RFID In Government Issued ID?

RFID! writes, "The Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee published a draft report that poured cold water on using RFID in government-mandated identity cards and documents (PDF link). But this met with some consternation among the DHS bureaus that plan to use RFID in this way and the businesses eager to sell the technology to the government, and now a vote on the report has been delayed until December."

Comments

It was only a matter of time

[PixieDust]

While I can see plenty of good, legitimate, wholesome uses for this, personally I think it opens the foor for too much. Though the same could be said of the current Bar Codes and Magnetic Stripes, they're not actually just sitting there broadcasting.

Personally I don't like the idea of RFID tags in much of anything. Too many things being tracked. When you see just how much information Corporate America has on it's customers, it makes you shudder thinking about how much the Government must have on you. It is odd, however, to note that occasionally the Industrial Espionage works better than the US Government's does.

stating the obvious

[frovingslosh]

They did a study to support their decision, they didn't get the result they wanted, so they are delaying the vote (can't have it now right before the election) and then will decide to do exactly what they want to do in spite of the study. Nothing to see here, business as usual, move on, don't protest or risk arrest.

hmm

[User 956]

The Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee published a draft report that poured cold water on RFID

That sounds like it would have shocking results.

Pwnership Society

[Doc Ruby]

So what? All the reports came back "DON'T INVADE IRAQ" and "DON'T MESS WITH TERRY SCHIAVO'S ANIMATED CORPSE" and "THE LEVEES WILL BREAK" and "FOLEY IS A CHILD MOLESTER" and...

Our Republican government is visionary. They're not distracted by polls or mere facts from government agencies... Republicans know government doesn't work, and they'll prove it to you every chance they get.

So welcome our Republican overlords, and their shiny new RFID IDs. Why should identity theft be limited to a few thousand wired Americans each day, when Republicans can bring us a Pwnership society?

!include <sarcasm.h>

[HoosierPeschke]

Boy, what will win, businesses pushing an underdeveloped technology or the sense of rights and privacy we as human beings have come to know and love.

Here's the reason Cato doesn't like RFID

[maynard]

From Jim Harper's blog post:

RFID offers no anti-forgery or anti-tampering benefit over other digital technologies that can be used in identification cards - indeed it has greater security weaknesses than alternatives. And RFID has only negligible benefits in terms of speed and convenience because it does not assist with the comparison between the identifiers on a card and the bearer of the card. This is what takes up all the time in the process of identifying someone.

He's saying it isn't any better than other card systems, and it doesn't solve the principal security problem - that of identifying the owner. I bet, however, that if one were to somehow solve the confirmation of identity issue - such as by injecting or surgically implanting and RFID chip - he might change his mind.

I think one could argue that Mr. Harper doesn't oppose RFID as much as he finds it impotent.

Re:Here's the reason Cato doesn't like RFID

[CortoMaltese]

All of the biometric passports and electronic identity cards use the same technology, namely smart cards, i.e. tamper resistant integrated circuit cards. There are contact and contactless cards, the latter of which are often referred to as RFID cards. Note that RFID smart cards have next to nothing to do with RFID tags. Smart cards have a processor, persistent and volatile memory, often cryptoprocessors and many kinds of shields for tamper resistance. Hacking them is quite difficult.

Contactless cards offer significantly faster communication speeds than contact cards and also the option to pick one card from many cards within the range of the reader.

What comes to security, there are two main vulnerabilities in contactless cards: eavesdropping and accessing the card without holder's knowledge is easier than in contact cards. In both points, the vulnerabilities can be overcome with protocol design. The card need not broadcast anything without setting up a secure channel and requiring holder verification (e.g. PIN). This is really not a fault in the technology itself, but rather in how it is applied.

If you needed another reason to clean house(s)....

[guisar]

Here it is. There's only one way to stop the madness- a clean sweep! So mark Nov 7th on your calendar and make sure to read the manual for the automated voting machine and of course, bring your ID. For your safety and convenience there's no need to stick it a slot or show it to the attendent; just pass it it by this handy reader.... We know who you are.

Ouch

[TubeSteak]

This report does more than just "pour cold water" on RFIDs

From the Executive Summary:

"There appear to be specific, narrowly defined situations in which RFID is appropriate for human identification. Miners or firefighters might be appropriately identified using RFID because speed of identification is at a premium in dangerous situations and the need to verify the connection between a card and bearer is low.

