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The Trouble with RFID

wintermute42 writes "Simson Garfinkel, author of Practical Unix & Internet Security along with Gene Spafford and Alan Schwartz, has an article in The Nation on RFID tags. They're not just for tracking stuff. They can track you too."

25 of 424 comments (clear)

  1. Only if... by caston · · Score: 2, Funny
    your stupid enough to forget to rip the tag off your shirt after you buy it.

    --
    Beings aspergers AND pulling chicks... I enjoy the challenge!
    1. Re:Only if... by ktulu1115 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't think your new pet fish/hamster/whathaveyou would like that very much...

      --
      # fuser -v /dev/attention | grep work
      #
    2. Re:Only if... by onyxruby · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hmm, and I just bought some tshirts the other day that were advertised as "tagless". Perhaps if I took a scissors to random parts of my clothes?

    3. Re:Only if... by dahamsta · · Score: 4, Funny

      Just throw everything you buy from Wal-Mart in the bin, save yourself the worry.

  2. Hello darkness my old friend.... by tommck · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh wait...

    --
    ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
  3. Anyone with two feet and perhaps access to a car by ObviousGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Anyone can track you. Really. All it takes is a notebook and pencil.

    Get over yourselves. Jeez.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  4. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Soviet Russia RFID tracks you. Wait... that's not right is it?

  5. Spam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Great. We'll have inboxes filled with "Track your neighbour" and "Generic RFID removal" in no time.

  6. time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I can't wait until I get to check out what underwear a girl is wearing without looking, perv heaven!

  7. tin foil hat by ch-chuck · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now I need a tin foil jumpsuit, boots, gloves and helmet.

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  8. What's in a name... by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 4, Funny

    like Simson Garfinkel. First of all, it's not exactly a common-sounding name to me. Maybe it is in other parts of the world.

    Second, can I withstand the desire to crack a Simon & Garfunkel joke? I mean, almost all the letters are there...

    Hello R-F my old friend,
    I've come to talk with you again.
    Because the data softly creeping
    I am just lying here weeping
    Because a hacker
    Just stole my identity...
    And now my bank account is silenced.

  9. Re:question by DOCStoobie · · Score: 0, Funny

    MAN...you carry 1000 RFID transmitters, PLANES WILL LAND ON YOU ... you will track them in with your stong RF footprint .....

  10. How dare they! by Channard · · Score: 1, Funny

    This is an insult! No-one has the right to infringe our privacy like this! I for one will be boycotting all stores/establishments that use RFID. I find the idea of a device that can be used to track my movements and habits utterly reprehensible. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to town to go shopping using my credit card and many clubcards.

  11. Lets swap tags by G4from128k · · Score: 1, Funny

    If they are going to track us, why not make it fun. We can all get together and swap RFID tags. Some mischevious shoppers in Britain do that with their Tesco loyalty cards, so why not do it with RFID to. And if one person carries multiple tags from different people, then they can make it look like an entire flock of people are at the door.

    The alternative is to wrap ourselves in tin-foil. Hmmm.. I wonder is metallic clothing will soon be fashionable. Maybe that's why all those SciFi movies have people in shiny suits - they had to worry about RFID tracking.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  12. Volition and benefit by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 4, Funny

    In this case, you willingly put it on in order to operate and interact with your community of runners. Basically, to see who is the best among you and to see what your time is for personal reasons.

    In the scary case, WalMart puts an RFID tag on my tighty-whities and then I go to Target and over the intercom comes a voice that says, "John Allman, Welcome to Target. We have tighty-whities for sale."

    Personally, I am learning to sew.

    --
    Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
  13. Only a problem if you never change clothes by blorg · · Score: 1, Funny

    My browser (Opera) has an option for deleting all cookies on exit so to prevent tracking across sessions. Similarly, as the RFID tags are implanted in your clothes, you can only be identified uniquely, and tracked, if you never change your clothes...

    Ok, I forgot, this is Slashdot.

