[Politech] RFID chips on marathon runners' ID cards? [priv]

From: Declan McCullagh (declan@private)
Date: Mon Jul 12 2004 - 22:07:10 PDT


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fun with RFID?
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:04:28 -0500
From: Parks <parks@private>
To: declan@private

Fun with RFID?

I recently went home to Hannibal Mo. over the 4th and saw an interesting
use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) - to track marathon runners!
Privacy advocates fear that RFID  technology would be used to track people
surreptitiously - that the RFID devices would be secretly placed on
products we normally use like clothes or even drivers licenses or license
plates.

RFID tracking people?

Its already been done. In the late 90s I read that a sub-dermal ID tag was
inserted in women with a Norplant like birth control device to keep track
of its useful lifetime on poor Asians (sorry I don't remember the country
where they used them.) Similar tracking devices are currently used to track
pets.

RFID tracking people!

I observed a "fun run" in which the runners got a number on a card and each
card had an embedded RFID tag. When the race was started they ran under an
RFID wire stretched over the road. The wire powers the device with a high
frequency signal picked up at the antenna which then in turn returns its
unique serial number. Everyone's time was tracked by running under the
wire. When they returned they ran under a different wire which recorded
their elapsed time. Since there were lots of people I could easily envision
almost any scenario where people could be tracked. All they need to do is
be herded through "choke points." Since this wire was about 10 feet high
and 30 feet long, it could be put almost anywhere without anyone noticing.
It could even be across or under a highway, at the door of a subway or bus,
or even at the entrance of stores or government buildings. You wouldn't
notice it any more that the device itself, which is small and might be
embedded in plastic.

New credit cards or ID cards may have the new flexible circuit embedded
into it. Exxon-Mobil promotes an RFID keychain fob which returns your
credit card number when you pass it near the pump or register. The fact is
that the machine has been purposefully desensitized so it wouldn't
accidentally read someone nearby and deduct money from the wrong account.
Are we going to be duped into accepting tracking devices at the peril of
our privacy for the sake of convenience? I think so.
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