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RFID Tags in Euro Banknotes
psychictv writes "CNET News.com is reporting that Euro notes could be embedded with RFID tags in the future. 'RFID (radio frequency identification) tags also have the ability of recording information such as details of the transactions the paper note has been involved in...'" The EU has been considering this for a while. You'll never even know they're there.
They'll never notice that you've taken them out.
Micrrowave your cash today!
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
Since we all know portable RFID readers will become available commerically, what's to stop a thief from carrying around his reader and then summing up how much people in the street have in their wallets? Just wait around late at night, wait for some woman to walk by with $300, and then just rob her? I'd bet there would be more muggings if the average pay went from $40 to a few hundred...
Damn, I didn't realize they could be that small.. I don't know how durable it would be though? If there was a way to make certain that they were in the notes, I could see it being a nice way to check to see if the notes added up to the value punched in by the cashier: a kind of redundancy. It would take a while til the new notes with these things were in decent enough circulation to make this viable, but would still be interesting. Too many people would start to rely on it though, which might not be a good idea.
:)
I'm just wondering how easy it would be for something that tiny to get scratched/cut off? I'm not so worried about privacy implications (maybe I'm not paranoid enough), but I'm sure there'll be some posts of that line soon enough.
No, I haven't read the article.
Why bother? Why not push for full digital convergence and have everyone use EFT for ALL transactions? We're headed that way anyway, I haven't used paper cash in nearly a month now for anything.
I have no tag line
Yeah but a rfid-reader wallet connected to the net could report that you've been mugged immediately and 'deactivate' all those notes, making the mugging pointless (the money stops working in all rfid-aware connected cash registers)...
Daniel
Carpe Diem
European Drug Distributor: Hello, Mister Colombian Drug Lord. Here is the money, I promised you.
Drug Lord: Hola, my French friend. I assume you've prepared the money as I specified?
Distributor: Indeed! Not only are these new notes, freshly received through my cover business, but they have been washed in muddy water, microwaved, and then dried in my daughter's basement.
Drug Lord: Ecellent! Here is the ten kilos of my finest cocaine. Good day to you!
Yeah, a real drug transaction isn't going to go nearly like this, but having the money check what kind of transactions its going through isn't going to work if there is *any* kind of money laundering going on and if *any* kind of competant disabling of RFID tags takes place.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
So, my question is, if RFIDs are to be embedded in money, will it still be accepted if the RFID is off or not working. Will you have to take it to a bank (hassle) and get the whole note replaced or REactivated?
I would think people that work in highly magnetic work conditions or that are subject to mild radiation (cell phone users, utility workers, possily computer users) might face this problem.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
Kinda frightening that there are so many posts with this same logic.
Remember back in 1999 when people were talking about how the Y2K bug would result in society reverting to bartering & precious metals currency?
I wonder if eliminating cash as a nontraceable currency will prompt the emergence of additional non-fiat currency preferred by the privacy-conscious.
I can hear it now: "That non-DRM PC will cost you $3000 credit, $2900 cash, $600 in gold, or 10 cartons of banned cigarettes."
This is a good thing... for the US!
Before the Euro, the international black market dealt mostly in American currency. Part of the reason for that is the fact that it behooves the US economy's controllers to have large amounts of it's currency base outside of the country. (Think about it. Print more money, buy 'things' with it, make sure monies paid leave country. Monies are not local to the economy, so inflation does not increase. Oversimplified, yes, but I'm making a general point here.)
The Euro was a threat to that black market monopoly. A strong Euro would be serious competition, and would likely drive at least some of the US's expatriated currency back within its own borders, wreaking havoc with the economy.
With the advent of tracking capabilities in the currency itself, the Euro is keeping itself out of the black market, which is good for the United States.
Europe had a chance to take a bite out of US hegemony. So much for that ^_^
GeekNights!
Late Night Radio for Geeks!
How can a chip identifying a piece of paper identify you? It would not be reprogrammed to track you personally, just the movement of the paper you hold. Unless you carried ID that reprogrammed it every time (defeating the point in paper money and coins) then there is no practical way that you could be tracked as the person buying porn. Heck, it would be astounding if they were able to track what the notes were actually used for, just where and when. The cops could always check security tapes because of the time ID, but porn isn't illegal so they would have no reason to waste the time.
Data can only be written on the chip's ROM during production, and not after it is out "in the wild," according to Hitachi. - No personal tracking.
I doubt it. The problem is that -- first off -- cash is a bearer instrument. That means it's legal tender for anybody that possesses it. You don't 'own' any of the cash in your pocket, the government does. So you have no legal right to deactivate the money. Burning cash or defacing it it anyway is a violation of federal law in most countries, including the U.S. (it's called 'destruction of government property').
Anyway, if that worked, there would be nothing to stop anybody from giving someone 'deactivated' bills especially since not everyone walks around with an RFID reader, nor is it likely that everyone will have one anytime soon. Then you just bought something using money that's basically worthless, at least at places that have RFID readers.
My journal has hot
Log whos using the ATM that spits it out, follow all registered exchanges. Of course, Evading it is as easy as trading your 'club card' around. (those bulk food stores where you can use a card to get a discount on some items)
Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
What part of "Euro Banknotes" didn't you understand? This has nothing to do with the land of the (supposedly) free, but with the union where we have mandatory ID cards, strict weapon laws and people who see black boxes in cars as a /good/ thing and don't distrust the government like the mostly paranoid americans.
All my Euros already have a serial on them, so if somebody wants to trace them from the ATM to the grocery, they could already do so. This paranoid mentality, which seems to be really popular around Slashdot is really bewildering to me.
-- The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
When money becomes trackable, perhaps even beyond the ability of a microwaving to fix, I will make it a regular habit to ask friends and acquaintences if they'd like to enter into an ongoing money swap arrangement. People engaged in this practice will make it a habit to carry, say, $200 in cash, and will make it a point to swap bills every so often. As long as this is an ongoing practice, it's not even necessary to efficiently randomize who has what bills; all you need to do when questioned by Homeland Security about hookers/dope/etc is profess to be a money swapper, and offer to call numerous witnesses to that fact; ergo, anyone could have been the person who plunked down bills that the atm originally dispensed to you. And the social practice of swapping bills will serve to draw like-minded people together.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.