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Officials secretly RFID'd at Internet Summit
ewoudenberg writes "A Washington Times article reports that researchers managed to gain entrance to the Internet and technology conference in Switzerland last week only to discover that the summit's badges contained undisclosed RFID chips. The badges were handed out to more than 50 prime ministers, presidents and other high-level officials from 174 countries, including the United States."
Politicians should be made to wear RFID's from the day they enter office in service of the public, to the day they leave that office.
...
"For the people, and of the people" can only be effective if the people keep a track on such people with power
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
With RFID.
Note for the humor-impaired: this is a joke.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/12/002825 6&mode=nested&tid=126&tid=158&tid=172&tid= 99
Lightbulbs are now being labeled a terrorist device, used to spy on people and documents at places including the pentagon, the whitehouse, and even the United Nations building. Hackers used the light bulbs to send out light, which when intercepted by their illegal hacker tools called "eyes", can identify diplomats, and read classified documents. Americans can rest assured that their safety is being protected by operation "hammerbulb". Democrats are concerned about a lack of hammers to complete the operation, but administration officials assure them that rocks can be used if the shortage proves true.
They met to discuss privacy matters on the internet (among other things).
I wonder what their policy will be?
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
I know the Slashdot editors don't read the story submissions, because my earthshattering submissions are never accepted. But do they even read the Slashdot homepage? They might notice duplicate stories.
--
make install -not war
Badges? We don't need no stinkin badges!
I hope the media catch hold of it and hype it to hell and beyond. Get some high-flying politico commentators saying how they should have been informed.
Understanding about fire being hot often comes after one has been burnt. Perhaps they'll feel that they shouldn't be "spied on" without their knowledge. Perhaps it might influence decisions they make in future...
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
Washington Post has their own agendas politically when it comes to reporting. Sure it's pretty shitty to be monitored, but there is nothing stating that any information used was used for anything other than maybe for the sake of having some card manufacturers new card being tested.
Remember intelligence agencies from all over the place keep tabs on each other via other means (ECHELON, HUMINT, OSINT, IMINT, SIGNIT), so I doubt this was anything to be concerned with. Strictly something `chick' to report on. It's far more easier to set up assets to bang (screw/lay/fsck) one of these guys for info, than it would to keep watch of what they do.
User gets in car to go to summit, user's Eazypass or other form of cardpaymentsys tracks what exits he uses via tolls paid. User stops at gasoline station, credit card is used, card information is transmitted. User talks the beltway, cameras capture this. Get the picture? Everyone else sure did. Again other than this being all the rage (RFID's) I doubt it was something major, but surely someone with agendas sees it to be so. When they can produce something absolute that was used with this information, not just 'oh my look at this an RFID story' than I'll worry.
PS... Proof doesn't mean `hey we're the Foobar Newspaper
MoFscker
I'd have a lot more respect for activist reporters if they would report the facts without hype. It's not the second coming, it's possibly a minor infraction of the Swiss information laws.
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I wonder if someone is goign to make a killing by selling little RFID chip & reader detectors. Richard Stallman suggested RFID detectors and destroyers as a challenge for privacy adocates. Perhaps clothing with conductive/dissapative threads will be the next fashion trend (just don't count on your cellphone ringing if its inside your pocket ;) ).
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
I would think that the information provided by the RFID tags would be invaluable - not in terms of violating privacy but for the planning of future conferences. I'd gladly wear RFID chips in my conference badge if it lead to improved trafficking for future conferences. One doesn't attend conferences for the privacy.
That someone hit the bathroom at 12:30pm and then again at 3:30pm. They also exited the room for a smoke break after their bathroom break. Oh and don't forget the super secret buying of a Snickers bar at 3:35pm.
Maybe its just me, but this seems like a whole lot of noise over nothing. Those badges were probably security badges. You know, the kind many of us corporate workers wear every day to work. If you are one of those workers who have to swipe your ID badge in front of a little box that goes beep, and an LED turns green, and the door opens, the you are carrying an RFID tag (possibly even a smart card, but this is not as common). This is no big deal, its simply a way to control access. Technically, it provides some employee tracking, but its also very useful for security.
Heck, even parking garages are using these for employees now. My girlfriend has a little card (HID Prox card), which she uses at work to get into and out of the parking complex for work. Myself, I work at a company that builds physical security systems, so I work with these things every day. And, I find, that most of the privacy concerns are way overblown. Though, I still don't like the idea of carrying one on me, I am a bit of a privacy nut afterall.
If anything, this article sounds like a bunch of reporters got pissed, because they weren't allowed into a closed door conference, and broke the rules to get an access badge, and then reported on the evil RFID tag in the card, despite this being a very common thing, especially in places where security is an issue.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
For those who doubt the concerns about RFID, it's about who controls your own information: you... or others.
We will get no regulation of the uses RFID is put to, while the Party is in power, and so it's up to us to sort this out.
