things that money can't buy That's true love and home grown tomatoes.†Guy Clark, 'Home Grown Tomatoes'
Posts: 728 | Location: Zone 8, Texas | Registered: March 18, 2004
Originally posted by goldpearl: Who was it that couldn't believe our privacy would ever be threatened by Microchip technology? NAIS was just the beginning......
In what way? Are you referring to the claims of some that NAIS is a dry run to test microchipping all humans?
Wayne
"If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
Posts: 1451 | Location: Zone 4a, transplanted to the hills of Western Maine. | Registered: October 07, 2005
OOps let me find the right link! Sheesh I'm sorry. Okay, I corrected the link. Wayne, did you read the article? If you read it first, you will see it is about tracking products with RFIDs and reporting on the consumers who buy them. Not a far stretch from being tagged ourselves, but no, its not the same thing. I resent the invasion of privacy because it takes away freedom, creativity and the spontaniety of life. How would you feel if somebody was constantly following you around offering you things you are supposed to want according to your behaviour patterns? What would be a truly great idea is a RFID free store, that would offer products that were made with creativity and thought instead of designed to sell.
“Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes Only two things that money can't buy That's true love and home grown tomatoes.†Guy Clark, 'Home Grown Tomatoes'
Posts: 728 | Location: Zone 8, Texas | Registered: March 18, 2004
Well Goldpearl, this article is probably going to give me nightmares.
quote:
The documents "raise the hair on the back of your neck," says Liz McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips," a book that is critical of the industry. "The industry has long promised it would never use this technology to track people. But these patent records clearly suggest otherwise.
I've seen tidbits of information about the RFID chips for years, but the above article is probably the most in-depth description of the technology and its potential uses I've seen so far. Granted, the technology might make many docking and warehouse procedures easier, and no doubt the technology could certainly cut down shoplifting and these are all things that would certainly benefit large retailers.
But when they are talking about putting an RFID chip in my underwear, and being able to identify the wearer by the credit or debit card that was used to purchase the product, that gives the Feds or any Tom, Dick or Harry running a corporate empire the ability to stalk me, and I freaking do NOT like it.
When you look at the patents bought up by IBM, NCR, Proctor and Gamble, Wal-Mart and Pfizer, those patents are straight out of an Orwellian future where Big Brother watches our every move; even in the privacy of our own homes.
Just because I've got nothing to hide, doesn't mean I give the government or those Fortune 500 corporations my permission to stalk or spy on me. It seems to me that any item containing this type of chip, particularly the "active" RFID chip, would also have to be accompanied by some sort of disclaimer stating that by the mere act of purchasing a product we give them our "permission" to use this technology to spy on us. Without that disclaimer, I would think any of us who are suitably infuriated by said technology could certainly file a lawsuit for infringement against our privacy.
What's the hitch? Obviously, if every damn product in every store had both an RFID tag and the accompanying disclaimer, there wouldn't be anything available to buy that wasn't tagged with RFID technology. Our "freedom of choice" would ultimately be limited to either walking around in rags, or "giving our permission" to be spied upon and that's not much of a choice if you ask me.
Live Long and Prosper Organically - Katie
Posts: 398 | Location: Zone 8, Oregon City, OR | Registered: January 15, 2008
I'm wondering about the personnel resources it would take for some government agency to track and document the activities of every American, unknowingly walking around with a transmitter in his or her shorts.
I would suggest that perhaps this tracking program could be a good thing because I suspect it would employ perhaps 50 percent of the US population to keep track of everyone's coming and goings.
For example, imagine yourself in your office at the Department of Homeland Hysteria, assigned to track and document how I spend my day and writing the obligatory reports to send to the White House:
6:45 am: The alarm goes off in subject's bedroom. Hits snooze button. 6:52 am: Same. 6:59 am: Same. 7:06 am: Arises (finally) and showers. 7:17 am: Puts on clean underwear (finally.) Reset new micro-chip tracking...... 7:24 am: Prepares coffee 7:26 am: Pressure on transmitter indicates butt parked at desk chair, checking email. 7:37 am: Puts bagel in toaster, goes out to start car. 7:38 am: transmitter indicates subject fell on butt after slipping on ice. Diagnostics run on transmitter. Equipment undamaged. 7:40 am: Butters bagel, doesn't add usual cinnimon. **FLAG AS SUSPICIOUS 7:43 am: Subject pours coffee into travel mug, adds milk, no sugar. 7:45 am: Subject parks butt in seat of Blazer, shifts into 4 wheel drive and exits driveway.
