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Michelin to Include RFID Transmitter in Every Tire
Posted by
timothy
on Tue Jan 21, 2003 07:22 PM
from the tire-trading-clubs dept.
from the tire-trading-clubs dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to the RFID Journal, Michelin (the tire manufacturer) has announced that it is planning on embedding RFID transmitters into every tire. The article states that 'the microchip stores the tire's unique ID, which can be associated with the vehicle identification number.' Let the privacy invasion begin!" If they're going to embed electronics in tires, I wish they'd start with tiny pressure gauges. (See also this story from a few days ago about the coming surge in RFID tags.)
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who ordered this? (Score:5, Insightful)
Congress did, I guess (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Don't Fuck with Homeland Security (Score:5, Funny)
put them in condoms, too.
Overheard in a tire store near you (Score:5, Funny)
or,
"Why does the rubber on this tire appear melted?"
Brings new meaning to the phrase burning rubber....
New slogan announced (Score:5, Funny)
Re:New slogan announced (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Next thing you know (Score:5, Funny)
The Law, and they do! (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, and to respond to the editors comment about how they should make tired that track tire pressure instead, they already do! [rfidjournal.com] (Is it okay for me to tell the editor to RTFA?
Re:The Law, and they do! (Score:3, Interesting)
The Ford Explorer tragedies were horrible. My friend's cousin was the fourth documented case in the state of Florida. If implementing technology like this can save one life, I say go for it!
Re:The Law, and they do! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:The Law, and they do! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh don't worry, we already are. If there's an invasion of privacy going on, Congress is somehow involved.
Oh, and Hillary Rosen.
Parent
bar code? something smells. (Score:5, Insightful)
Recalls are not driving this. It would be cheaper to do this another way and unique IDs are not needed for recalls.
Does anyone think it's cheaper to "invest" in all new equipment than it is to use established bar codes? Tell me why the company can't paint a nice little white bar coded serial number on the side of the tire? Everyone's got barcode readers and they would be more practical. How is a tire shop going to check the serial number of a single tire, when every tire in range answers?
RFIDs are only useful for others who have nothing to do with tire recalls. Does anyone really expect to be told that their tires are recalled? Most recalls are silent, you either find out about them on your own from paid advertisements or you don't. While it would be very nice for Michalin to contact me if my particular lot of tires is bum, I don't see what that has to do with someone being able to ID my car from a distance. If tire lot is all you need, why the unique number? Won't unique serial numbers actually impeed lot recognition? When tires are sold at a shop all the information the company needs to meet the stated goal is collected. After that, no one else needs to know who you are.
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One good product deserves another. (Score:5, Interesting)
Instant privacy.
Re:One good product deserves another. (Score:5, Interesting)
Mmmm. But will it be legal? Or could you be found guilty of circumventing (or distributing equipment to circumvent) a certified consumer protection device?
(I'd invoke the DMCA here, but I can't imagine how in the world even it could be used).
Parent
Re:One good product deserves another. (Score:5, Informative)
I suspect something on the order of 10's of watts (very low power) would easily do it. Even if it was on a harmonic of the original frequency, in which case you might get away with consumer hardware. Or, even something as simple as a strong magnetic field - you can make one of those if you have a coil and current.
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Swaping like grocery store cards (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Swaping like grocery store cards (Score:5, Funny)
Please, join the club.
Parent
Swapping tires... (Score:5, Funny)
They already do.
Park your car in a garage in New York City. See if you have the same tires when you get it back.
B-)
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Tinfoil Shielding.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Tinfoil Shielding.... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Tinfoil Shielding.... (Score:5, Funny)
Tin Foil Rims
Guarantees a fly ride for the paranoid gangsta. Oh yeah.
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oooh, let's network them. (Score:5, Funny)
Tire leftFrontTire = new Tire(props);
if(leftFrontTire.pressure > randomVar) {
leftFrontTire.implode();
}
Some Cars Already Have Pressure Warning Systems (Score:3, Informative)
Several cars already have tire low pressure warning systems. I know the Chevy Corvette has had such a system for the past decade, at least.
Boycott! (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously this is crazy. Yeah RF ID tags have a limited range and when pinged can reply with only contain a single large integer. However lets review:
Many cars pass through tollbooths, drive throughs, etc. frequently. Any of these locations could easily be fitted with RFID scanners.
Even if Michelin doesn't share their RFID info with anybody else, it would still be pretty easy for the tollboth to read out all 4 numbers in your tires and take a snapshot of your license plate. DING! And even if they DON'T know your license plate/make/model/etc they can still see every time those 4 tires roll past their scanner.
