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Why One Man Got a Guerrilla RFID Implant

Posted by timothy on from the better-than-letting-someone-else-choose-it dept.

Shannon writes "One of my writers just did an interview with Amal Graafstra, who just had an RFID implant put in his hand and has been building appliances for it to simplify and automate his life... "I guess I have my own Big Brother paranoia. Given the choice of Orwellian societies, I'd rather live in one based on RFID tags than fingerprints, DNA, or facial structure; an RFID tag system is easy to manage and opt out of, whereas DNA sampling or facial recognition, well, isn't.""

4 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. RFID tags can be faked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So he has traded something unique and personal for something that can be read at a distance, copied and used freely by others. What is the advantage exactly?

  2. Yeah right by metlin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    an RFID tag system is easy to manage and opt out of

    Hahaha! So you think - until it becomes absolutely mandatory and illegal for you to remove them.

    Or -- imagine -- systems which would just not function without an RFID implant, or harm you if you do not have one.

    What would you do then?

    Get over it, you're slowly losing all the privacy you once had. It's one of the prices we are paying for certain advancements (and obvious advantages).

    Whether or not you choose to have them - that would be your choice, at the moment. However, you really may not have the ability to make that choice a while from now.

  3. What about jewelry instead? by PxM · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Instead of going with a permanent implant, why not just get a stylish gold ring or watch or other thing with an RFID chip? I never take off my watch so it would give me almost the same functionality. Or maybe a false fingernail or something that is semipermament. This allows me to opt out without having to cut myself open.

    --
    Want a free Nintendo DS, GC, PS2, Xbox. (you only need 4 referrals)
    Wired article as proof

  4. Global identifiers make for poor identication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So when the identity thief goes to the dealership to buy a car with your id, when they can't recite the GUID assigned to you, they are instantly arrested and displayed hanging from their toenails in the town square for all to see.

    Have you ever mistyped your password? Would you like to be arrested if you did?

    What if the buyer is sick the day he goes to make payment on your car? What he's hungover? What if he's getting old, and his memories are fading? What if she's got dislexia, and can't visualize numbers, let alone memorize them?

    With it being globally unique (theoretically), it would be nearly impossible to memorize anyone's other than yourself

    You define "nearly impossible" differently than I do. :-)

    If you ask most people if they can memorize ten digit numbers, they say "no". If you ask them their best friends phone number, they rattle it off without thinking. People with a vested interest can write down and then memorize darn near anything. After all, you learned to memorize your number. Why can't someone else?

    What's to stop, say, the car dealer from keeping a copy of your global identifier (say, he's got a tape recorder in his pocket when you say it out loud), and then buying a vacation to Cuba with your identity?

    The answer is, of course, not much.
    --
    AC