RFID Implants for Spanish Revelers

WWW/X writes "USA Today reports that clubbers in Barcelona are getting drunk and being implanted on site with RFID chips in order to pay their bills without carrying around bulky items such as credit cards. The article states that the implant can go anywhere, however it does not state whether anyone has chosen their forehead." The club's website describes the program (link in spanish).

Comments

SO cool.

[Hanna's Goblin Toys]

Ok this is so yesterday. I got my waver at Baja, people, and I can't love it enough. It's phat because I can totally wave it in front of any of the bartenders and like bam I have a drink. It's even better in the summer because it's like totally hot right now (third day of this awful humidity) and so I can wear like anything hot that I want and I don't have to carry a PURSE or those lame KEYCHAIN WALLETS and stuff. So anyway at the library once this guy was all freaking out on me about how I got "implanted" and I was going to be "tracked and monitored" and said "don't you read Slashdot?". He was gross and I ran away but that's how I found out about this site.

Anyway I've read here long enough to know that no one here is going to want a waver but that's cool because I'm just guessing here that only uncool ugly people are going to get all wigged about being cool and not having to carry a wallet. Which just means more hot guys at Baja for me.

Smack that ass, boyfriend!

Re:SO cool.

[trentblase]

Any technology that encourages hot club-going women to show more skin is fine by me. Plus, it makes it so much easier to stalk them!

Re:SO cool.

[TyrranzzX]

(and for those who take em' seriously, for the 10,000th time) Wait for it. The banking institutions are going to want to do trade this way. It starts with a night clib in Baja, then goes to something else. It then becomes a fad, people go for it, then BAM, it's manditory at work for some people. Afterall, you want to be team playa, don't you? Overtime, the technology advances, and now it can store encrypted data and is difficult as fsck to hack.

Then all of a sudden, the banking institutions begin associating the data with you. Now instead of carrying around a wallet, you carry around a chip which a central database in some goverment or business institution. The chip stores your info, and all they've got to do to enforce it is put in advanced versions of credit card readers that read chips and correlate that data over the intarweb.

That isn't the end though. There'll still be a few people reeling and screaming to the rest of the sheeple that what they're doing is wrong. The real end, is when someone comes before congress complaining about the incredible cost of keeping a cashier at the front desk. They'll talk about making a law stating businesses won't have to take money anymore for trade. Of course, by then everything will be pretty much monopolised by profiteering corperations. Then, when the terrorists begin trading with people, good ol' barter, they'll outlaw that too.

And then the banking institutions have all the power they ever wanted.

Forehead

[akaina]

"... anyone has chosen their forehead."

Or right hand for that matter.

Re: Forehead

[Evil MarNuke]

The forehand is a symbol of the mind. Do you think of God or something else?

The right hand is a symbol of work. Do you work for God or do you work for yourself?

A lawyer 2000 years ago wrote the following:

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

Glass?

[marshac]

USA today says that it's made out of glass... couldn't this possibly break? Ouch. Then again, USA Today is known for their high quality journalism...

Re:Glass?

[Phoenixhunter]

Ever tried to break a small piece of glass? A hammer could do it on a hard surface, but not when it is in the subdermal layer where it is in a relative cushion...

Re:Glass?

[HalfStarted]

Glass... as in glass bead not glass jar or glass cup. What it is a small piece of electronics encased in glass, unless there was a flaw in the manufacturing process where a bubble gets in what you basically have is a solid piece of glass. If there are any voids from manufacturing defects they are so small that they do not reduce the strength of the package. The reason glass is used is that it is cheep very durable and is biologically/chemically inert, i.e. it will not rust, decompose or fuse to live tissue or interact with the body in any other way.

Re:Glass?

[Deraj DeZine]

From here:

This implant, like the first, will be encased in a glass tube. We chose glass because it's fairly inert and won't become toxic or block radio signals. There is an outside chance that the glass will break, which could cause serious internal injuries or prove fatal, but our previous experiment showed glass to be pretty rugged, even when it's frequently jolted or struck.

Sounds like it probably wouldn't break, but it'd be bad if it did.

No prob

[grub]

Get RFID tag installed.

Don your tinfoil hat.

Drink.

Uhh...

[American AC in Paris]

"...that bump? No, no no no--you've got it all wrong! I'm clean--that's my RFID chip! Really! Wait! Come back!"

Scalpels just became a mugging tool!

[ericspinder]

I can see it now...
Lean against the bar and accidently buy everybody a round!

Or better, yet muggers using a knife and cutting out the implant. I'd feel better if the scanner would only work an inch or two from the chip, rather than several feet. Otherwise, in a crowded bar how would you know who is paying?

Ouch!

[jmcwork]

It is also rumored that many Barcelona escort services are looking into this method of payment for services.

Re:Ouch!

[swb]

I wonder if they have the granularity for pay-per-thrust. Most slashdotters could then consider their "quick reaction time" to be a financial advantage.

stinkin RFID

[happyfrogcow]

all news today is "smart this.. implant that..."

you can take your RFID and shove it up your ass! literally!

