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RFID Drivers' Licenses Debated

Posted by michael on from the mylar-wallets-suddenly-popular dept.

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."

5 of 514 comments (clear)

  1. Oh great... by Jhon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    How would you feel about having an RFID chip in your driver's license?
    I wouldn't like it.

    How soon until you can buy a pocket ID sniffer/cloner? Or the plans become available on the latest 'warez' site? Great. Just by walking down the street 20 people can steal my identity...
    1. Re:Oh great... by GoodNicsTken · · Score: 5, Insightful

      RFID tag is not going to bounce back your life history. It's the equivelant of a barcode.

      The problem come into play when someone or some company can start collecting information about you, tie it to your RFID profile (because they will be in your clothes, wallet, cellphone, etc.) That could then be tied to your movements.

      RFID tags at the consumer level are a complete privacy invasion. All up for sale to the highest bidder. Who knows what kind of abuses will come out of this.

  2. Re:I wouldn't mind by hype7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    fair enough, you wouldn't mind.

    but I'm not getting Viriginia's apparent reasoning for introducing the RFIDs - "Virginia is considering just such a measure, largely because several of the 9/11 hijackers were licensed there". How would have RFID helped? It's a non sequitur.

    As I understand it, the issue wasn't that identification failed at the airport. So how would RFID have helped?

    -- james

  3. Project TinFoilHat by Catbeller · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How, EXACTLY, would the 9-11 attackers been stopped if they had been issued RFID drivers licenses? There is no sane connection. I can't think of any easier examples to prove that government and businesses are taking advantage of the 9-11 fear to lock us down. PATRIOT acts, car transponders, GPSed cell phones, RFID armbands, implants, RFIDed ID cards, biometrics... NONE OF THESE THINGS would have stopped those men from crashing those planes into the towers. But that attack is used to justify every possible wet dream of a police state.

    Now, onto Project TinFoilHat. If issued such a card, I will build a Faraday cage into a belt pouch, and there their assine tracking device can sit until a POLICEMAN asks to see it. I know damned well they can build RFID detectors that can work at great distances; I will not cooperate and being tracked on a giant Ms. Pac Man screen by whomever can afford the equipment.

    As for those of you who don't care about this, you are good Germans. What else can I say.

  4. A good idea but... by baudilus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    what makes you think that the people passing this law won't also make it illegal to purposely block or interfere with the signal?

    It seems to me that the proper course of action would be to prevent this from becoming law in the first place.