[frogbong]

I'm becoming more interested in RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) technology as time goes on. This is the type of technology that can be employed easily in many different aspects of our daily life i.e. electronically harnessing passport/credit card information; this technology alone could very easily(in theory) facilitate a method to keep track of every consumer and their course of action through the course of their daily life, in real-time. With the ability of computers to save large amounts of data, the amount of computer networks currently monitored by government, and the fact that private or government owned satellites traverse the orbit of Earth daily implies this is quite plausible. It wouldn't be much for the higher powers of government to make anyone that owns/engineers any sort of technology to get in bed with them. Think about how the NSA likes to keep aggregated information on all of us; results trickling down from all sources(internet traffic, cell phone traffic, bank records), ECHELON, CARNIVORE?. As long as you're a consumer, information about you exists. Anyways, I read an article with a video that exposed information on how to capture RFID information. This guy hooked up a really nice RFID reader/writer in the back seat of his car with a big-ass antenna hanging out of the window. He drove around San Francisco for about 5 min. and obtained passport information(however I cannot find the previously discovered video). Obviously I want to hear what you know about RFID. Playful speculation is welcome; for I am not one who condescends.

Here is an expensive RFID reader/writer made by Motorola that runs WindowsCE(almost $1500):
http://www.product-c...orola/xr450.pdf

Here is a less expensive usb reader/writer made by DLP Design(Linux compatible - about $200):
http://www.ftdichip....s/DLP-RFID1.htm

This looks cooler though:
http://www.ioncannon...rototyping-kit/

Here are some other less-expensive RFID devices:
http://www.prlog.org...ay-devices.html
http://www.rfidcam.c...node%20V2.1.pdf

[zandi]

if you ask me, i'm more worried about idiots using RFID in places they really shouldn't. i'm not concerned about the government keeping tabs on me because as someone who has a job and pays taxes, was assigned a birth certificate and enrolled in social security, they already know i exist and probably a bit about me if they really cared. i'm not much a tinfoil hat kind of person anyways, so picking out RFID to draw the line seems kind of silly; there's already more widespread and useful ways to keep track of someone than trying to use RFID. also, like we saw with AT&T's retroactive immunity on the illegal wiretapping, if the government wants to listen in they'll do it, they don't give a fuck.

but as far as RFID is concerned, it entirely depends how it's used. i don't think they should contain any personally identifiable information unless there's an effective shielding for it, or button you have to hold to let the chip receive current. however RFID tags would be perfect for keeping track of objects, like school-issued laptops, or public bikes. in those cases it gives you an easy to use way to associate info with an object that's entirely passive. in the public bike example, whoever maintains them can keep track of all the bikes with serial numbers, and store info on the bike such as the last time it was repaired.

i guess what i'm getting at is the technology isn't bad itself, the application is.

[frogbong]

You are very right. However, we need to be prepared to subvert tyranny and protect our constitutional rights. They are already being violated with incoherent laws concerning computer security and other avenues in which there is no resource for effective reinforcement.