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Hitachi's Tiny RFID Chips
paltemalte writes "Hitachi has just come out with a new crop of RFID tags, measuring only 1/20 of a millimeter square. That's 1/8 the size (in linear dimension) of Hitachi's currently shipping mu-chips, which are 0.4 mm square. The new chip's width is slightly smaller than a human hair. These chips could put an end to shoplifting forever, but they could also be used by a governments or other entities to 'dust' crowds or areas, easily tagging anyone present without their knowledge or consent. Will someone come up with a surefire way of neutralizing chips that may be on your body or in your clothing?" Hard to pin down a source on this. The article cites another blog, which points to an article in Japanese.
maybe this could be used to find all those lost children... just implant a tag and boom, instant kid finder.... not to mention the uses the government could come up with for this
Most RFID chips still have to be attached to a much larger coil antenna to make a tag that will actually work.
"Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
The people who are concerned about "crowd-dusting" have some valid concerns. It might be one of those nifty little ways of keeping track of who showed up at the protest march, or something like that.
On the other hand, I don't know what the effective range is on these RFID chips. If it is more than 30 feet, then I'd definitely worry. If it's less than 3 feet, then by-hand scanning or pass-through-booth scanning are the only ways of effectively managing that.
If it's between those two ranges, then... I wouldn't panic. Yet.
Strike while the irony is hot! -- The Freethinker
You could always wrap yourself in tinfoil.. but then again, you would stick out a bit more than usual.
Blerg.
Also, Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Jump in the microwave for three minutes!! Just make sure that your eyes don't start on fire.
"...but they could also be used by a governments or other entities to 'dust' crowds or areas, easily tagging anyone present without their knowledge or consent."
As we all know, you can't dust for vomit.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Well, during the discussion of RFID chips in passports, people were frequently suggesting that we throw our passports in the microwave for a few seconds to kill the chips. I'd imagine the same solution is applicable here, but for some reason I just don't think it'll fry- er, I mean fly.
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
Don't worry, we'll figure out a way to defeat these chips. Makeshift chem-warfare suits of some sort?
Today's lucky number is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
These tags are 1/20th mm square, correct? This means they are 1e-3/20 m = 5e-5m across. This corresponds to a frequency of 6 THz or for a quarter-wave antenna something like 6/4 THz = 1.5 THz. This is a very high frequency and not the easiest to make with existing technology (especially at significant power levels). This means that querying tags of this size is probably only feasible at short range using a beam that is directed at the tag as opposed to just looking in a vague region of space. Other companies have made optically addressed tags that push this direction even further but with even worse limitations. Also, at ~1 THz the attenuation due to dielectrics (or especially water) is very high and this limits the distance over which one can practically probe the chip.
Unless you use a large antenna (several centimetres squared) you are talking about a range of millimetres.
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
Maybe my tinfoil hat is showing, but the first thing that sprang to my mind was "Great, now they have a way to track cash transactions". RFID chips in the currency, readers in the cash registers so you don't have to worry all that much about distance. They'll sell it as a way to prevent counterfeiting.
Someone comes up with a new tech that could be used for something "evil" and people shit themselves? If you're truly worried about being RFID tagged, or having stuff you're shoplifting being tagged, get scanner, locate the spot and apply a neutralizer (electricity, magnetics?). So I think there's no cause for world-wide panic quite yet.
It's quite another thing with fiber-optic cameras, which are ostensibly used by doctors for gastro- and colonoscopies. However, there is irrefutable evidence from trusted sources that this technology is a trojan horse planed by the Tau Cetians and it contains a uplink feed. Now they don't have to abduct us to do anal probes, we do it to ourselves.
Hey how about this. Everytime we see a new technology, cause we are looking at this on the bleeding edge not like law makers, propose legislation outlawing those "bad"/Orwellian uses. So in this case, cool new chip, oops can be used to crowd dust, propose law making it illegal in the US for Gov/Private companies to use it like that and for kicks to sell to any other country for that purpose or if used for that purpose.
Are these the same people they are going to use the microwave passive weapon on?
That should fry those pesky chips!
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BE RFID
BE VERY RFID
the source is Fuji Sankei, an online and broadcast news agency in Japan. Although the article is short it does highlight the improvements made in miniaturizing the chipmaking process to 1/64th of its previous size. While this has implications for rfid and related paranoia (is it paranoia if they are really out to get you?) it also has some possible future application for various memory related microchip design... Im impressed
Hitachi's current product, the Mu-chip, has a supposed reading range of 400mm with a 54mm antenna.
