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Make an RFID-proof wallet
99luftballon writes "If, like me, you're more than a little concerned about the privacy aspects of RFID there's a useful enthusiast's web page on making your own RFID-blocking wallet. OK, it's never going to win any prizes for beauty or garner fashion awards but should be effective and seems perfectly practical. "
I used to make duct tape wallets in high school but had a very bad experience with them. Most duct tape has a shiny backside that isn't very cohesive with the sticky substance on the underside. What happens is when these overlap or your design depends on these two surfaces to stick together, you get a mess.
:-).
Now, there may be some kind of duct tape out there that avoids this issue, I'm not sure. Maybe these guys would know which brand is best but my wallet nearly destroyed my license at the time. Essentially, you need to look for duct tape that will adequately hold against itself when you need it to. After years of sliding it in and out of my back pocket and sitting on it, the tape started to smear against the shiny part and separate. As a result, the goo (bottom ply) and meshing (middle ply) were slipping out from underneath the shiny part (top ply) and getting goo all over my cards and ID.
Essentially, it comes down to how many mils of adhesive you are working with. A lot of times, the more expensive stuff will have around 12 mils of glue which means that it is ideal for construction. However, this may result in more sliding and more goo seepage in your wallet. I would recommend something in between the range of 7.5 and 12 mils. You're not going to be concerned about tensile strength, just thickness and what the coating is on the back. If the coating is non bonding to the adhesive used, you don't want that tape!
The actual design can be very much up to you although the article does provide a link to a nice standard model. I would suggest to try to use as many whole pieces as possible and when you're thinking about the design, rely on adhesive/adhesive bonds instead of adhesive/polyethylene since the cohesion is vastly different.
So if you venture on this, for the love of god, RESEARCH THE TAPE! Honestly, I estimate the life of these things to be a month unless you want to also pay for a new license often. I think back to my dad's wallet which was this old beat up piece of leather with its seams showing. But he's had it as long as I can remember and that thing has taken a beating. There's a reason why wallets are made from leather.
Remember, if you can't fix something with duct tape and WD-40, you're just not trying hard enough
If it's not stuck and it's supposed to be, duct tape it. If it's stuck and it's not supposed to be, WD-40 it. If it's not broken--keep me away from it!
My work here is dung.
My father in law has a duct tape wallet. It's proven to be very sturdy and no oozing adhesive. My wife ordered it as a gift. The best thing is that when the wallet did wear in one spot he recieved great customer service from the company. They not only sent him replacement duct tape they sent him an additional duct tape wallet at no charge.
Metro Smartrip cards don't have any personal ID or financial information on them, and nothing else in my wallet has an RFID chip in it. (I'm not the original poster, but I thought the same thing when I read the article [ok, the summary].)
Besides, if someone's waving an RFID reader around my ass, I'd think I'd notice. These things don't have much of a range, you know.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Emvelope.com has a practical solution.
How's that? Will the laws of physics change?
Last I checked, a Faraday cage blocks radio waves, a critical component of RADIO Frequency Identification...
A foil gum wrapper opens up to the size of a credit card. I placed a wrapper in the card pocket of my wallet to keep my Amex Blue's RFID from being read. Unfortunately it blocks the rest of the cards in my wallet, and I have to remove my ID to get RFID door/building access. I'll take security over convenience on this one.
Most people don't know how scary Britain has become in the last 12 months. In addition to their other Nazi laws, only yesterday it was leaked that Blair is going to tap MPs phones.
There's two types of static bags. One type is coated with a soap-like film which attracts water, which creates a conductive film to disipate static electricity.
The other type has a dark blue appearance, and has microscopic thin layers of metals in parts of the layers. I do not know, but I would think that these metalic layers are too thin to conduct enough of the electromagnetic energy to foil RFID.
Ability to remove foil when asked by TSA means I don't lose my wallet the first time I try to board an airplane with it.
Not likely, actually. My wife is a former TSA employee (who couldn't stay on due to a health condition which precluded her from passing the now-required military medical examination), and from I've discussed with her, it actually isn't likely that you would lose the wallet. Metal objects can be taken on an airplane without too much difficulty as long as they can't be used as a stabbing weapon or a gun or something like that. For example, a wedding ring would definitely set off the metal detectors, but there's no reason you couldn't take it on the plane because it can't be used to kill anyone (well, it can for a specially-trained individual, but that's another story).
In fact, with the recent security changes made by DHS, it isn't likely that you would even get a small pocket knife taken from you anymore.
My blog
I'd say RTFA, but I don't think it'd help (it's light on theory).
Probably start here, then head here for some background on what is being done here.
Also, commercially produced inserts can be integrated into the wallet for excellent multiple card/picture storage and acetate can be combined with ducttape to create a clear pocket.
Bottles.