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Why One Man Got a Guerrilla RFID Implant

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.""

15 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Tattoo by markmcb · · Score: 5, Funny

    I knew I shouldn't have gotten that bar code tattoo... Idiot!

    --
    Mark A. McBride -- OmniNerd.com
  2. 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?

    1. Re:RFID tags can be faked by GreyPoopon · · Score: 4, Funny
      So he has traded something unique and personal for something that can be read at a distance, copied and used freely by others.

      "At a distance" in this case is less than two inches, although I'm sure somebody will use a Pringles can to make a reader that works at up to 1 km.

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      GreyPoopon
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  3. The drawback is by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Funny

    the store detectives in walmart keep stopping him because they think he registers as a case of beer.

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  4. 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.

  5. 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.

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    1. Re:What about jewelry instead? by pentalive · · Score: 5, Funny

      Stickem up! Gimmie your cash! Now!
      Oh and I'll take that Nice Watch too.

  6. FAQ by th1ckasabr1ck · · Score: 5, Informative
    FAQ from his website

    Q: can't they track you?!
    A: no. the read range is only 2 inches max. even with a high powered reader, the chip itself does not have the capability to transmit farther than a couple inches tops. this makes it very difficult to scan my RFID chip without me noticing, and it's definitely not possible to scan it just by me walking by a sensor or something. It has to be pretty deliberate.

    Q: what about GPS?!
    A: no. there is currently no implantable GPS technology. none. there are very oversized watches you can wear that do support GPS tracking, but they look like a dick tracy watch on steroids.

    Q: is all your information on there?!
    A: no. as stated above, there is only an 8 character unique code.. like 48e9s18f for example. the chip is read-only (you can't change the data on it) and what it does or what that string of characters means depends on what system is scanning it. the system I'm creating will use that string to ID me and let me in my house, my car, or log me into my computer. if you have your cats or dogs tagged with a chip, they too only carry a unique code, and the animal's information is stored in a central database. hospitals are looking to use this technology in the arms of people to link a person's ID with their medical records in the computer system. The medical data won't, at this time, be stored on the chip itself as many fear.

    Q: are you crazy?!
    A: sure, why not.

    Q: what about the mark of the beast!?
    A: well, last time I checked, this chip wasn't required, I won't be killed for not having one, I don't need it to buy/sell things, and with billions of unique ID codes (numbers and letters), I don't see how each unique code could be calculated in some way to 666. bottom line, if this ever becomes an oppressive technology, required by some government, I can simply take it out.

    - Revelation 13:16 - And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.
    - Revelation 13:17 - And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
    - Revelation 13:18 - Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (666)

    Q: how big is the implant?
    A: it's 12mm long by 2mm in diameter.

    Q: why the hand, and your left hand to boot?
    A: well, I reach for my car door handle with my left hand, and I can get used to opening my front door with my left as well. plus, being right handed, my left hand is far less likely to get crushed, mutilated, or otherwise damaged... and I'm sure granules of crushed glass, silicon, and other metals could cause health complications, aside from having a crushed hand.

    Q: did you do it yourself?
    A: hell no. a client of mine is a doctor and we traded services.

    Q: is this a hoax?
    A: come on, I have better things to do than make things up. Here's a quick video I took with my crappy pentax digital camera, showing basic operation. A friend converted it to a much smaller standard QuickTime file for me. Here's a large, high res picture of the implant site as of 03-24-2005 4:00pm PST.

    Q: I have questions, how can I contact you?
    A: you have to pass a test first. don't worry, it's easy. take the domain name of this website, remove the top level domain, replace the period with an @ sign, then type the name of the greek god of dreams, followed by the letters "inc", and then place a period and the letters "com". if you can figure that out, you pass the test.

  7. Unnecessary surgery by Monkelectric · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My first thought (as a diabetic) is, what a wonderful opportunity to die of an infection :)

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    Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

  8. Guys with implants by jokestress · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hate that guys are getting implants. Sure, they look good, but they feel hard as rocks!

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    Evil sig is livE.
  9. I've always thought by kpwoodr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Instead of SSN's (here in the States, as most of Americans, I'm ingorant of the rest of the world) I've always thought we should all be assigned a GUID at birth. If you can't remember it, well, you're screwed. Mine just happens to be:

    {EDB6154D-43E6-4707-B453-5FAB334B968E}

    With it being globally unique (theoretically), it would be nearly impossible to memorize anyone's other than yourself (I struggle to remember my wife's SSN). 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.

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  10. Re:From his site by SoTuA · · Score: 4, Funny
    <nit pic>

    <nit pick>it's nit pick, not pic.</nit pick>

  11. 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

  12. Re:explanation on the 666 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Emperor Domitian was a contemporary of St. John the Beloved. Domitian caused a massive statue of himself to be built at Ephesus, overlooking the marketplace. Anyone who wanted to get into the marketplace had to purchase and burn incense in worship to him. Once you had paid for the incense they used a warm blob of wax or a bit of pigment, making a mark on your wrist or forehead to prove you had paid. To worship the Emperor and to swear loyalty to your country were one and the same, considered inseperable. To say "I support our troops but not the Emperor" was sedition. When Christians refused to buy incense, they were asked "Why do you hate your country? Do you wish the Emperor dead?"

    Domitian also had a Greek chorus of 24 singers robed in white that followed him around. Ceaselessly they cried "Holy, holy, holy is our lord and our god Domitian who was and who is and who is to come", falling down and worshipping him. For more information about Domitian, find a book by Plutarch in your local library.

  13. Re:From his site by Rei · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Most people completely misinterpret that '666' number. First off, it's not just a number: it is a number *and* a name. The Greeks wrote numbers using letters, each letter standing for a number. Unlike our system where we use only 10 digits and use ordering to denote the significance of the digits, the Greek system had a different 10 digits for each power of 10. Since they ran out of letters fairly quickly, they brought in older letters that had gone into disuse.

    What Revelations actually says is that the number and name of the beast is "xi-chi-digamma" (digamma is also known as "stigma"). This is pronounced ks-kh-w (ks as in the x in "fox", kh as in the ch in "loch"). The xi is 600, the chi is 60, and the digamma is 6. This is *not* three sixes, like many people try and reduce it to; it is a six hundred, a sixty, and a six, combined to make the number six hundred sixty six. If you were to write three sixes in ancient Greek, they would be three sixes, not six hundred sixty six.

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