There, we have the first hour of my day as monitored and documented by "Big Brother" with all required reports filed by a GS-4 level employee and reviewed by several layers of governmental bureaucracy. Maybe the full-employment aspect of such a national monitoring program would be a good thing, but I suspect even the Federal Government wouldn't give a rat's a$$ about my every movement. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe everyone else's life is much more interesting than mine and filled to the brim with mystery and intrigue but I kind of doubt it.
If it's WalMart knowing what brand of shorts we are wearing that everyone's in fear of, watch for the announcement of the 3 dollar key-ring I will be marketing that jambs these low level radio signals, rendering the multi-billion dollar big-brother retailer spy conspiracy impotent. Coming soon to a non-RFID store near you. (Alternately, we can line our skivies with aluminum foil. That is effective, too.)
Wayne (Obviously not too concerned.)
"If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
Posts: 1451 | Location: Zone 4a, transplanted to the hills of Western Maine. | Registered: October 07, 2005
I'm with Wayne on this one. One of the things about being paranoid is the idea that you are so important that the government needs to spy on you. It appears that the tags are removeable, so once you are checked out, you can peel them off. End of problem.
Abigail, 8 kids grown, 1 pms-ing and 9 grandkids- what a harvest!
Posts: 627 | Location: Far Rockaway, New York | Registered: July 17, 2002
The "real ID act" mandating a National ID card takes effect in May 2008. Anyone without the card will not be permitted to board an airplane, an Amtrak train, open a bank account or enter a Federal Building. The bill mandates that all drivers' licenses (and state ID cards for those without drivers' licenses) contain "common readable technology." A radio frequency (RFID) identification chip will be used.
WASHINGTON – "A massive data base that the government will use to monitor every purchase made by every American citizen is a necessary tool on the War on Terror, the Pentagon said Wednesday." Fox News, November 22, 2002, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,70992,00.html
Minimum State requirements for the card will be
"To meet the requirements of this section, a State shall include, at a minimum, the following information and features on each driver's license and identification card issued to a person by the State:
(1) The person's full legal name.
(2) The person's date of birth.
(3) The person's gender.
(4) The person's driver's license or identification card number.
(5) A digital photograph of the person.
(6) The person's address of principle residence.
(7) The person's signature.
(8) Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.
(9) A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements."
The PATRIOT Act permits… • Secret FBI and police searches of your home and office • Secret government wiretaps on your phone or computer and or internet activity. • Secret investigation of your bank records, credit cards and other financial records. • Secret investigation of your library and book records • Secret investigation of your medical, travel and business records • The freezing of funds and assets without prior notice or appeal • The creation of secret "watch lists" that bans those named from air and other travel.
..... The bill mandates that all drivers' licenses (and state ID cards for those without drivers' licenses) contain "common readable technology." A radio frequency (RFID) identification chip will be used.
I'd be interested in seeing the text of the bill stating this. Like the claims that every chicken must be micro-chipped (and every human too according to most extreme anti-NAIS wackos) I've yet to see an official decree that licenses must be RFID equiped.
According to the Department Of Homeland security the proposed regulations "does not specify the use of RFID cards as a minimum standard. States may independently choose to implement an RFID solution, in addition to the standard 2-D barcode, to meet their constituent’s needs."
The administration may have gone to extremes since 9-11 but let's be sure of facts.
Wayne
"If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
Posts: 1451 | Location: Zone 4a, transplanted to the hills of Western Maine. | Registered: October 07, 2005
I'd be interested in seeing the text of the bill stating this.
I would also like to see the full text and will try like heck to find an online copy of it with a link. That being said, the RFID chip part of the national ID has absolutely been reported by several mainstream newspapers. So far, I suspect the bill text simply reads "common readable technology," which is apparently translated as an RFID chip by the Feds.
