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Utah Leads the Way Toward RFID Privacy Legislation
An anonymous reader writes "Wired News reports that Utah's House of Representatives passed the first-ever RFID privacy bill this week, 47-23. Utah state Rep. David Hogue said that without laws to ensure consumer privacy, retailers will be tempted to match the data gathered by RFID readers with consumers' personal information. 'The RFID industry will carry the technology as far as they can,' said Hogue, sponsor of the Radio Frequency Identification Right to Know Act. 'Marketing people especially are going to love this kind of stuff.'"
hi. I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such RFID-paranoia movies as "1984 mhz" and "My Radio Receiver Knows what you Did Last Summer"
Thanx for listening,
Consumer 0556672GXX89F2
Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
"I mean who wants your retailer to know when you buy condoms ...."
If you believe anyone is going to track condom usage with RFID, I suggest you wrap your willie in tin foil the next time you have sex. Since that is likely to be sometime around 2015, you have plenty of time to prepare.
but unless others follow suit, I now have a reason to move to...
Utah...
*shudders*
"This is Zombo Com, and welcome to you who have come to Zombo Com" - www.zombo.com
I for one welcome our RFID tag abusing overlords.
"I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
Well...?
That is quite possibly the one of the stupidest things I have every heard. You don't want a retailer knowing how you stumbled upon thier site? Do you demand that all Brick & Mortar retailers blacken their windows so that they can't see the direction from which you drove to get there? Think of all the privacy they are invading with that little trick! One day, they may amass enough information to determine that 60% of their shoppers come from the east and can use that knowledge in purchasing a billboard advertisement! OMFG! The horrors!
If only the proper legislation had been in place before "Ugh! Mog invent wheel!". We could have completely avoided the greatest threat to western civilization: Parking Meters!
- Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Now how am I supposed to keep track of all my wives?
I sympathize with your point but....
This is exactly the same argument that was used (unsuccessfully) against using machines during the "Industrial Revolution", against the use of automated manufacturing equipment on automobile assembly lines during the 1980s, and most recently against the replacement of the White House staff and US President with life-like robots.
Oh right, not when it's your information, only when it's a record label's information.
One exception, though: Couple cam thru buying wine, condoms, KY, straight razors, rubbing alcohol (!!!), and nothing else. Had a funny look in their eyes... I don't know what they were up to, but the alcohol and razors STILL makes me shudder.
A friend of mine was participating in a scavenger hunt once. He went to the local Canadian Tire (basically a hardware store, for non-Canadians) with another friend, who happened to be female, and bought, among several things I can't recall, a box of condoms, a lot of Coke, a duck decoy, a for-emergency-use-only CO2 bicycle pump, and a hockey goalie mask.
The cashier gave them a very strange look as they left.
And yes yes I know, but I wish he was.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
It's simple really. Make an low range EMP pulse device. Disconnected antenna or not, unless those tags are surrounded by a faraday cage an EMP will fry them.
:P
:)
Popular Mechanics had article a while back about how to make a high yield EMP bomb for $400. That article should be pretty interesting for any tin-foil hatters out there who want to burn out all RFID tags within city limits.
Thought it was a little disturbing myself.
~X
Random Quote:"Are you kidding? They really are out to get me?"
~X~