RFID chips

I saw today another thread where someone freaked out because his passport had an RFID chip.

I am an RFID expert (I recently worked for a company that makes those chips as a programmer), so I would be more than happy to answer your questions.

But before answering your questions, I would like to tell you: don't freak out! RFID chips are not tracking devices. Their operating radius is freakin' small, i.e. only a few meters.

I can see many advantages and uses to RFID chips, but I can also see possible abuses.

How is the new passport protected from being read by someone walking past you ?
Can wrapping your wallet in tin foil protect ID from being read ?

I am no expert, but I'm sure there are different kinds of RFID chips. Those with only close range and those more advanced. Or more advanced receptive centers.

I know I read some print involving DARPA and it seemed the technology was well advanced compared to what you have described.

RFID chips have been recently introduced into our trash cans in England. Its about an invasion of privacy that bothers people. And RFID chips can still be used to track people as technology gets better.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
I can see many advantages and uses to RFID chips, but I can also see possible abuses.

How is the new passport protected from being read by someone walking past you ?
Can wrapping your wallet in tin foil protect ID from being read ?

no, by passport RFIDs are encrypted. They have recently broke the encryption of some particular flavor, but the next version will have a stronger encryption.

Originally posted by interestedalways
I am no expert, but I'm sure there are different kinds of RFID chips. Those with only close range and those more advanced. Or more advanced receptive centers.

I know I read some print involving DARPA and it seemed the technology was well advanced compared to what you have described.

Well, there are various types (passive, active, low frequency, hi frequency etc) of RFID chips but none are so powerful so as that they can emit a signal to reach a satellite (because you need a satellite for worldwide tracking); in order to do so, they would need a freaking huge antenna.

Secondly, it would have to be embedded in your body in order to track your every step.

Thirdly, even if every one of us got one such chip under their skin (which I would not do, no matter what), there would still be a problem sorting out and processing all the signals.

Remember that cell phone networks work because not all of us try to phone simultaneously; if such thing happens (which it has in an earthquake), then the cellphone network drops dead.

Originally posted by masterp
(because you need a satellite for worldwide tracking); in order to do so, they would need a freaking huge antenna.

Secondly, it would have to be embedded in your body in order to track your every step.

An RFID chip could easily be used to track movement.....

How about a few checkpoints and discrete RFID scanners stationed at train stations, metro stations, fuel stations, grocery stores, day cares, bowling allies, parks, gyms, pubs, strip clubs, hospitals, etc...etc...

No super duper high speed low drag satellites needed Most people carry ID with them wherever they go anyways.

All you would need to scanners in the doorways of every public building, to "prevent shoplifting." These scanners are hooked up to computers and now a detaild map of all your movements is available to any hacker in some computer somewhere. Scanners in freeway express lanes or overpasses or even stop lights could go the same thing, maybe? How far can an RFID tag be read? Im gonna have to stock up on tinfoil.

If they know you go to the mall every other weekend, the movies on friday, and to school; then when you go to a mosque or a national monument or to another state, red flags are gonna pop up all over the place.

My cat is chipped (and the other one will get chipped soon.)

I've seen the scanner in action, and you have to get the scanning device awfully close to be able to pick it up. They had to run the wand within an inch of Tuan's neck to be able to read his chip.

So, it's not "stand 14 feet away (or even 2 feet... or one foot) and read things. If there were a number of chipped things around, they would all interfere with a clear and sonsistant read (think of rolling 5 items with bar codes across the grocery store scanner at the same time.)

hahah thats insane. So you chipped your cats just as an experiment of curiosity?

Originally posted by SportyMB

Originally posted by masterp
(because you need a satellite for worldwide tracking); in order to do so, they would need a freaking huge antenna.

Secondly, it would have to be embedded in your body in order to track your every step.

An RFID chip could easily be used to track movement.....

How about a few checkpoints and discrete RFID scanners stationed at train stations, metro stations, fuel stations, grocery stores, day cares, bowling allies, parks, gyms, pubs, strip clubs, hospitals, etc...etc...

No super duper high speed low drag satellites needed

Most people carry ID with them wherever they go anyways.

Although what you are saying is not impossible, it is impropable:

1) you'd have to link online all the places you mention. All the scanners should put the data in the same database.

2) it would be a long time before all the places you mention get a scanner.

3) you have to carry the RFID tag with you all the time; you certainly don't it to go the the grocery stor, gym, strip club, bowling, etc.

