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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.'"

3 of 550 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Might as well paint your car 'Arrest me Red' by Trigun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  2. Re:Might as well paint your car 'Arrest me Red' by plugger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  3. Well let me be the first to say... by bechthros · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... 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.