RFID Drivers' Licenses Debated

meganthom writes "How would you feel about having an RFID chip in your driver's license? Virginia is considering just such a measure, largely because several of the 9/11 hijackers were licensed there. Civil rights advocates are obviously unhappy with this turn of events, and it seems the ACLU has already taken the case. Proponents claim it would help law enforcement determine that you are who you claim to be and would make forgeries less common. The Federal government is also considering uniform 'smart card' standards."

Comments

Re:Oh great...

[Dr Reducto]

Just pop your license in the microwave. I think that kills RFID.

Even easier

[Engineer-Poet]

Laminate some aluminum foil to card stock with spray glue. Fold in half. Keep your RFID cards inside unless they're in use; the pair of ground planes will make it effectively impossible to get signal to or from the cards. If you want to be able to flash your card/DL without allowing it to be read without extreme difficulty, put foil on one side of a clear envelope or card holder and keep the card inside.

Another thing to do would be to make a reader-detector, to see who is trying to scan your cards surreptitiously. That would be a great way to embarass people and businesses trying to play Big Brother, and you might even be able to get such snooping prohibited by law.

Re:I'm Born 'n' Bred Virginian

[aardwolf204]

Who modded this funny? Maybe it was the tin foil keyword filter. I'm a Virginian thats seriously thinking about moving way up north if things get much worse.

Grounding is not required

[Engineer-Poet]

A faraday cage has to be grounded. A piece of aluminum foil in a cloth pocket is not.

Wrong. A Faraday cage does not have to be grounded to isolate anything inside, any more than a dipole antenna has to be grounded to radiate. What the foil surfaces would provide is a pair of "image planes" which suppress currents in anything nearby; a pair of them spaced closely is going to provide a very large amount of attenuation.

If you want an example of this, cut out a small piece of aluminum foil, one inch by four or so. Tune a hand-held AM radio to a strong station. Now put the foil over the housing near the loopstick antenna; the reception will die. Doesn't take much, does it?