    1. Re:Only a problem if you never change clothes by whovian · · Score: 3, Funny

      What happens when you wear the same pair of shoes with different clotes?

      The fashion police haul you away.

      --
      To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
    2. Re:Only a problem if you never change clothes by TALlama · · Score: 2, Funny

      I can see it now:

      PHB: So, how's that big information thingy coming?
      Dilbert: The RFID database?
      PHB: Yeah, sure.
      Dilbert: Well sir, we've got a whole lot of data. But it turns out that in the entire world, there is only one woman, and she keeps changing her clothes.
      PHB: So I've only been rejected once. Good to know.

      --

      - The Amazina Llama

  14. Condoms already had RFIDs by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 3, Funny

    But you wouldn't know unless you need to roll them all the way to the end.

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  15. Brilliant Plan by Snosty · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cut off all your RFID tags and keep them somewhere safe. On a weekly basis get together with all your friends and put all your collective tags in one bucket. Take, at random, your share and carry them with you for that coming week. Repeat process next week. This way any data gathered through these tags would be a random assortment of movements from you and your friends.

    Correlate that, bitches!

  16. NOW I'M WORRIED. by GeneralEmergency · · Score: 4, Funny



    It seems like a paranoid fellow can't even buy alumunum foil anymore without being monitored.

    Now what'll I use to line my Official Area 51 Ball Cap?

    --
    "A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
    GeneralEmergency
  17. Welcome to WalMart.... by scorp1us · · Score: 2, Funny

    Automatic 'In' Door Scan Results:
    Customer #4323423432 Scan Results:
    Product: Jams, Size Medium: M, Style: 11, Color: Blue, Purchased at Target
    Product: OP Sunglasses, Style: 13, Color: Blue, Purchased at Target

    Alert!: Customer Has No Shirt On!
    Alert!: Customer Has No Shoes On!
    Security Dispatched
    Computed Customer Loyalty Discount: -10%

    'Out' Door Scan Results:
    Customer #4323423432 Scan Results:
    Product: Jams, Size Medium: M, Style: 11, Color: Blue, SN:1232mdsfskd2, Purchased at Target
    Product: OP Sunglasses, Style: 13, Color: Blue, Purchased at Target
    Product: Mens Medium T-Shirt Style 1404A, Purchased at Walmart
    Product: Mens Burkenstocks Size 10 Style 14A, Purchased at Walmart

    Shipping Time: 1h 14m. Last visit (By Jams SN) Oct 11, 2003. Approximate customer weight 140lbs. Customer Type: 'Surfer Dude'
    Customized 'sufer dude' email and circulars flagged for next mailing cycle.

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  18. Great SPAM everywhere you go..WTF by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 3, Funny
    Individual walks into the drugstore

    RFID scanner picks up the condom in his wallet

    60inch Plasma Monitor: Greetings Mr. Smith, it's been 60 months since you last purchased that box of Troy Extra Super Ribbed, the one in your pocket has expired, would you like to purchase some more?

    If you liked that item, you may find these appealing: Super Personal Lube 3000, Peanut Butter & Chicken Flavored body oil, Hustler Magazine, MIT:Technology Review, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

    of course the only reason you came to the store in the firstplace, was to bring your grandma to get some fix-o-dent (of course she is seeing and hearing all of this as well, along with your local spiritual advisor, your wife(who never knew about the condoms), and who knows whom else.

  19. what names.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "simson garfinkel"... simon and garfunkel?

    "gene spafford"... gene splicing -- afford?

    and may the "schwartz" be with you!

    thank you, thank you, I'll be logged in all week.

  20. A new business opportunity by r_j_prahad · · Score: 4, Funny

    For a scant few bucks an hour, I will take your RFID tags out for a walk about the town. Spend a few more dollars, your RFID tags get to go to the opera, making you appear a very sophisticated gent. But skimp on the tip, and your tags spend a half hour in an alley known for prostitution and drugs.

    This month's special - your RFID tags get a tour of the White House! And maybe even a chance to meet the president's RFID tags. Register soon as there are only a few openings available each year.