Now I have to microwave my tires before I get them mounted.
BTW this article involves your rights and is online, hence "Your Rights Online". Quit your bitching.
Re:Boycott! (Score:5, Funny)
Firestones are great except for that flipping over and blowing up part.
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Re:Licence plates (Score:5, Insightful)
The scary thing about RFID is that this process has the ability to become totally passive, and require no human intervention. RFID sensors can be installed in a drive through, toll booth, or stop light, add a little data sharing, and presto! There is an instant profile of your daily travels.
An RFID tag is like a doubleclick cookie without an optout clause.
Parent
Total Information Awareness -- Redux (Score:5, Funny)
So how is this a privacy issue? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:So how is this a privacy issue? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So how is this a privacy issue? (Score:5, Funny)
You are definitely right, it's absolutely absurd that they're doing this. Next thing we're going to be given an identification number that we have to prominently display on our car that is linked to our VIN that _anybody_ can see and find out information about us!
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Excellent (Score:5, Interesting)
Man, this is a terriffic idea.
Easy to disable (Score:5, Insightful)
This decision was mentioned a few days ago in the Times I think, and the intent to transmit tire pressures was specified. As for privacy problems, I think it's a little premature. Anyone close enough to scan your "tire chips" could just write down or photograph your license plate anyway (thouse red light cameras come pretty close), and soon enough with OCR traffic cameras will be able to record your passing. So anonymity in public is a fleeting thing anyway, and the Fourth Amendment won't stop it.
Also, it is easy enough to buy tires anonymously by using the green stuff.
To protect privacy, campaigning has to focus on the weak leak: The government. That the administration would even propose TIA reflects a serious problem already; privacy is the orphan right.
F1 cars have pressure gauges (Score:3, Interesting)
Cost a lot more then RFID tags, I'm sure.
RFID FAQ (Score:5, Informative)
More information can be had from Microchip [microchip.com], a leading manufacturer of RFID devices. A lot of this information is coming from their RFID Design Guide [microchip.com]
1. What is an RFID tag?
An RFID tag is a very small microcontroller and radio transmitter/receiver. They typically consist of a single chip and a single coil which behaves as an antenna.
2. What does an RFID tag transmit?
Most RFID tags transmit a single large integer number, unique to that individual tag. A serial number, if you will. Some RF tags also have a very small amount of ROM/EEPROM, and so could transmit a little more info and can even be reprogrammed by the "reader".
3. How are they powered?
The RFID "reader" device emits RF energy. The RFID tag receives this energy and uses it to power itself. It's a lot like an old AM crystal radio. The device transmits its number over and over at a very high bps for a high level of data redundancy.
There is a whole shitload more technical modulation theory and stuff that goes on here which I'm leaving out. If you aren't a ham or other radio type person it would probably be meaningless. Again if you would like more info, look here [microchip.com].
Re:RFID FAQ (Score:5, Informative)
The typical range is a few feet, a la Mobil SpeedPass or tollbooth EZPass. Think about how often you come within a few feet of something that could secretly house an RFID tag reader... The THEORETICAL range limit is a few feet PLUS line-of-sight. A high gain antenna on the reader could read tags from a great distance away, just like your Pringles can 802.11 antenna.
5. Aren't RF tags already on all kinds of stuff as an anti theft measure?
No. The RF tags at BestBuy are not ID tags. They don't have a serial number in them. They are ON or OFF. Take one out if you don't belive me, it's just a strip of metal, just like in library books. They are not active devices. An RFID tag is a COMPUTER with RAM and ROM and a data radio.
Parent
Look what happened to me (Score:5, Interesting)
We thought they were purely for access control, but we were in for a surprise. The management had fitted special sensors at the toilet and cafe doors as well as at the drinks machines and smoking rooms. We had no idea management had done this, we just though new heating control thermometers were being fitted.
Once our bi-monthly productivity appraisals came round we were presented with a detailed breakdown of our movement round the building. I was asked why I made 12 visits to the coffee machine in one day (all drinks were free) and why I once spent more than 10 minutes in the toilet,
What management had done was turn the securty cards in to tracking devices. Basically if we went within 4 feet of these sensors, it was logged. We had always assumed that the cards had to be within 2 inches of a sensor to be recognised, not so aparently. This whole setup was implemented to try and achieve productivity gains, in fact it did the opposite. A lot of people spent more and more time on the toilet for some reason and other people developed a habit of forgetting their cards and having to get security to release the doors remotely.
The moral of the story is what started as a innocent security system, turned in to a tracking system which caused people serious stress. I know my employers are allowed to know what I do on their time, but having to justify my toilet habits is my idea of how such technology as RFID systems can be misused. Incidentally, the system was switched off after the unions got on the case.