I'll try to get on this and do the research, but right now I've just recieved notice that in the past few hours "somebody" in Europe is making unauthorized purchases on my Paypal account to the tune of several hundred dollars and I'm about ready to have a heart attack over it. Will get back to this as soon as I can.
In the meantime, check out the links. I know full well that we've got to wade through a lot of questionable info to get at the meat of the issue, but if the new ID cards require an RFID chip, well, I'd say we are well on our way to Big Brother, wouldn't you?
"Montana Governor Urges REAL ID Rebellion. In a letter (pdf) to the governors of 17 states, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer asked them to band together to reject the REAL ID national identification system. "Today, I am asking you to join with me in resisting the DHS coercion to comply with the provisions of REAL ID," Gov. Schweitzer wrote. "I would like us to speak with one, unified voice and demand the Congress step in and fix this mess." On January 11, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff released the agency's final regulations for REAL ID. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from state governments, members of Congress, civil liberties advocates, and security experts (pdf). EPIC has called the scheme "a real danger to security and civil rights." See EPIC's National ID Cards and REAL ID Act page. (January 21)"
Live Long and Prosper Organically - Katie
Posts: 398 | Location: Zone 8, Oregon City, OR | Registered: January 15, 2008
Q-Does the final rule require States to collect fingerprints or iris images from drivers? What about RFID technology?
A-No. REAL ID does not require any biometrics beyond the photograph and signature already required by States and does not require Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
Q - What is the Machine Readable Technology required, as outlined in the final rule?
A - The final rule requires a 2-D PDF-417 Machine Readable Zone (MRZ), which is already used by 46 jurisdictions (45 States and the District of Columbia).
I don't know what "MRZ" is yet, do you? And the "does not require" wording may be a loaded statement. While such tags may not be officially required, there may be alternative repercussions for states that do not please Mr. Chertoff's expectations. I don't think the fat lady has sung yet, in other words...
Live Long and Prosper Organically - Katie
Posts: 398 | Location: Zone 8, Oregon City, OR | Registered: January 15, 2008
Bill, I wish I'd seen that news report, but had daughter and grandkids all weekend long.
What bothers me most about Department of Homeland Security and Chertoffs' latest statement of the requirements is the rather ambiguous nature of the words that an RFID chip "will not be required." What does that mean to the states where the State Department of Transportation is among those rabidly against the national ID act, and will either refuse to comply completely or only incorporate the minimum requirement of MRZ (machine readable zone) technology?
Will those states involved in trying to protect our privacy and civil liberties by only meeting the minimum requirements (MRZ technology) suddenly get their federal funding for road repair (etc.) pulled? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that the Feds have resorted to such underhanded measures whenever a state agency was not compliant to even "implied" federal desires.
The following report makes me no less concerned about Chertoffs' intentions, and I admit, I've never pretended to like the guy…
"The Secretary scaled back some of the requirements, reduced the cost, and extended the deadline for state compliance. However, Secretary Chertoff also indicated that the REAL ID card would be used for a wide variety of purposes, unrelated to the law that authorized the system, including employment verification and immigration determination. HE ALSO INDICATED THAT THE AGENCY WOULD NOT PREVENT THE USE OF THE CARD BY PRIVATE PARTIES FOR NON-GOVERNMENT PURPOSES. As part of the cost-saving effort, Homeland Security has decided not to encrypt the data that will be stored on the card." http://epic.org/privacy/id-cards/
What in the hell is that supposed to mean? Since when do "non-government agencies" have the right to access my states' (or yours) Department of Transportation records? And, regardless of the technology used, how much information will "non government agencies" have access to?
Live Long and Prosper Organically - Katie
Posts: 398 | Location: Zone 8, Oregon City, OR | Registered: January 15, 2008
US Gov Sets Controversial RFID Passport Card Specs Tuesday January 8th, 2008 The US Department of State last week published a Federal Register notice that sets its RFID passport card requirements, effective February 1 of this year. The new PASS Cards are an alternative to traditional passports and will contain an EPCglobal Gen2 standard UHF RFID chip intended to expedite border crossings. The cards are controversial because many feel the RFID chips lack enough security to safeguard identities and prevent cloning and other hacking.