Dunno what the proposed range and antenna requirements for the new chip will be.
An RF alarm at the door going off is NOT probable cause that a theft has occurred (since the dumb cashiers often forget to deactivate them after purchases, and due to false alarms). So any retails store dumb enough to allow its employees to detain a person based on such an alarm had better get their checkbooks out for false arrest, battery, and defamation claims...
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
You know, these damn things don't help find lost kids one bit. If a kid is lost no tag that basically says his name is going to be any better than the kid telling a cop his name. I think just about everybody in the world who can talk can pretty much remember their own name.
"Hard to pin down a source on this. The article cites another blog, which points to an article in Japanese." Stop promoting blogspam in the first place.
RTFA FFS. It has a link to Hitachi, in English:
No. No, they couldn't. As at least two other posters have pointed out, these need to be attached to a coil antenna to get any sort of range on them.
While the privacy implications of smaller chips are certainly distressing, claiming the government can "dust" people with a sort of "RFID powder" made up of these chips is FUD, plain and simple.
Let's hope that the Vrije Universiteit can get their RFID Guardian in production soon.
Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
Here's a scary thought :
You work for some branch of the Federal Government, and you attend a protest rally. You get "dusted", and when you show up for work the next day the RFID reader you walk through (in the metal detector you pass through) alerts your bosses that you were at the rally.
That information then effects your career, or worse.
I'm sorry, but if this is true , Hitachi has lost all of my respect (yeah, like they care)
On the bright side, a broad range RFID reader that oscillates from the lowest to highest frequencies could tell you if you were 'hot' , and possibly point out where on your body the 'flea' attached itself. I wonder if Hitachi will make those next? (If indeed there is merit to TFA).
Scary shit fellas. No doubt about it.
http://www.business-i.jp/news/sou-page/news/200702 140008a.nwc Using the cut/paste box at Google Translate we get:
.max
Hitachi, Ltd. announced that on the 13th, size 0.05 millimeter angle, thickness 0.005 millimeters succeeded in the development of the powdered worldwide smallest most thin electronic tag which is said. You aim toward the utilization of 2 and 3 years later.
At the same company, already electronic tag "mu tip/chip" in size 0.4 millimeter angle commercialization. It was used with purpose of prevention of forgery of the admission ticket of Aichi international exposition. It has succeeded in also the development in 0.15 millimeter angle in 06.
As for the electronic tag which was developed anew, besides the fact that refined technology of the semiconductor was utilized, with the fact that among other things the electronic beam is utilized in entry of the data to the baseplate, in comparison with the existing product size in 1/64 miniaturization. Record capacity guaranteed the same level as the mu tip/chip. In addition, with miniaturization that productivity 60 times it improves in comparison with the existing product, we have assumed.
"but they could also be used by a governments or other entities to 'dust' crowds or areas, easily tagging anyone present without their knowledge or consent." Going to a marketplace and being RFID tagged without your knowledge, so they can track when you go in and out of affiliate stores and subsequent visits to the same marketplace... doesn't that sound a little bit like cookies? (marketing guys love cookies). Even to the point of RFID tags only having short range, so you'd have to actually go inside the store that tagged you (or an affiliate to be read). Doing your laundry/dry cleaning would be like clearing the cookies in your browser.
RFID chips _need_ an antenna to work at a reasonable distance (say half a metre), and such antennas at usable frequencies (from the kilohertz to the gigahertz range) will have dimensions of one or more centimeters at least. RFID tags look very much like anti-shoplifting plastic tags or foil-etched labels, and they have similar weaknesses with respect to shoplifting. In particular, booster bags (e.g. foil-lined bags) will work equally well for RFID tags as they do for other EAS tags. The RFID vendors have been trying very hard to push their stuff to the mass consumer market for a few years now but I think replacing bar codes or EAS tags is the wrong market for RFID. However RFID works very well for a lot of other applications (say, electronic public transportation badges; tracking containers or large boxes; and so on...) so it's not pure evil as some want you to believe. Of course I don't want to get chipped.
As chips get smaller and smaller, they tend to become more and more sensitive to electromagnetic interference. ...the layer of insulation between a transistor's gate and channel is so tiny that a moderately sized EM pulse should cause it to break down permanently.
I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that the EMP needed to disable these chips would be of a lower magnitude than would cause damage to a person - unless maybe they have a pacemaker.
Perhaps make like the guys in Cryptonomicon and turn your doorway into a giant electromagnet?
I haven't put any microchips in the microwave recently, but wouldn't those cancel each other out in a sparkley manner?