Re:Look what happened to me (Score:5, Funny)
You're telling me nobody flushed 'em down the toilet? That would be fun for the tracking system!
Or, a favourite. Buy a sandwich at the sandwich machine. Put the card in the sandwich's place. Heh.
No, no, best idea: Plant the card on your boss. When he chews out your ass, tell him to check his.
Parent
Refuting some common arguments (Score:5, Interesting)
1) You have to be 2 feet from the tire.
2) You already have license plates
3) This just IDs the tire, not you
4) No one cares about you
Now I'm not a paranoid freak, but these are just stupid arguments as I'll demonstrate.
1) When you pull through the drive through at McD's and the Bank, you are less than 2 feet and sit there for quite some time. McD's might like to now that VIN #12345 always orders a BigMac, and by linking your VIN to you, they know what you like.
2) Yes, but license plates can not be read without direct line of site, by a computer, for little or no cost.
3) This ties the tires to the VIN of your car, which IDs you.
4) The government may not be trying to track me down, but companies would love to have a way to track their customers.
Let's all not get too paranoid, but at least think things through.
Garage (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:tire gauges (Score:4, Redundant)
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Re:The ID'ing sucks... (Score:5, Informative)
The devices are powered by received RF energy, which the "reader" transmits. This isn't crazy, remember crystal AM radios? Did you know that you can listen to AM stations using a reciever that's powered BY the AM signal? Did you know that you can string a long wire parallel to the power lines and steal power from the electric company via electrical induction?
You can read ALL about commercial RFID systems at http://www.microchip.com/1010/pline/frequency/rfc
Parent
uh... don't be dense (Score:5, Interesting)
Now associate those numbers with your VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) which uniquely identifies your car.
Your VIN is already connected to things like your name, address, insurance carrier and so on.
So now you are driving down a street and any number of automated systems can know it is you (well, your car at least). So you have essentially been tagged like a spring buck.
Worse, but more interesting, a well equipt "ring" of duck-and-squat or similar con artists can now "interview" your car to see if you've got good rip-off potential.
Authorities can target and track you. Who needs racial profiling? The cop is asleep in his car when an alarm goes off to tell him someone meeting his favorite criteria is driving by. How about "that car is owned by a white person" listing getting your black roomate killed for borrowing your car?
Far worse than that, the piece in question is easily accessable.
If systems (toll booths etc?) start using this data for any purpose then I could "swap out" one of your tires and drive around "as you", possibly for days. When was the last time you *really* looked at your passenger side rear wheel? How about your spare?
In even legitimate cases ("Sure Clem, you can borrow my snow tires for the weekend...") of transfer you could become identity-entangled with who knows what...
Being made "trackable" is always a rights issue.
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Re:uh... don't be dense (Score:5, Insightful)
If you car is "suddenly" equiped with one or two liscence plates that each display a unique serial number by means of reflected visual light, well, that is "bad" from a privacy standpoint.
Now associate those numbers with your VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) which uniquely identifies your car.
Your VIN is already connected to things like your name, address, insurance carrier and so on.
So now you are driving down a street and any number of automated systems (OCR) can know it is you (well, your car at least). So you have essentially been tagged like a spring buck.
You car already HAS a unique identifier tacked on it, your liscence plate which is illegal to remove or alter. More, unlike RFID which requires a transmitter and close (very close in the scale and speed on whcih cars operate) proximity to operate, a liscence plate can simply be read with your eyes. It is tied to your registration, which is tied to your vin. With a liscence plate number and an onld analogue radio a cop can call up just about anything they need to know about the car in question.
Parent
Some Points on Effectiveness (Score:5, Interesting)
First, I've never heard of police cars being equipped with live OCR equipment. First you'd have to be able to single out the license plate text from that of the neighboring car, or a road sign, or even a piece of litter tumbling across your Line-of-Sight.
Second, the only reason to have such live OCR would be for aid in automating vehicle tracking. While the ACLU (or international counterparts) would be quick to try to plaster attention over this, people already consider it common.
Third, searches through public databases take time. It's not like they'll be able to identify you the moment their computer gets a lock on your identifying characteristic. Local caching would be prohibitively expensive for your average police department, no matter what the size of the city.
Fourth, there's really no range limit on how far away you could detect these things. Your effective range depends on the power being broadcasted at, and the sensitivity of your instruments. It being a digital signal makes the matter a heck of a lot easier.