4) RFIDs can be easily shielded by wrapping them up in non-reflective materials.

RFID scanning is very difficult in reality. There are many cases where an RFID tag is in front of the antenna, but the antenna won't read the tag. This is due to reflections in the room, including all the materials of clothes etc that are near the antennas.

I recently read an article in the KC Star that Tom Ridge took a job partnership with Lockheed Martin developing and marketing RFID equipment.

Originally posted by SportyMB

An RFID chip could easily be used to track movement.....

How about a few checkpoints and discrete RFID scanners stationed at train stations, metro stations, fuel stations, grocery stores, day cares, bowling allies, parks, gyms, pubs, strip clubs, hospitals, etc...etc...

Kinda like the retina scanned society depicted in "Minority Report" (one of the handfull of not-so-annoying Cruise movies... and a damned good one, along with Vanilla Sky, IMHO).

What about the satellite tracking UPS uses? Is that RFID tech, or something different? Or did I completely mis-interpret the commercial?

Originally posted by Earthscum
What about the satellite tracking UPS uses? Is that RFID tech, or something different? Or did I completely mis-interpret the commercial?

Maybe it is a GPS mechanism; you can use that and find the position of the receiver with triangulation. I really doubt it is an RFID, because it would have to be a big antenna (bigger than a cellphone anyway - and cellphones can only transmit their signals to the closest antenna).

In any case, RFID is not a big evil thing, as many say. Of course it can be used for evil purposes, but it is highly difficult.

Power and Control
Power and Control
Power and Control

Evil? All in the "eye" of the beholder

is there a name for the program that implanted a chip inside every human being brain and makes them follow non chipped humans on the street. the implant is usually administered to the human when they are a toddler. is there any information about it such as the location of its facilities, the transmission frequency, the data relayed to and from the chip. has it been scanned by anyone (shortwave radio scanning).

reply to post by masterp


My opinion on the RFID chips is that at the moment they are not bad.. but i can see in the future how it could be used as the societys financial system. Its how you buy things, sell things, basically how you survive in society like we do today with having our money and buying our food and everything. And If it came to that, people would protest or not except these chips, and for those people who do not comply to it get their chips shut off.. and what that would mean is they would not be able to be a part of society, basically become a homeless person/bum.. It would be that simple.. so with this chip it would make society dependent on using them..
I am not an "expert" on RFID chips, but have done my share of research and that is my view on them and i do not think it is something our society should let in because if we let it in for whatever they say it is going to be used for, i can see it transitioning to something like that. And we would be enslaved even more to the system.
Here is a interview i watched with Aaron Russo( a former friend of Nick Rockefeller) and he goes into detail of the information he got from N. Rockefeller and he tells you what the plans for were for the RFID chips.. this was around the 90's im pretty sure, but somewhere around that time.

video.google.com...

Plz watch this video.. it not only talks about the RFID chips but also goes into some detail involving 911, terrorists and many other important need to know stuff.

Green Police: Miami Beach To Make Recycling Compulsory

www.infowars.com...

"...Mandatory recycling ordinances represent another example of how big government is exploiting the environmental movement to increase regulation and big brother snooping on Americans’ private lives.
Local authorities across the U.S. are using cutting edge technology to spy on the contents of people’s trash cans and issue them with fines for non-compliance.
“In a growing number of cities across the U.S., local governments are placing computer chips in recycling bins to collect data on refuse disposal, and then fining residents who don’t participate in recycling efforts and forcing others into educational programs meant to instill respect for the environment,” reports Fox News.
Such programs are already in place in major cities such as Charlotte, N.C., Cleveland, Ohio, Boise, Idaho, and Flint, Michigan.

In Cleveland, people who fail to recycle are flagged by the RFID chip embedded in their trash can, added to a database and then targeted by green cops who are dispatched to intimidate homeowners.

“We’re going to run reports on who this particular truck picked up from today and if it indicates on a consistent basis that your household hasn’t been recycling, then we have officers that I will send out … to check and see what’s going on,” Waste Collection Commissioner Ronnie Owens told ABC News..."

Originally posted by SportyMB
What about the satellite tracking UPS uses? Is that RFID tech, or something different? Or did I completely mis-interpret the commercial?

While all UPS's trucks are GPS equipped, and UPS knows where your package is at all times via their barcode scanners. So it would be a simple matter of updating a database with the truck number, or store location, then showing you the location of that truck or store.

My thoughts on RFID though is what is you had a powerful hand reciever? Could you read RFID from more than a couple feet away?