RFID Tags To Track Foreigners, Identify Dead

An anonymous reader writes "U.S. security officials say they will use RFID technology at border posts with Canada and Mexico to track foreigners driving in and out of the United States. A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said wireless chips for vehicles would become mandatory at designated border crossings in Canada and Mexico as of Aug. 4. At the same time, British officials are considering using RFID chips to identify the dead in the wake of a disaster." From the British article: "...following the bomb blasts on the London Underground, the process of identifying some bodies - particularly on the deep-lying Piccadilly Line - became very difficult, with some families upset by the amount of time it took to confirm a relative had died. VeriChip advocates argue it could help in these circumstances. "

Comments

Slippery slope, people

[FunWithHeadlines]

Well of course a company with a financial interest in this field is arguing for doing this! What do you expect them to say, that this won't work?

The problem is the slippery slope. How would RFID have helped identify those poor victims in the London underground? Only if they had RFID embedded in them in the first place. So in essence that is what they are arguing for. It usually begins, "Just think of the chiiiiildren!" with visions of kidnapping scares. Nowadays it's the "but what about terrorism???" scare.

Yes, embedding RFID in every person on earth would aid law enforcement quite a bit. It would help you keep track of your kids, and you could Lojack them if they were ever kidnapped. On the other hand, just think how nice it would be for the government to track everyone they view as a dissident, or an environmentalist, or a Democrat (oh wait, it hasn't reached that point...yet). Just think how marketers would love to be able to track your movement so as to show you an ad as you approached their kiosk or store or billboard. Just think how useful this will be to stalkers!

You can make an entirely safe populace by placing everyone in solitary confinement in a vast prison system. But is that really what you want? Similarly here, there are indeed advantages to RFIDing the populace. But can we please think about all of the implications, and not just listen to industry arguments?

Ho-hum

[BlackCobra43]

Lobbying congress for RFID initiatives :
$200,000,000
350 million RFID chips :
3,500,000,000$
Tracking the location of every single potential customer at any time you wish :
priceless

Some things just can't be bought. For everything else, there's dirty politics.

Just outlaw tourism

[fyoder]

Does anyone else think this is a bit over the top?

Yup. It almost seems that the underlying message is that tourism is a threat to national security and should be outlawed. Obviously the whole tourist industry would be seriously pissed if it were just outlawed and tourists barred entry, but fingerprint them, tag them, etc, and eventually they'll clue in and just stop coming.

I had a trip down there (I'm in Canada) planned for November but forget it. I get the message. I doubt the economy of California will collapse for my not going, but I also doubt I'm the only one who will regard this as a discouragement to visit.

Re:Just outlaw tourism

[Greedo]

There is another article here about this initiative, worded slightly differently. One thing they mention is this:

By the end of this year, all Canada-U.S. border crossings will require that anyone travelling with a visa provide fingerprints and digital photographs as part of an anti-terrorism program, the American Department of Homeland Security announced yesterday.

I'm wondering if all that information is to be stored on the RFID chips. It certainly sounds like it, in which case this is just asking to be hacked for identity theft.

Also:

The use of biometrics -- already in place at 115 airports, 15 seaports and 50 U.S. land border crossings -- has so far blocked entry to 9,000 people, including 700 criminals, one of whom was posing as a Canadian trucker and was wanted in Germany for murder.

Sounds good at first. But wait: doesn't that mean that 8,300 non-criminals were denied entry? I'd be curious to know on what grounds they were turned back. Sounds a bit frightening to me.

But if the U.S. wants to become insular, fine with me. I'm not visiting again if I can help it.

(Out of curiousity, and not entirely related, what would happen if every country decided to stop all trade with the U.S. They are a net-importing economy, right?)

Quotes from James Madison

[smooth wombat]

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
_________________________________

If ever there was a need for someone who had the insight that this man had, now is the time.

I've a better idea

[91degrees]

Use these to track politicians.

If there's one group in this society I don't trust...

Knife-wielding RFID thieves...

[dpbsmith]

I hope the RFID chip gets implanted somewhere superficial and unimportant so that criminals don't need to hurt me too much to steal my RFID chip.

Not here in America.

[WindBourne]

USA has fought against the universal ID particular since WWII. Hitler used the universal ID very effectively against his internal enemies. Now, we have the patriot act. That allows a number of things.

1. It allows a federal agent (NSA,CIA, AND DOJ) to get a bench warrent to chase terrorists. The level to obtain it is now minimal (it used to be that you had to show cause, now you simply say that you need one due to suspicion; nothing more). Once the agent has the warrent, they are allowed to go anywhere or do anything without supervision.
2. If anybody is called on to give data (book cards, isp data, CC info, etc), then you have to give. If you do not, you go to jail (for something like 10 years). If you tell anybody (including the federal agency), you go to jail(again for something like 10 years).
3. And what is the review on this nazi like nightmare? a small oversight commitee. Almost certainly, it will be mostly composed of the current party in charge, with a few sympthoziers from the opposite party. Effectively giving us no oversight.

No, I think that you will find us old-timers fighting against this. With it, the gov. can track your every move. Go though a toll-road exchange, and the rfid records you. Go to the airport, and when you go through security, they know. My guess is that stores will move to rfid to handle their security. In doing so, the gov. will come into stores, and tell them that they need access to the computer - remotely. At that point, if you use a store, as you walk through the ant-theft, the feds. are notified.

And for those of you who say that it can never happen, well, I know ppl who are much older than myself. And they will tell you that we could never be attacked. Likewise, we would never allow a universal ID (drivers license). And they would tell you that the gov. would never be allowed to have an unlimited warrent. etc. etc.

And I knew a few that would tell that republicans would never break any law. They would never do break-ins or do cover up. Likewise, they would never trade hostages for guns. Nor would any American government keep a traitor in the white house who would out a CIA agent to help their own party; They all know that citizens come above party politics. Yes, these dead ppl knew that are gov. would not be like that. And yet, here we stand.

Not just tourism

[October_30th]

It almost seems that the underlying message is that tourism is a threat to national security and should be outlawed

Tourism, business, science,... you name it.

I, for one, would love to visit USA on a business trip, to participate in certain world class scientific conferences that are annually held over there and meet the colleagues I've got over there. However, even today I would have to submit my fingerprints and maybe some biometric information to enter which, at least in part, has held me back. If in the future I would also have to carry an RFID on my person at all times... no way.

Re:As Kent Brockman would say...

[imarsman]

As funny as that might sound, suggesting to Americans that the "number of the beast" is on its way in the form of RFID would probably be a pretty effective way to help kill this idea.