Fifth, it might be possible to fry the RFID device by feeding it so much RF power that its circuitry melts. (I know I'd certainly try if I had tires or clothing that had these devices. I'd go park next to a high-power radio tower for a few hours.) There'd certainly be a market in devices capable of high-power directional transmissions. The devices are probably already illegal.
Sixth, the government is going to have a hell of a time passing laws prohibiting unlicensed transfer of RFID-enabled devices. And I can tell you that laws regulating the sales and transfers of something so common as tires (and, later, clothing, shoes, etc.).
Seventh, if you need an alibi, intentionally broadcast one of your RFIDs at, say, forty watts. (Talk about getting around a lot!) Or just send someone driving around with your RFID clothing, or driving around in your car.
Eighth, 1984 should have been titled 2005. People don't take it seriously because the things it predicted didn't happen by 1984.
Parent
Re:Some Points on Effectiveness (Score:5, Interesting)
RFID is parasitically powered from the interrogating device. Powering it from a long way away on a moving target seems hard.
Also, you'd need to be able to distinguish from multiple transmissions on the same frequency to recover the serial number. A very high gain antenna (parabolic dish) still has a beamwidth of >= 2 degrees. Being able to power the RFID devices from more than 10 feet away, and also receive the return signal, without giving everyone cataracts from the microwave exposure seems like a hard problem.
Most RFID systems are not truely RF based, but are magnetically/inductively coupled at a relatively low frequency. These are not going to have any kind of range at all, and a high gain "antenna" (directional electromagnet) would be huge.
Finally, vehicles move. Even a speedy RFID tag that transmits at 12kbps takes 1/46th of a second to send a typical 256 bit message (serial number + checksum + overhead). It takes 5-6 times this in practice to power the tag, interrogate it, and receive a response, in which time the car has moved >10ft at 60MPH. So even if you could have an ultra-high-gain antenna, it'd have to be significantly steerable, too.
I'm not very worried. Compared to a license plate/VIN this is nothing.
Parent
Re:uh... don't be dense (Score:5, Insightful)
Because "the man" asked them to. As flight schools had "no reason" to hand over their lists of students, as ISPs had "no reason" to hand over their customer info... Once the information exists, and law enforcement wants it, it can just ask for it, in these days with any or no excuse.
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Re:uh... don't be dense (Score:4, Insightful)
I have a friend who used to be a telemarketer, and he used to tell me all kinds of fun stuff about their lists of phone numbers they'd have to call. They'd get lists of people who just had children born to them from the hospitals, so they can be called up and offered parenting magazine subscriptions. They'd get reports from police stations about illegal possession of firearms and then these people would be targeted for sales of "guns and ammo." If the hospitals and the police are already willing to sell their lists, what makes you think that something as "reputable" as a TIRE MANUFACTURER won't sell theirs? heh.
Furthermore, although it is true that everything can be used for both good and bad, the greater likelihood is that it will be used for something bad or oppressive. The DMCA is a great example of what people initially thought would be a "good" law, but it turns out it prevents people from posting ads from newspapers on black friday and all other kinds of inane bullshit that the DMCA shouldn't even apply to.
If you give those "in control" a way to more-efficiently or more-effectively "control" the ones they're "in control" of, they're going to use this new technology or method exhaustively "for the greater good" even if it walks all over our rights, because it holds the illusion of making their job easy or making a human system flawless. A human system by its nature will never be flawless, because it is human, but that doesn't mean that those "in power" or "in control" aren't lusting after a "perfect solution" which will put them in the position to watch everybody and make sure they behave.
The more you take things like this lightly, the more you're letting your guard down. You need to believe that the only person that will protect you and your rights is yourself, and you need to believe that everybody else out there has wants and desires FOR or OF you which are completely counter to your own. Only by encountering all friends as enemies can you ensure that your personal privacy and security will be preserved.
Question everything.
Parent
What's online is: (Score:5, Informative)
What ends up online is where you are....
-
Where you've been
- How often you use your car to drive to the store
- The last time you parked near the XXX store.
- which gas stations you drive by.
- Who's house you parked near last night.
- How fast you drive down the '401, on average
- where you stop for "coffee".
- how far you drive on an average week
- I could proably even hunt down enough information to guestimate what your average milage is (and that's without knowing your credit card numbers).
This is probably a good time to be researching localized EMP effects on RFID tags.Parent
What it means to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Though I suspect that given the distances I drive here in Australia, it's unlikely to ever be a problem.
After all, they can't even maintain mobile phone coverage without a fairly hefty power input.
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More amusing ways to destroy RFID tags (Score:4, Funny)
How to destroy RFID's in 30 seconds [ev1.net]
For the Windows-media impaired, here's a much shorter MPG [corvetteforum.net] with the same idea.
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