The passport cards are being created as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) to expedite border crossings for US citizens entering the country by sea or land (not by plane) from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. The PASS Cards are intended to give citizens who frequently cross the border for work or personal business a lower-cost option to traditional passports, sometimes called "passport books." The passport cards will be accepted at 39 points of entry that account for 95 percent of all US border crossings, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Kelly Lundt told RFID Update. The contract to equip the locations will be put out for bid this month, and all facilities should be equipped and able to process RFID passport cards by the end of the year, according to Lundt.
PASS Cards will not provide all the same privileges as traditional passport books, and will use different, incompatible RFID technology than what is being used in the new e-passports. The cards will come with a protective sleeve to shield the chip from readers when the card is not in use.
At roadway border crossings there will be specially designated lanes with RFID readers set up to identify cardholders when they get within approximately 15 to 20 feet from the checkpoint. No personal identification will be encoded or transmitted using RFID. Instead, the readers will capture a unique ID number encoded in the RFID chip, which will trigger a database lookup of the cardholder's credentials. By the time the vehicle arrives at the checkpoint, the PC there should be displaying the cardholder's picture and necessary information. The border control agent will visually match the picture to the driver, review the card, and approve or detain the traveler as appropriate.
Many privacy advocates, technology experts, and individual citizens have objected to the proposed system. The State Department received more than 4,000 comments about the passport card proposal, most dealing with the choice of technology. A leading concern is the transmission of the unique ID number. Critics say the transmission is unencrypted and insecure, which could lead to IDs being captured and cloned by hackers. Proposed alternatives included using stronger encryption, holding passport cards to the same security standards as electronic passport books, and foregoing long-range UHF technology in favor of a contact-based system to limit the opportunity for interception.
Derwood Staeben, the US State Department's program manager for the WHTI, counters the concerns. "This is the key factor: there is no personal information on the RFID chip. There is nothing to skim," Staeben told RFID Update. "You could clone the chip, but to what purpose? Even if a hacker presents a cloned passport chip, the checkpoint computer screen is still going to display someone else's picture on it. The RFID chip doesn't replace the border control officer."
Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, disagrees. "The argument has been made that 'It's just a number.' But the same thing could be said of your Social Security number or a credit card number. The number becomes meaningful when it's linked to an individual," Vanderhoof explained to RFID Update. "The passport card number is accessible to anyone with an RFID reader within 20 or 30 feet. They can figure out what car it came from, and then associate it to that license plate. It's not just about securing the number."
The Smart Card Alliance is an industry association that promotes smart card use, and has members that produce both contact and long-range RFID technology. It has provided information to the State Department and Department of Homeland Security since the card program was announced, according to Vanderhoof, and advocated that more secure contact-range RFID technology be used instead of long range Gen2.
The Center for Democracy and Technology submitted comments to the State Department that called the decision to use Gen2 "fatal." The Smart Card Alliance also submitted comments, and produced a white paper on the use and consequences of RFID border crossing documents.
The State Department said the passport cards don't need the same high level of security as the RFID chips in its electronic passports, which do store personal information. The Federal Register notice for passport card requirements notes the cards have a different "business model" than traditional passports, and thus different performance requirements.
The State Department's Staeben said the technology and procedures chosen for the PASS Cards are similar to those used in the FAST, NEXUS, and SENTRY programs, which have been running for several years to simplify border crossings for truck drivers and their vehicles. "RFID is not a new concept for credentials. This is the same technology we've been using since 1995," said Staeben, adding that there have been no known security breaches of the FAST, NEXUS, or SENTRY programs.
Four border states -- Arizona, New York, Vermont, and Washington -- are planning to offer drivers licenses with the same RFID technology as the PASS Card and have signed cooperative agreements with the Department of Homeland Security, according to Vanderhoof. He is concerned about the growing use of insecure RFID technology, and about potential confusion about what identification to present at borders, since citizens will have their choice of different passports and drivers licenses.
US citizens can apply for PASS Cards beginning February 1, 2008. The State Department has published a website with more information and downloadable application forms. The Smart Card Alliance and Center for Democracy and Technology also have more information and details about security and privacy concerns on their sites. This article from the Washington Post also provides a good summary of the program and its critics.
Live Long and Prosper Organically - Katie
Posts: 398 | Location: Zone 8, Oregon City, OR | Registered: January 15, 2008
