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Blocker Tags to Protect Privacy From RFID Tags
geekee writes "According to an article at CNET, RSA Security is developing a 'blocker' tag that disrupts RFID tag transmissions, protecting a person's privacy from those who would abuse RFID technology. The blocker tag would be embedded in your watch, for instance. This method has an advantage over destroying the RFID tags after purchase because useful information on the tag could help consumers (e.g. laundry instructions)." According to the RSA scientist quoted in the article, privacy concerns regarding RFID have been overblown, but it's still worth being proactive when finding ways to defeat the tags.
Rfid is now. You'll be buying products with them sooner than you think.
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You may want to see if you have any already:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/
($150 CF RFID Reader)
I'd rather destroy them... and I will...
well... there's gilette mach iii razor blades (source is here). apparently that's been canned because of the outcry. but early adopters always have a tough time of it..
2 1337 4 u!
With current laws (unless this gets called a circumvention device under the DMCA) it would be legal. This is because the RFID tag will be unlicensed and fall under part 15 of the FCC's rules. Cell phones, on the other hand, are in licensed spectrum, and transmit with much more power than part 15. Part of the requirements for a part 15 device to operate is it must not intentionally cause interference (ie blocking a cell phone) with another, LICSENCED device (so interfering with an RFID tag is OK, cell phone is not) Additionally, most likely power levels greater than part 15 would be required to block a cell phone transmisssion. So in short, this is legal, call phone blocking isn't.
The cops can search your car without your consent and without a warrant. All they need is probable cause.
Ironically enough, you denying them consent to search is generally considered probable enough for them to search it anyway....
"Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." --Oscar Wilde
Wear the signal blocker and get stopped EVERY TIME you walk out of a store.
Good tradeoff, eh?
DAMN good tradeoff - If they can't show the footage, in court, of you stuffing something in your pockets, they better have a hefty budget set aside for harassment suits.
Incidentally, you know those sensors many stores already have by the doors? You can ignore them. Someone tries to physically stop you? Add assault charges on top of the civil suit. Of course, if they actually *find* something on you, I'd imagine it greatly weakens your case. But then, I don't actually advocate shoplifting, just standing up for your rights.
Finally, if someone in a LEO-like uniform approaches you in such a situation, ask them their jurisdiction. You can also ignore rent-a-cops who work only for the store... Although they can throw you out (simple matter of trespassing), they don't have any power beyond that unless you give it to them by cooperating. And if you do cooperate, they have quite a few powers (or rather, lack of an obligation to observe your legal rights) that normal police do not. 'Course, keep in mind that the guy with a gun always gets his way - You can only settle the matter in court if you don't get shot to death by some overzealous rentacop.
(disclaimer - IANAL).
In case anyone wants to read the original paper on this it's at:
l o-TheBlockerTag.pdf
http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/JuelsRivestSzyd
Case in point: My roommate this past year had been arrested for alcohol possesion (he's 19). The alcohol was in his car trunk, out of view. He wasn't pulled over for DUI, but for a busted tail light. The cop asked to search his car and he refused. The cop searched it anyway. The case was thrown out, my roommate cleared of all charges, and the cop was suspended. This is an example of how the system can fail, but it's an example of how the system works and the extent of your rights in the US.
A lot of people here seem to be missing the way these tags are going to be used in retailing.
The tag would not inform the washing machine what temperature the garment needed to be washed on.
Rather, it would tell the washing machine its unique identity number, and the washing machine would search a database to find out what type and color of garment that item related to, and how it needed to be washed.
That being the case, the machine would be able to describe to you the items that need to be removed in order to resolve the problem.
Depending on the washing machine's own memory capacity, and on how much information is accessible to the public in the global database of tagged products, the machine might also warn you when the load you're about to wash is mostly white but also contains one brightly colored item that has only just been bought, or that it has never washed before, and is therefore likely to lose its color....