Slashdot Mirror


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. "

15 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Why would I want to do that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Then I'd have the inconvenience of having to remove my Metro Smartrip card from my wallet everytime I enter or exit a station.

  2. uhhhh...self defeating it seams by kryonD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So now I have to pull my rail pass out instead of just waiving my wallet or walking near the turn style...doesn't that defeat the point of the RFID objects you have inside your wallet.

    Why not just avoid getting the objects if you don't want to use them?

    --
    I've dirtied my hands writing poetry, for the sake of seduction; that is, for the sake of a useful cause. --Dostoevsky
  3. Yay! A tinfoil wallet... by Fred+Or+Alive · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...to go with my tinfoil hat!

    I really don't get the paranoia about this RFID stuff, they mostly seem like fancy barcodes.

    --
    10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
    20 GOTO 10
    1. Re:Yay! A tinfoil wallet... by Red+Flayer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "I really don't get the paranoia about this RFID stuff, they mostly seem like fancy barcodes."

      Fancy barcodes that have your personal identifying information them, and can be scanned surreptitiously by any lurker with the right hardware & software.

      It's kind of hard not to notice someone trying to scan the barcode tattooed on your neck (plus, you could just wear a turtleneck). It's when they scan the RFID tag in your wallet that you'll never know when THEY are watching you.

      /Tinfoil hat half-on, in a rakishly dashing tilt.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  4. Re:Which do you value? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, I'm willing to expose the massive, insured value of my Metro card to anyone about 3 inches away with the proper equipment in exchange for going through the device about 10 seconds quicker.

    And, in reality, it doesn't even matter, as the cards keep the value on themselves via smart chips. At worst, someone will erase my card! Oh no!

  5. Don't expose yourself by Saint37 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Don't carry anything with RFID tags holding information that you would not want to get out. If there is nothing to worth reading in your wallet the question is moot.

    http://www.stockmarketgarden.com/

  6. Wouldn't... by OneSmartFellow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    an anti-static bag, like most computer parts are shipped, in work ?

  7. A more practical approach by Etyenne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A more practical approach, if you are only looking at stopping cusual walk-by snooping, would be to carry a conventionnal wallet into a pocket lined with aluminium foil.

    --
    :wq
  8. Re:The Artist's Medium by XMilkProject · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In highschool I was a technician in the theater, and I can tell you from experience Gaff Tape is a FAR superior medium for wallet creation. (And clothing too!)

    --
    Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
    Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...
  9. freezer bag by willwarner · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It might be faster, easier, less glue-y, and even a trifle less geeky to toss the whole wallet into a foil-lined freezer bag, then fold that up and put it in your pocket. I think Ziploc makes them.

  10. Serious need here by AK__64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think this is a legitamate question that needs to be addressed by wallet manufacturers. There are uses for RFID that need to be shielded until I say that I want them scanned. I don't think a duct tape wallet is a long-term solution, so Slashdotters, get busy... Also, would it be possible for my card, whatever it may be, to be scanned twice at the same moment? What if I took an RFID scanner and lurked around a stationary scanner, would it be possible for me to pick up people's RFID info?

  11. Re:Effective, but hardly practical. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Article summary is a trifle misleading...I was hoping to see a modification to a real wallet, not a wallet made out of duct tape with foil added.

    That's because you have flawed logic. It mentions nothing about modification. The title simply states "Make a wallet."

  12. Lets get technical by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 2, Insightful
    So stop all discussion about the bloody stupid political implications or rants about fashion or the use of foil hats.

    What does it actually take to stop RFID from reading a card. What materials, what thickness, goes it need to enclose completly or not.

    Is there a way to generate interference so I could have a constant empty field around my wallet? A card that constantly broadcasts fake info?

    Would such a thing be legal? Is the spectrum this works in free?

    Oh okay, why should you want to? BECAUSE!

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  13. OMFG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful


    Patent!

  14. Re:Effective And Practical by Mikkeles · · Score: 2, Insightful
    'Line your wallet with adhesive-backed aluminum tape.'

    Available here.

    --
    Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.