Last time I was at the hair salon and got my hair cut and was covered with hair i could still see the hair in the spots on my body that the ending brushing didn't remove. So if the devices are they say "The new chip's width is slightly smaller than a human hair." you'd still be able to tell if you were just "dusted" and could then bloody throw a bitch about it to your political leaders. So Goverment doing this unbesknowt to you is a little absurd".
;)
However converserly being that they are that size putting them in your food without you knowing and using them as a tracking device for a short period is more pheasable, except for the fact that implanted tags need a reader that is adjacent to the chip so comsuming it i think your body would make it hard for them to get an good reading, but they could track your poop
We all know that RFID can be read from geosynchronous satellites - they have shown that in lots of movies. Also, those roving satellites that they can move around whereever they are needed. I'm sure you have seen that in movies also.
So, we have a micro-sized RFID chip that will let anything be tracked from orbit, easily and without anyone else knowing about it. This technology will soon be embedded in everything from the clothes we wear to the food we eat. That would be a really simple way to get the tracking devices into everyone, wouldn't it?
Of course we wouldn't want to interrupt our movie-tech fantasy here with even the tinyest bit of reality. So we can forget about RFID having an EXTREMELY limited range and requiring compariatively large antennas to work. No, no. We all need to be extremely concerned about the Government (any government) wanting to track individual citizens. And employers wanting to keep track of people every second of every day so they can be sure they aren't giving any help to competitors or making money outside of their regular job. And how could we be concerned if we bothered to learn about RFID and how it really works. It is much better to read blogs and scary opinions of people that are in the group concensus about how dangerous this is.
Remember, it is much better to be in a group of thousands and knowing they feel the same way about something rather than being the only one with the truth. Why, you'd be all alone then!
On the other hand, I don't know what the effective range is on these RFID chips. If it is more than 30 feet, then I'd definitely worry. If it's less than 3 feet, then by-hand scanning or pass-through-booth scanning are the only ways of effectively managing that. If it's between those two ranges, then... I wouldn't panic. Yet.
I don't think you've fully appreciated the potential for people to do nefarious things with technology of this sort. I'm not trying to be paranoid, but let's just say for the sake of argument that a government body was interested in keeping tracking of people who attended a protest (I know its far fetched but humour me). First, note that their method doesn't have to be 100% effective -those in charge will be happy with a system that identifies protestors with say, 60% efficacy. Second, note that it is not at all difficult for a government to figure out a way to get a scanner within three feet of somebody. Let's just say for example, passing a law that allows installation of readers on ATM machines, or on doorways in certain buildings. Sure, if you were worried about these privacy issues you could avoid ATMs and doorways, plus you would be safe 40% of the time (assuming the 60% efficacy number is realistic), but these are hefty prices to pay for the ability to attend protests. We should be glad that privacy advocates are kicking up a fuss about this technology -we have to keep on our toes to ensure that our laws and society allows this technology to come to fruition in such a way that our rights are not put in jeopardy. This is the concern -not what specific scenarios might or might not occur as a result of the technolgies induction into society, but what we have to do now to ensure as best we can that the door is not left open for bad things to occur at all. Given the nature of the technology we are discussing, concerns over privacy are well justified.
... Electromagnetic pulse closets. don't forget to leave your iphone on the nightstand!
-- kortex "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts"
If the range is similar to what you mentioned, then at best the law enforcement would only be able to know how many DVDs are currently in stock at Best Buy, tracking people with RFID would be kind of difficult with the shear number of devices using it unless these chips use a novel frequency.
You've got to be fucking joking. Try this: Go to rally. Go home. Take a shower. Problem solved.
from the source: http://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/030902.html
I don't know if "dusting" a group of people would work very well because after the event the tags would get on anyone that passed thru the area. You would get identified as being at the event when you simply passed thru after it was over.
The reading distance is not so much limited by reader sensitivity as the amount of rf-power received by the chip. The chip has to receive enough power to operate, albeit very little. Then the chip creates a modulated reflection, that means that the more power you transmit the more power you get back. The specified reading range is not a hard limit, you can get a lot longer distance if you use a reader that put out more power than the spec states. We read rfid chips at up to about 10 meters in optimal conditions with compliant readers.
If these are cheap enough, dust everything around you with every kind of RFID. They're not useful if everybody's got the same data, and multiple copies thereof.
I can't wait till they combine this with body glitter...
Man: Hi honey - I'm so glad to be done with that all nighter. Boy we sure had a lot of work to do at the office.
Wife: (gets out scanner) Oh yeah? Then who's Tiffany1456xoxoxo?!
