Slashdot Mirror
Privacy Threat in New RFID Travel Cards?
DemolitionX9 writes to tell us ZDNet has an interesting article rehashing the problems with privacy in future RFID-equipped travel documents and ID. The piece focuses on a recent speech given by Jim Williams, director of the Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT program. From the article: "Many of the privacy worries center on whether RFID tags--typically minuscule chips with an antenna a few inches long that can transmit a unique ID number--can be read from afar. If the range is a few inches, the privacy concerns are reduced. But at ranges of 30 feet, the tags could theoretically be read by hidden sensors alongside the road, in the mall or in the hands of criminals hoping to identify someone on the street by his or her ID number."
...What is to stop someone from "accidentally" bumping into you with their scanner in their pocket?
I don't preview or spellcheck.
Set off a Bomb when person id code 46465456456489715678984 walks by
There is off the shelf hardware that will allow you to read RFID tags (with varying levels of reliability) from ranges in excess of thirty feet. A collection of RFID tags produces a sort of constellation even if they are not unique. For instance, the guy who has the bottle of scope mouthwash, the bag of fritos flamin' hot, and the #2 philips screwdriver at this intersection is probably the same guy who has the same stuff at the next intersection. This allows you to positively track someone based on checkpoints, even without a unique RFID like your passport will be. Furthermore, even if some of the tags don't scan properly, the percentage similarity can be compared from point to point and you can get a fairly positive match anyway.
With Unique tags, then you don't need to go even that far, of course.
If you cannot imagine why this is a bad thing, then truly, you should read 1984.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
"Ground Beef a L'amerique".
Ingredients:
1 Terrorist.
1 RFID reader.
1 Pringles can.
1 Blasting cap.
1 Pound of boom-boom stuff.
Assemble recipe. Bake in broad daylight on side of road until American tour bus comes by.
Why not put a switch in the antenna's path? To use the card, you have to push a contact button to turn it on? That would stop passive scanning, right?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
How is this any different from someone stealing your passport now?
Because it's not even necessary to steal your passport, it's not even necessary to touch it. You can walk past someone at 25 feet and copy it. If you have an ordinary passport and keep it in a safe place all the time you can be pretty sure no one takes it without you knowing and if they steal it, you might notice it's missing.
Besides, if the RFID card is designed to be readable at 25 feet, it's probably possible to do so at a much longer distance using special equipment.