Not really new news but once again its in the news…
Chips in official IDs raise privacy fears
By TODD LEWAN
Climbing into his Volvo, outfitted with a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader he’d bought on eBay for $190, Chris Paget cruised the streets of San Francisco with this objective: To read the identity cards of strangers, wirelessly, without ever leaving his car. It took him 20 minutes to strike hacker’s gold.Zipping past Fisherman’s Wharf, his scanner detected, then downloaded to his laptop, the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians’ electronic U.S. passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he’d “skimmed” the identifiers of four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet.
Embedding identity documents - passports, drivers licenses, and the like - with RFID chips is a no-brainer to government officials. Increasingly, they are promoting it as a 21st century application of technology that will help speed border crossings, safeguard credentials against counterfeiters, and keep terrorists from sneaking into the country.
But Paget’s February experiment demonstrated something privacy advocates had feared for years: That RFID, coupled with other technologies, could make people trackable without their knowledge or consent.
-APNews
Read more at the link above for the full story. The Nanny State wants to know where you are.
just think walter,when real id becomes real id,they will know who has and hasnt had their flu shot or what ever it might be.they will then be able to send their goon squad out to get you for you will have no place to hide. just a thought,your friend,nick
Comment nick — July 12, 2009 @ 8:56 am
This man shows how easy it is to read passports and hack them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isKnDiJNPk
Comment goatster — July 12, 2009 @ 4:29 pm
Here, I found this info on the web…….
link
How To: Disable Your Passport’s RFID Chip
All passports issued by the US State Department after January 1 will have always-on radio frequency identification chips, making it easy for officials – and hackers – to grab your personal stats. Getting paranoid about strangers slurping up your identity? Here’s what you can do about it. But be careful – tampering with a passport is punishable by 25 years in prison. Not to mention the “special” customs search, with rubber gloves. Bon voyage!
1) RFID-tagged passports have a distinctive logo on the front cover; the chip is embedded in the back.
2) Sorry, “accidentally” leaving your passport in the jeans you just put in the washer won’t work. You’re more likely to ruin the passport itself than the chip.
3) Forget about nuking it in the microwave – the chip could burst into flames, leaving telltale scorch marks. Besides, have you ever smelled burnt passport?
4) The best approach? Hammer time. Hitting the chip with a blunt, hard object should disable it. A nonworking RFID doesn’t invalidate the passport, so you can still use it.
[Or don’t have a passport. It is very interesting how the USA leaders during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s taunted countries like Russia who had restrictions on citizen travel yet now the US government has degenerated to this same state of paranoia. Big Brother is alive and well. -WJ]
Comment Greg — July 17, 2009 @ 8:38 am