The gubmint wants me to take a shower! oh noes!
That "dusting" remark made me wonder:
Can an RFID sensor read a tag if there are dozens (hundreds, thousands, tetrazillions) of tags within range? Like space junk, will the accumulation of RFID junk eventually render the technology useless?
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
..or at least we're darn well getting there.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
Why would they bother RFIDing the crowd when they could just spray them with Smart Water? The patrols with their hi-tech scanners could be replaced with ones wielding UV lamps.
I'm scared of numbers that can't be written as a fraction. It's an irrational fear.
Will someone come up with a surefire way of neutralizing chips that may be on your body or in your clothing?
Now who's the idiot laughing at basement-bound nerd like me?
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
These are resonant devices right? Extremely tiny ones. One decent pulse of RF at the right frequency makes lots of toast-dust. It might smell a bit funny, but they won't be resonant any more.
No need to neutralize RFID "dust" (if such a thing were really possible). Just coat yourself every morning with a good dose of random RFID tags and the government spy scanners will choke themselves silly.
Friend: "Dude, what's with all the dandruff lately?"
Me: "It's that new RFID-blocking shampoo I'm using. In addition to pro-vitamins and aloe vera, it contains thousands of random RFID particles that attach to my scalp. It also stops free radicals from damaging my natural curls, and gives me that extra level of metallic sheen."
Friend: "This explains why your hair sets of all the security alarms."
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
I'd assume that a washing machine and a shower would effectively neutralize the chips. However, I can't help but wonder about accidental ingestion of these dust particle-size tags. A chip that is inhaled might stick around longer than one simply present on the skin or clothing.
Legalize it.
To
Hmm, better also :
Wash your jacket (if you wore one, and never wear flannel to a protest rally), shoes, hat, backpack, etc, too, while you're at it
Then, hope, just HOPE the food you ate doesn't contain polymer coated versions of these that 'stick with you' until passed.
I'm kind of laughing at my own paranoia while writing this, the scary part is, this time its well founded. The only good that can come of this is millions of conspiracy nuts finally find the validation they've been searching for
Is there something about RFID that allows only a certain set of RFID readers to be able to read the chip? What I want to know is: how do I get an RFID reader? I want mount an RFID reader in front of my house and log all of the cars that come by, when they come by, if they are staying within "view" of the RFID reader for a certain amount of time (like, say, arriving an hour after I leave for work and leaving an hour before I return), etc. Pretty much every car is going to have RFID tagging in the near future, if only by way of the RFID chips being placed in new tired these days, so the only "hard" part will be correlating the RFID to a person's identity, but if the RFID can trigger a video recorder then this challenge is narrowed down. Also, I want RFID stickers and/or micro-darts I can surreptitiously plant/shoot onto the neighborhood brat's skateboard so I can log and record their presence and what they're doing around my house... and above all else: I want an RFID jammer! Why? BECAUSE I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!
RFID works by being activated via a RF field, then the data can be transferred to a RFID reader. The RF field/area isn't something that be a whole city, it's going to a be a small defined space. Sorry, you won't be tracking your kids with this technology just yet. Right now shipping companies use this to relay pallet information to their customers, they simply pull a pallet through a RFID frame which captures the pallet contents and relays the info. Walmart, as of a couple of years ago, is requiring their top 200 vendors to RFID tag each carton coming to them - which isn't exactly cheap!
Seems like the obvious solution, but wouldn't that be a pretty easy way to see if you've got one on you?
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
yeah, right. I've known some people over the years that would love for the notion of "shoplifting is impossible now", I promise as soon as these are available they'll be looking for ways to circumvent it. You know what, they'll find it. It'll probably be stupidly simple too.
Good idea. It would make a great companion to the Bollix jammer I just mounted on my car. Now I'm saving up for platcats and a cyberlink (+3 to hit!)...
FATMOUSE + YOU = FATMOUSE
I'm picturing the reception you get, showing up at a rally in Haz-Mat gear..
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
If this increases the rate of showering among our protest communities, I'm all for it!
For some reason, I find this incongruous coming from "Anonymous".
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
Spoken like a true anonymous coward.
That which is smaller than a flea and can track merchandise leaving a store (and marketed as such) is more than capable of doing as I described, you don't need to be a RF engineer to figure that out.
Think about it again.
I see a promising future in portable EMPs
You know, these damn things don't help find lost kids one bit. If a kid is lost no tag that basically says his name is going to be any better than the kid telling a cop his name. I think just about everybody in the world who can talk can pretty much remember their own name.