But for other applications related to human beings, RFID appears to offer little benefit when compared to the consequences it brings for privacy and data integrity. Instead, it increases risks to personal privacy and security, with no commensurate benefit for performance or national security."

"no commensurate benefit for national security"
Translation: This will not protect you from the terrorists.
And really, isn't that
A) the big goal of all these changes?
B) how everyone is justifying their budget?

C.f. Hollerith Cards

[Kadin2048]

RFID is a great technology in its place.

I've seen some automated warehouse and inventory-management systems that depend on RFID tags, and (if you're into this kind of stuff) they're the slickest thing you've ever seen. If your full supply chain uses tags, then there's no manual inventorying; as stuff gets unloaded from the trucks at a loading dock (by the pallet-full -- scanners can 'talk' to tens or hundreds of tags at once), it gets noted. When it gets put on a shelf, it gets noted. When an order comes in, the system knows whether it's in stock, and where's it's located. The picker (guys who pull individual items from warehouse shelves) can follow a wrist-mounted computer right to the location, and scan it as they pick it up. As orders get loaded on a truck to go out, they get scanned again at the dock doors. At every step in your supply chain, you can do this.

It's not quite a fully-automated warehouse, but it's pretty close. If you've ever worked in industry or retail, you can appreciate the beauty of such a system. All that real-time data; I won't say there's "no limit" to what you can do, because I don't want to start sounding like an ad, but there's a lot.

So really, don't blame the technology here. The gear is really good. The problem is that a lot of contractors, who want to make a few bucks from Uncle Sam, have convinced some govvies that this sort of data flow -- which is great when you're talking about cases of Rice Krispies or DVD players -- would be nice to have on all of us. The problem with "RFID" as people have come to think of it, is totally a social one. If you could somehow 'uninvent' RFID, put the genie back in the bottle, it wouldn't fix the real issue: that our government is currently obsessed with reaching down into the personal lives of individual citizens, either by accident or by design. A government which took more of an interest in privacy concerns, probably wouldn't think that embedding RFID tags in passports and drivers licenses would be a good idea. That they do, is indicative of a problem in government, not in the tags.

An apt analogy would be Hollerith card sorters and other indexing machines, in the early part of last century. They let people do all sorts of rapid data analysis and were indispensable to industry and government for countless projects. Yet they were also used by the Nazis, to greater or lesser effect depending on who you choose to believe. That a particular technology was used reprehensibly isn't necessarily a valid criticism of the technology itself; virtually anything can be perverted for ill uses.

So in short, don't blame RFID in general. It's a great technology, when used correctly, and its potential for abuse isn't any greater than similarly revolutionary systems were in their day.

Shocking?

[Kadin2048]

The Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee published a draft report that poured cold water on RFID

That sounds like it would have shocking results.

Depends on whether their cold water was taken with a grain of salt...

Summary of TFA

[Harmonious Botch]

For those who didn't want to read it, it says that too many senators objected to being RFID'ed. Particularly Mr.Foley, who is trying to turn a new page in his life.

RFID is only a supplemental technology

[unPlugged-2.0]

As someone who works with RFID regularly the report does not surprise me.

The biggest problem with RFID is that too many industries (government included) are implementing it because it is a neat technology. In reality it is great for some things but not so good for others.

I do think that RFID will eventually be good for adding more information and for use as human id's but only with a supplementatl verification system like BioMetrics.

But even just RFID alone is in no way less secure than printing a number on your passport that uniquely identifies you. I think that your passport number is a much easier counterfeit target than a chip in your passport.

If you just clone the chip it is very unlikely that customs will only want to check your chip and not the rest of your passport or your picture.

Next, babies will be microchipped...

[AriaStar]

...before leaving the hospital. I foresee this happening in the next 20 years, if not sooner.

EMP

[splutty]

This is why you need to EMP your newborn as soon as possible, just to be sure...

And RFID Passports in the USA a Reality Now...

[Lord Satri]

Other RFID stories right here. And let's not forget RFID Passports in the USA a Reality Now:
"Following this previous story, we learn from the Washington Post RFID chips in US passports are now confirmed. From the article: "Passports will come with a shielded cover, making it much harder to read the chip when the passport is closed. And there are now access-control and encryption mechanisms, making it much harder for an unauthorized reader to collect, understand and alter the data. [...] The Colorado passport office is already issuing RFID passports, and the State Department expects all U.S. passport offices to be doing so by the end of the year.""