RFID Hell

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday September 21, 2003 @02:10AM from the one-for-the-mainstream dept.

Matrix2110 writes "Finally, somebody has stepped up with an article that descibes the potental abuse of RFID. Imagine being flagged for social tendencies. Gattaca is not so far off as we think. it is simply a pass of a wand for your embedded tag rather than a drop of blood."

5 of 234 comments (clear)

Article has nothing to do with RFID tags by Shoden · 2003-09-21 02:16 · Score: 5, Informative

The device described in the article is a GPS device worn on the ankle combined with a cell phone. It's an active device, unlike RFID which is usually passive and concealed.
1. Re:Article has nothing to do with RFID tags by mngoose · 2003-09-21 02:33 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  don't be simplistic.
  
  true, it's not RFID tags per se. however, the group targeted to wear tags is such that "no one" will oppose it--protect the children and all that stuff.
  
  until, of course, some old politician gets caught with a teenager.
  
  "convicted paedophiles" can quickly become "sex offender"-which is sometimes something as stupid as pissing in the park.
2. Re:Article has nothing to do with RFID tags by squiggleslash · 2003-09-21 02:47 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I'd be concerned. Remember the PATRIOT act? The new powers, they assured us, would be used to hunt terrorists. Now, people who operate drugs labs are being charged with "Creating Weapons of Mass Destruction", and the general public attitude is to shrug and say "Well, they were doing something wrong, who cares?"
  How long before the GPS tag is used for people who, while offenders in some shape or form, have not committed offenses of the nature that others feel they have to know where they are for the safety of others?
  
  --
  You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
RTFA... old technology by NumLk · 2003-09-21 02:21 · Score: 5, Interesting

Its really about the UK employing technology to track pedophiles that has been used for some time in the US. Granted the parallels to RFID are there, but the bigger issue is whether one can be tagged after being convicted and serving a sentence. The laws in the US have flip-flopped on this one several times, generally the only time this sort of monitoring holds up is when it is a part of the original conviction of the criminal. Therefore, there are some precedents for electronic monitoring, the real question is whether they will apply once the private sector faces legal challenges regarding the use of RFID to track innocent people.

--
Children in the backseats don't cause accidents. Accidents in the back seats cause children.
technology issues in posted responses by chipwich · 2003-09-21 03:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

Reading through the responses to this technology, it seems that several issues are being addressed/readdressed:

1) Mandatory tagging of criminals - There seems to be a fundamental difference between tagging someone as part of their sentence and tagging someone after their sentence has been served (eg, after release from prison). The latter seems a dangerous trend since it indicates that the punishment for certain crimes may change in an arbitrary fashion, even *after* a criminal has served their time and been "rehabilitated" by societal punishments.

Granted, some crimes are heinous and deserve drastic punishments, but punishments should be known at the time of sentencing. Make the punishment as harsh as is warranted (eg, death sentence or consecutive life sentences effectively ensures that an offender never returns to society), but once a punishment has been fulfilled , no additional arbitrary punishments should be levied. Being unable to agree on what the rule-of-law is at the time of sentencing is very bad. A rule-of-law which is not transparent and clear is not a rule-of-law.

2) RFID technology is good|bad - Anyone who has spent their life thinking about technology knows that technology itself it neither our damnation nor our savior. It is amoral and merely a tool created and used by humans to leverage our ideas.

However, history has shown that we have a penchant for killing each other over issues with no obvious resolution (eg, Who's God is better, Who's skin color is better, etc). Technology just speeds up the process of letting us work out our differences, and, when that fails, subjugate/maim/torture/kill the enemy when they it is obvious that they will not take on our point of view.

3) The posters are "anti-technologist fear mongers" - since this crowd is generally very technology savvy, it is probably more likely that you misunderstand the message being articulated. People on Slashdot certainly seem to get more worked up that your general everyday nongeek citizenry. But that is likely because of the "slippery-slope" issues that are addressed. Looking at how humans use and misuse technology to abuse each other, it is often clear to those with a background in technology what form the abuses could take. Generally, it seems that humans eventually arrive at a solution better for everyone (eg, more tolerant), but only after a more short-term period which exploits the technology to the severe disadvantage of an unfortunate minority.

BTW, although annoying that the article is not based on RFID technology, that hardly matters in the grand scheme. GPS, RFID, biometrics, DRM, etc. are all just technologies. They have amazing potential for benefit of societies. But unless the potential for human-rights abuse is acknowledged and carefully monitored, things will get very bad before things get better.

No technology is without potential for abuse. Period.