Be advised that cellphone mfgrs are now adding technology that PUSHes ads to you. Will you be able to turn it off? Doubtful; if all the carriers do it, there's no place else to go.
And of course CDMA has always had geo-location... they promise it's only used to catch indicted criminals, but that claim is very doubtful, given some recent events.
Delegates at a conference could be identified as they approach their car. Obscuring codes don't matter; a sample could be taken at any time prior, at great distance with a parabolic dish. Soldiers could be accurately geo-located by the enemy.
Did you know that all GM cars since 1999 have black boxes in them, which are NOT being used to help you understand what happened 5 seconds before an accident, but to INDICT you for that accident, and expose you to civil litigation as well. Your inanimate *car* has become a prosecution witness against you, even though your own wife isn't supposed to be forced to testify against you.
This is the difference between the old way, and the neo-way, of managing the citizens. The deeper question is, why is our society becoming more and more adversarial, so fast? How do Nordic countries and Canada, get away with cooperation, rather than ever strengthening offense and defense, every day? They don't worry about NOT being something, like we Americans do. Double-plus ungood.
You say that when out in public, you have no expectation of privacy? True, but RFID expands that 'public' from your immediate surroundings (which you are aware of, and choose to inhabit), to the known universe, and for all time. If in 10 years it is considered treasonous to question RFID, some of us will be screwed, now, won't we? We all go places we'd like to keep private sometimes, now, don't we? Care to give that up, for no good reason other than FEAR?! Of our own government/corporate oligopoly? How much of your day do you spend in FEAR?! WTF are you afraid of NOW, FGS?!
RFID is a great idea for inventory, but should be disabled/disablable when purchased. I doubt those chips now in tires, can be disabled, given the vulcanization process. And tags will soon be microscopic.
RFID has no business on a person, as long as corporations and politicians behave adversarially toward their public at the highest levels.
Campaign finance reform is national security.
RFID concerns are overblown, except when the tags are on YOU.
Maybe slashdot should add RFID to the stories, so that when they come the 2nd time around we can detect them right away...
"If God created us in his own image we have more than reciprocated." - Voltaire
"The badges were handed out to more than 50 prime ministers, presidents and other high-level officials from 174 countries, including the United States."
so each official was from an average of 3.5 countries?
They use it to track runners for the LA Marathon. No biggie.
This sig no verb.
how quickly they will forget and proceed to do on to their citizens what they complain loudly of.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
Everybody makes up news stories. Like when NBC needed to show that GM trucks explode when struck from the side. They said the fuel tank ruptured. But what they did was overfil the gas tank, didn't screw the gas cap on (Just left it sitting on top) and then they strapped remotely detonated explosive under the truck to ignite the gas when it spilt out! And even then, the flames went out after a few seconds, so they had to "creativly" edit it to make the fire look worse. Here is a summary Although he did get one thing wrong: NBC hasn't died yet, in the 4 years since it happened. Hmm, I also recall something about slowing down the tape, so it looked like the truck they hit it with was going fairly slow, but it was actually going really fast.
ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
And I will take gladly endorse that viewpoint just as soon as the same courtesy is extended to consumers and private citizens.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
It didn't take long for that technology to be misused now did it? I can see the day when you go by RFID ready ad displays in the mall, and will be taylored to your 'interests' as they carefully read what stores you've been to and feed a 'revelevent ad'. Pretty soon RFID TVs will be made too, all sorts of fun and interesting uses for this technology will pop up! yay! Take me now Lord.............
~UltraSkuzzi
This comment is liscensed by SCO.
And the USA/world? post GWB.
I want to leave the country for exactly that reason.
"I don't give a stuff who they're screwing in private. I want to know who they're screwing in public!"
AP SPOOFWIRE -- Two microwave ovens were seriously damaged today at the Internet and Technology Conference in Switzerland when numerous conference attendees, annoyed when they discovered that their badges contained RFID chips, tried to disable those same chips through "nuking" them in the ovens.
Cafeteria staff were stunned by the spectacle produced when each oven was crammed full of badges, and the 'Start' button pressed. "I'd always heard stories about what would happen if you put anything with metal in it into a microwave" said head cook Rowena Splatt, "But I never thought I would ever see it in action! That horrible buzzing noise, the showers of sparks -- though I will admit that all those colors were kind of pretty -- but the smell! Oh, that was the worst part!! It reminded us all of last week's liver-and-onion special, with hints of burned cranberries and overcooked zucchini..."
Security personnel monitoring the RFID receiver systems also reported strange occurrences. "It was like thousands of these tinny little Munchkin-like voices screamed 'Help Meeeeeee!' all at once" reported Lt. Take-Emin Andbookem, head of security for the event. "And you wouldn't believe the volume! I've still got six people in the hospital, getting checked for hearing damage."
The event's organizers have reported that the badges will be reissued -- without RFID chips, this time -- and that the homogenized melted-together masses of the other badges will be made into holiday mobiles which will also feature unused AOL 9.0 CDs and old 30-pin memory SIMMs.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies