For those of you interested in privacy...

webecedarian · 6 Oct 2007, 05:16 AM

In an effort to get some more substantial things in this lounge beyond birthday greeetings...

Since there seem to be quite a few of you interested in privacy, I thought I'd mention a book that I'm reading, called: Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID, by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre.

I've just started - got past the funny foreward by Bruce Sterling, and began the first chapter - but it's already creepy. But I knew it would be.

http://www.spychips.com/

filtered · 6 Oct 2007, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webecedarian

In an effort to get some more substantial things in this lounge beyond birthday greetings...

Have to agree with that.

I consider myself to be in the top 5% of the "privacy concerned" ... ( an admittedly entirely non objective assessment ), however, objectively speaking, pretty much any book on privacy that can be read will be quite disturbing.

Privacy is a floating watermark depending on when you were born. I consider myself to be of the "maturing generation" thus my opinions and expectations will, I think, be considerably different from those who are 20 something.

drew · 6 Oct 2007, 03:15 PM

RFIDs are passive so you need to come near their equipment. So tanking Gaz or buying a newspaper or visiting something that has such a transponder? will detect you.

But isn't Mobiles like cellphones more creepy. They follow how you walk and when you stay and start walking again and every phonecall so. suppose you want to write a story about DRM and you meet another person to discuss this in a park or something and both of you have Mobile phones then the DRM autorities could give evidence you sat there together and the Surveilence cameras shows with better resolutions than they have today that this is so.

A bright future indeed.

RFID. Do they use encryption? could not one use device that detect them and you take them out of the shoes or clothes or whatever they put them in.

They need to be really close to be detected? within a yard. or are they better now?
I guess they put the transponders in every door or entrance?

David · 6 Oct 2007, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew

RFIDs are passive so you need to come near their equipment. So tanking Gaz or buying a newspaper or visiting something that has such a transponder? will detect you.

They need to be really close to be detected? within a yard. or are they better now?
I guess they put the transponders in every door or entrance?

I agree Drew. All things considering, likely the best place to locate one of these chips would be in a persons right hand or forehead. Then it would be easy to locate the transponder, so it would be able to pick up a good signal (from a person reaching or walking through a doorway for instance) then.

drew · 8 Oct 2007, 06:30 PM

The best place seems to be in the loose skin between lower arm and upper arm. Disco or Club Music owners do it for their members so you don't have to remember to take your Club Card with you.

Total security indeed.

theog · 8 Oct 2007, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webecedarian

How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID[/i], by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre.

Oh, wow... google is going to put rfid in a browser now? Oh, never mind, they don't need that to track your every move.... (sorry, could not resit.)

On topic...

Drew hit the nail on the head... we are already being tracked. You match a cell phone with credit card/debit card transactions and you can just about know everything you want to know about a person. Then maybe match those two things with web search/crusin habits and wow... you might know more about a person than they know about themselves.... no rfid involved...

My guess is, if we get anything like that, it won't be rfid... it will be a gps device... by the time we are talking, someone would have came up with a way to fit a small one under the skin and it will self-charge or something (maybe by movement?) lol...

Even then, the government won't have the manpower to use the data effectively.... or maybe google will invent a database to sort through all the data... something like that map they have of every connection on google.com in real time... that would be cool... Minorty Report. lol...

n5bb · 9 Oct 2007, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew

RFIDs are passive so you need to come near their equipment. ///

There are many types (and standards) for RFID systems. Some tags are passive, and some are active. Some tags transmit after the interrogator stops, while others use backscatter techniques to reflect a modulated signal back to the interrogator.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew

RFID. Do they use encryption? could not one use device that detect them and you take them out of the shoes or clothes or whatever they put them in.

They need to be really close to be detected? within a yard. or are they better now?
I guess they put the transponders in every door or entrance?

Again, there are many types of RFID systems, and some (but not all) use various types of encryption. The detection distances (for interrogators which meet regulatory body requirements) vary from around a centimeter to several meters. For example, I have several ID badges which open doors and otherwise identify me as a desirable visitor to certain sites. These commonly use a 13.56 MHz interrogator. I have a credit card with an RFID tag which allows me to make some purchases by simply waving the card near the reader. And I have a Toll Tag mounted in my vehicle which allows me to pay highway and parking tolls without slowing down. Transportation tolls are becoming popular for assisting with the sorting of packages in a warehouse.

There are both good and bad features of RFID systems. If you pet has an RFID tag embedded under their skin, it may enable them to be reunited with you in case they are lost and found by a veterinarian. There is R&D being done now in embedding RFID tags in people to identify certain medical problems (allergies, implants, and other medical conditions) to emergency room doctors. But you don't want someone to find out who you are from a distance using an interrogator containing a high power transmitter and directional antenna.

RFID tags are also widely used (at least in the US) for reducing theft in many stores. Many book and clothing stores make wide use of simple RFID technology for this purpose.

Bill

6 Oct 2007, 05:16 AM	#1
webecedarian Essential Contributor Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 483	For those of you interested in privacy... In an effort to get some more substantial things in this lounge beyond birthday greeetings... Since there seem to be quite a few of you interested in privacy, I thought I'd mention a book that I'm reading, called: Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID, by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre. I've just started - got past the funny foreward by Bruce Sterling, and began the first chapter - but it's already creepy. But I knew it would be. http://www.spychips.com/

6 Oct 2007, 03:15 PM	#3
drew The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,626	RFIDs are passive so you need to come near their equipment. So tanking Gaz or buying a newspaper or visiting something that has such a transponder? will detect you. But isn't Mobiles like cellphones more creepy. They follow how you walk and when you stay and start walking again and every phonecall so. suppose you want to write a story about DRM and you meet another person to discuss this in a park or something and both of you have Mobile phones then the DRM autorities could give evidence you sat there together and the Surveilence cameras shows with better resolutions than they have today that this is so. A bright future indeed. RFID. Do they use encryption? could not one use device that detect them and you take them out of the shoes or clothes or whatever they put them in. They need to be really close to be detected? within a yard. or are they better now? I guess they put the transponders in every door or entrance?

8 Oct 2007, 06:30 PM	#5
drew The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,626	The best place seems to be in the loose skin between lower arm and upper arm. Disco or Club Music owners do it for their members so you don't have to remember to take your Club Card with you. Total security indeed.