RFID License Plates in the UK

An anonymous reader writes "The UK Government is studying license plates with embedded RFID tags. The plates can be read from 300 feet away and in rapid succession by readers embedded in the road or by 'surveillance vehicles.'"

Comments

Just Great...

[Lyssa Watson]

A key benefit of the e-Plate is that the tag provides an encrypted and secure ID code which is registered in the UK Ministry of Transport's vehicle database. This code prevents tampering, cloning, or other forms of fraud that can currently happen with camera-based systems. Additionally, the e-Plate is designed to shatter if anyone tries to remove or otherwise tamper with it, and the tag can be programmed to transmit a warning if any attempt is made to dislodge the plate.

They said that for DVD encryption too, but look where that got us. Eventually, someone, somewhere will find a way to tamper with it and the best the government will be able to do is, like always, use heavy fines to curb the spread, but it will be futile, just like it was with DVD encryption.

I bet I'll have the plate transmit "YHBT" within two years.

When will they learn?

Re:Just Great...

[BlackHawk-666]

Shh, Echalon is also likely monitoring your SlashDot posts as well. Actually, with all the CCTV, RFID on the Underground and other surveilance in place on your mobile phone, landlines, and internet connections I suspect we here in London are amoung the most spied upon in the world. Using a customer loyalty card (Nectar) is only going to make it worse since multiple companies can now aggregate your purchases across the whole chain . What is the modern world going to be like in a few more years when this stuff is omnipresent?

Might as well paint your car 'Arrest me Red'

[Trigun]

Tampering with plates is a bit easier to track than ripping your DVD's to PC.
Pass by a cop broadcasting l0s3r, and I'm sure he will not say, "Oh well, I guess we can't track him anymore.'

Re:Might as well paint your car 'Arrest me Red'

[Trigun]

And when they tie your plate RFID to a silver Land Rover and you're driving a blue Ka, or they pull you over for faulty plates and see a bunch of wires hanging out of your boot to the plate, the Government is going to be able to track you much easier in your 6 X 10 prison cell.

But don't let me stop you from tampering with your plate.

Re:Might as well paint your car 'Arrest me Red'

[plugger]

Do you REALLY think they have the time and/or manpower to read every plate, and them crosscheck it with what color the car actually is?

That's what machines are for.

but...

[www.sorehands.com]

This also gives the government (or anyone else who can hack into their systems) the ability to locate your car at any point in time.

Re:but...

[B'Trey]

It may not be possible to know the exact location at any given point in time, but how difficult would it be to put a reader at every intersection in a city? At every on and off ramp on a highway? The state now has a record of everywhere you went on any given day.

Yes, a helo can follow you around and yes, toll booths can track you from one to the next. That's a completely different thing than the state being able to say "Who? Hacksaw? What date? Hold on, let me run this query. Yeah, here you go. Here's a time stamped map of everywhere his car went on that day, every where he stopped, and how long he was there. Anything else I can do for you?"

Re:Privacy in the UK

[pubjames]

I think the truth is that people in the UK get upset about what the newspapers tell them to get upset about. There is very little about this kind of thing in the papers, so people don't get upset about it.

However, you can be sure that if the EU proposed RFID license plates, the newspapers would be all over it and there would be national outrage. People seem so concerned with opposing anything the EU does that they don't notice the things their own government is doing.

Done nothing wrong != nothing to hide

[Safety Cap]

Otherwise, I'm not worried about them tracking my moves. Who wants to track me?

This common thought is what is most dangerous. Right now you aren't concerned that they can/will track you, because you have done nothing wrong. What happens when tracking vehicles becomes legal, and tampering with tracking devices is declared a crime? "So what?" you ask, "It doesn't apply to me; I'm a good citizen."

A few years later, the govt requires everyone to carry personal RFIDs when out in public, 'for your protection.' You think, "that's not cool, but I haven't done anything wrong." So you let it happen. You probably believe the the few who bother to protest are in the tinfoil hat-wearing crowd. "Only people who have something to hide should be concerned," you assure yourself. Besides, nothing bad happened when the govt started tracking vehicles. "Alarmists," you think. So you swallow another one.

Then the govt decides that every room in every home should have a camera, 'for your protection.' At this, you balk: "that's going way to far!" you cry.

Too late. You didn't care when they put protection devices on cars, or on people, but why do you care now? Surely, you must have something to hide. "Don't worry," grins the guard, "they'll cure you of those subversive thoughts at the Ronald W. Reagan Memorial Reeducation Center.

Moral: Every right you abnegate while gaining nothing in return is another proverbial nail in your coffin. Unless there is a demonstrated benefit (Fox "news" saying there is does not count) for your tact acceptance, your acquiescence robs us all.

Re:Privacy in the UK

[misterpies]

Unfortunately, you're absolutely right. We have CCTV cameras covering most public places, we're about to get compulsory biometric ID cards, and now this.

Political debate on this has become monopolised by the law-and-order brigade. Any attempt to raise a protest about privacy and citizens' rights is met with one or more of the following responses:

1. If you've nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear
2. If you don't support us, you're helping terrorists/criminals/illegal immigrants
3. The "people" have no time for "bleeding heart liberals" like you (the favourite put-down of our beloved Home Secretary)

Funny thing is at the same time the government is taking away the last shreds of our privacy, they're talking about changing the freedom of information laws to prevent citizens from finding out what _they_ are up to.

Why don't the people react? I don't know. Maybe it's the incessant banging on from the press about the crime, immigration and terrorism. I'm starting to think it's because most British people couldn't care less about their rights so long as there's beer in the fridge and football on the telly.

Well let me be the first to say...

[bechthros]

... I told you so (although that sentiment's probably redundant by now). RFID apologists defense of choice is that the readers only work at a distance of up to 18 inches, IIRC. Well these work up to 300 feet. Meaning that as soon as RFID is universally accepted, I just get my hands on one of these 300-foot-range scanners, and go driving through the suburbs looking for the house with the most stuff to rob... And yes, I did read the article, and yes, they are battery powered, but so what? Creating a very small battery to go along with the RFID chip is a technical problem that's very easily overcome, just like the 18 inches limitation was easily overcome when many here declared vociferously that said limitation would make RFID all cuddly and innocuous.

The point is that everybody who said that RFID will never have a range longer thatn 18 inches have already been proven wrong, even before RFID has even begun to be implemented. You pro-RFID folks care for some salt with that crow?

The real point of the matter is that NOBODY has a right to see what possessions I have in my house. Not a stranger/burglar on the street, not the government, NOBODY.