Not just privacy issues..

[Karamchand]

..but counterfeiting/identity theft issues as well. If the RFID is readable that easily, I can just read of the wealthist customer's RFID and make one with his ID for myself. Voila, I'll have a drunken night at the club!

Re:Not just privacy issues..

[theLOUDroom]

RFID tags come with a random 128-bit number burnt into them at the factory. Sorry.

You don't get it.

All you would need is a simple RF recording and playback device.

When you walk up to the bar, I hit "record". When you pay, I've got your 128 bit number.

Then I walk up the bar and hit "play". Congratulations, your "unique" 128 bit number has just paid for my drink.

It would be similar to the "codegrabbing" devices that have been used to bypass car alarms and garage doors.

If one was particularly clever, they could build the device as an attachment to a device like an ipaq or an ipod, allowing it to be used inconspicuously.

Re:Not just privacy issues..

[ChaoticLimbs]

This is avoided with Verichip, as the 128 bit number changes with each transaction in a manner specific to that chip, and known to the transaction handling company (Verichip). It would take thousands of queries and a supercomputer to find out exactly how the unique transaction number is changing so that your transaction would fit. In addition, since your transaction would alter the linearity of the NEXT transaction, it would flag your transaction as fraudulent. The payment isn't handled by the reader device, it's handled by a bank computer. You might be able to get one drink at best. These things are a bit more sophisticated than you think. Go to www.adsx.com.

Reminds me..

[fiannaFailMan]

of when I was in Mallorca getting polaxed every night. The fact that I had to use cash meant that I could pace myself and not blow all my money, as you would do very quickly when you're so drunk that you could lose track of how much (or little) money you can spare. If I was able to just wave my hand and get a drink I'd be bankrupt in no time. I think that's a more pressing concern than any privacy issues.

Alternatives

[Kallahar]

How about the option to put it in, for example:
A ring
A necklace
An earring, nose ring, etc.
A bracelet
A watch

All of these seem a lot safer, putting things under the skin can be really really dangerous. How do you go about getting it out if you're done with it? What if someone clones your id? What if it migrates to somewhere else in your body?

It's times like this that I'm glad we have an FDA here in the US.

Running of the Bulls

[AtariAmarok]

I hear they are putting RFID's in the bulls for the next "running of the bulls" in Pamplona, Spain.

I look foward to participating in the next run, and logging into my specially-fitted Palm Pilot as I run down the street and check the red dots on the screen so I know where the bull horns are so I can avoid them.

Sensationalistic?!

[n-baxley]

What a load of crap! The /. descriptions says clubbers in Barcelona are getting drunk and being implanted on site with RFID chips which maks it sound like the club is tagging passed out patrons with a chip without their consent. In fact the bar is sponsoring the chip implants and people can sign up for them. I'm not saying that it makes the idea OK, but it's a heck of a lot better than a story about waking up with an ID embedded in your arm. Let's try to tell it like it is a little more, even if it is /.

Re:Sensationalistic?!

[Matey-O]

KIDNEY! You r were missing a KIDNEY!

Sheesh. {mumbles}Probably not even a _redundant_ kidney either}

seiscientos sesenta seises.

[nebaz]

marca de la bestia

(Thanks google. :-)

Re:Barcelona

[Ayaress]

The one thing I should point out is that, despite the suspicious wording of the article, the people got implanted BEFORE they got drunk.

Idiot Sauron

[AtariAmarok]

"How about the option to put it in, for example: A ring

D'oh! If Sauron had remembered to embed an RFID chip in that damn ring when he first had it made, it would have saved him and many others thousands of years of "looking for lost jewelry" trouble.

So what...

[UncleBiggims]

Wave a body part and get a drink? So what! Girls have had this power since forever. And for them the drink is free.

Bulky?

[clausiam]

..bulky items such as credit cards...

Yeah those pesky bulky 50x30x0.5 mm^3 credit cards - don't want to lug one of those around.

/Claus

Re:Easy access to cash & alcohol

[Bronster]

If you pass out, your RFID chip still works, guess who's buying! At least with cash, when your out, your done.

Huh? So you're saying that the bartender is less likely to accept that cash that someone lifted from your wallet than to accept your passed-out body being dumped on the bar to pay for the drinks?

Really?

[AtariAmarok]

It's not real? Are you sure? I have already paid $2,500 to go participate in an archaelogical dig on the Italian shores of the Adriatic in August to help uncover the foundations of Barad-dur. Hope this isn't some sort of scam, but I'd better check into this just in case.

Makes it easier...

[gosand]

Wave a body part and get a drink? So what! Girls have had this power since forever. And for them the drink is free.

In both cases, implants make this easier.

You forgot...

[fiannaFailMan]

to word everything as, like, a question? You know? "Like, I was like, down at the pool hall? And this totally cute guy came over? And I was like, Oh my God! I totally didn't know what to say? And he was like, 'whatever!'"