While there may be truth to what you say, it is also true that no amount of asking will get a 1 year old child to tell a cop (or anyone else) his or her name.
If you are concerned with the privacy implications of this stuff, I certainly understand; that deserves direct attention. However, your argument against this being a means of identification for children seems at least partly flawed.
"Go home. Take a shower."
What if you're a Unix admin?
"Your scanner must be broken... that's just dandruff from now showering for a week."
You're nothing; like me.
No need to buy anything, just build your own RFID zapper to get rid of those pesky RFIDs! Here is a recipe to build one yourself from the flash of a throw-away camera: http://itp.nyu.edu/everybit/blog/media/rfid-zapper .pdf
Not compliant with any FCC rulings though...
250 micron transponders available for years from here
http://www.pharmaseq.com/tech.html
damn i might actually have to do my laundry now. There goes my record...
Intermec has had tags that small for a long time. Chances are, you have a piece of clothing with one embedded/woven into it.
Eh, I'm not saying you're wrong, but consider this: a child is lost in a retail store. You ask the child her name. "Norah." Great! Norah, what's your mommy's name? "Mommy." Um.. yes, but what's her first name? "I don't know..."
I'm more inclined to think that a shoe is a better place to put an RFID tag that in the child herself, but just keep in mind that for the first year or so, a child can't say her name. And an unconscious child can't talk at all.
The Solution to most of your problems: Nudity
-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ *** http://www.mountainfort.com *** +-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-
tin foil hats?
This RFID chip was presented Weds at the Solid-State Circuits Conference, see the abstract on the bottom of the second page of this PDF: https://submissions.miracd.com/ISSCC2007/WebAP2007 /2007AP_Final_S26.pdf
add these to products to use to encode if recycleable. like the triagles on the botoom of plastics. gives you a valid reason to do RFID scans of all trash
dust everyone in the area.
scan at trash pickup
not 100% but good enough for governmant work
I don't know if "dusting" a group of people would work very well because after the event the tags would get on anyone that passed thru the area. You would get identified as being at the event when you simply passed thru after it was over.
Fascists don't care about accuracy (just look at how accurate the no-fly list has proven). If a few dolphins get caught in the net with all the tuna, that's the dolphins' problem.
Not that anyone reads these comments down here, but there is a viable *and* diy solution from my fav. feminine fabricator, ladyada. Essentially it's an RF jammer, and apparently it works quite well :).
After reading up on what it is, I think that I'll avoid posting direct links, as that might seem to be 'advertising'. I'm not sure, but I really wouldn't like for her to get fined with 11 grand 'cause of some over-enthusiastic fanboy...
Har?
I recall seeing basic plans online showing you how to use the flash circuitry from a disposable camera to neutralize RFID chips, the principle behind it is to use a coil of wire hooked up to where the bulb usually connects and put the RFID chip in the center of the coil when you press the flash button.
Has anyone actually tried 'building' and using an RFID 'zapper'?
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
You'd think that a tesla coil or something might be effective in disabling them? When the local science museum here (Scitech in Perth, Australia) first got their one (without a faraday cage) the cash registers in the store below all went on the blink...
In short bursts they probably wouldn't be _too_ damaging to human health either
Start looking for the "Microwave Safe" logo on your new protesting outfit!
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
"Attention Shoppers: We have a lost child by the name of Norah up at the Courtesy Desk...."
This has far greater and long lasting implications than just crowd control. RFID dusting could become a part of every day life in most urban areas and shopping malls. People moving through a dusted area would pick up the tiny tags on their clothes. When they pass above sensors, the tags would all chirp their IDs. By keeping track of which IDs move together, it would be possible to track the movement of individuals or crowds. When a person uses an electronic ID to make a purchase, witdraw cash or enter a building, their identity could be linked to their RFID tags and their previous locations. If used correctly this could be the greatest invention of all time for thwarting terrorism and crime. It could also be the greatest invasion of personal privacy by a government or corporation. The question always is this: Would you give up some of your privacy in order to get extra security?
Read the WSJ today (02-15-07). WallyMart and their vendors are having lots of trouble with the implementation of their RFID systems. And it's not really the RFID part, it's the integration with inventory systems, etc. that is the real problem. Meanwhile, Target and CVS are closing in on WallyMart. They are only a few percentage points away from WMs cost of sales and their COS is decreasing while WMs is increasing. Same issue of the WSJ.
What if you're homeless?
More importantly, what if you're a homeless unix admin?
I pretend to know more than I really do by mooching off google and wikipedia.
The sub-picoacre RFID chip has arrived: 0.618.