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RFID Industry Confidential Memos
Posted by
timothy
on Mon Jul 07, 2003 08:46 PM
from the just-look-away-citizen dept.
from the just-look-away-citizen dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Cryptome has learned www.autoidcenter.org (RFID flak) has made internal memos available for perusal at their site. Those RFID people sure have some interesting plans for the future. Who needs conspiracy theories, when you can hear it from the horses mouth? Weeeeee!"
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So when you walk into a store... (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder if govts will legislate to make it possible for us to op-out with these tags? Some tags maybe built into the products that it would be impossible for us to remove them. I think we need protection too.
Re:So when you walk into a store... (Score:5, Insightful)
So just dont buy anything you're not willing to throw in the microwave for 10 seconds.
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Re:So when you walk into a store... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So when you walk into a store... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So when you walk into a store... (Score:5, Funny)
that rules out pet shops...
'sorry timmy, poor lassie didn't make it through the deactivation procedure'
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Re:So when you walk into a store... (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem with opt-in is that nobody would ever opt-in. Even if you don't they will just say you did. Take all the opt-in spam I get. I never opted in for penis enlargement e-mail yet it says I did. Who are they to believe? The spammer said I opted in so I must've right? Yes, yes, I know, that's the point. Nobody would opt-in so the thing dies, but tell that to businesses. That's why opt-in will never be accepted by THEM.
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Re:So when you walk into a store... (Score:5, Interesting)
Such a device would be illegal under the DMCA. After all, a RFID tag is a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work, and burning them would be circumvention. Your "bug scanner" doesn't even have substantial non-infringing uses.
Parent
Fulltext of post (Score:5, Informative)
July 7, 2003
RFID Site Security Gaffe Uncovered by Consumer Group
CASPIAN asks, "How can we trust these people with our personal data?"
CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) says anyone can download revealing documents labeled "confidential" from the home page of the MIT Auto-ID Center web site in two mouse clicks.
The Auto-ID Center is the organization entrusted with developing a global Internet infrastructure for radio frequency identification (RFID). Their plans are to tag all the objects manufactured on the planet with RFID chips and track them via the Internet.
Privacy advocates are alarmed about the Center's plans because RFID technology could enable businesses to collect an unprecedented amount of information about consumers' possessions and physical movements. They point out that consumers might not even know they're being surveilled since tiny RFID chips can be embedded in plastic, sewn into the seams of garments, or otherwise hidden.
"How can we trust these people with securing sensitive consumer information if they can't even secure their own web site?" asks CASPIAN Founder and Director Katherine Albrecht.
"It's ironic that the same people who assure us that our private data will be safe because 'Internet security is very good, and it offers a strong layer of protection'
http://cryptome.org/rfid/questions_answers.pdf
would provide such a compelling demonstration to the contrary," she added.
Among the "confidential" documents available on the web site are slide shows discussing the need to "pacify" citizens who might question the wisdom of the Center's stated goal to tag and track every item on the planet,
http://cryptome.org/rfid/communications.pdf
along with findings that 78% of surveyed consumers feel RFID is negative for privacy and 61% fear its health consequences.
http://cryptome.org/rfid/pk-fh.pdf
PR firm Fleischman-Hillard's confidential "Managing External Communications" suggests a variety of strategies to help the Auto-ID Center "drive adoption" and "neutralize opposition," including the possibility of renaming the tracking devices "green tags." It also lists by name several key lawmakers, privacy advocates, and others whom it hopes to "bring into the Center's 'inner circle'".
http://cryptome.org/rfid/external_comm.pdf
Despite the overwhelming evidence of negative consumer attitudes toward RFID technology revealed in its internal documents, the Auto-ID Center hopes that consumers will be "apathetic" and "resign themselves to the inevitability of it" instead of acting on their concerns.
http://cryptome.org/rfid/cam-autoid-eb002.pdf
Consumer citizens who are not feeling apathetic will be pleased to learn that the site provides names and contact information for the corporate executives who oversee the Center's efforts. Since the phone list isn't labeled "confidential," we're assuming that Auto-ID Center Board members are open to calls and mail that might help them better understand public opinion on this important subject.
Anyone interested in speaking with Dick Cantwell, the Gillette VP who heads the Center's Board of Overseers, for example, can find his direct office number listed on the Auto-ID Center's website here:
http://cryptome.org/rfid/226691160-list_board_of_
To experience the Auto-ID Center's security holes firsthand, simply visit the web site at http://www.autoidcenter.org and type "confidential" in the site search box. The Center encourages such site exploration: "Our website has Research Papers and other information that anyone can download for free. There is also a Sponsors Only area of the site, which includes information and materials not available to the public at large. We encourage you to visit our site frequently to stay up to date with the Center's many activities."
Hopefully, the psyche will be turned-around... (Score:5, Insightful)
And MAYBE they will take back democracy from those who have stolen it.
Re:Hopefully, the psyche will be turned-around... (Score:5, Insightful)
This is not the fault of corporations, but of governments, which have decided to offer up portions of their power to the highest bidder. One way they have done this is to charter corporations. This allows the ownership of companies to be diluted to the point of meaninglessness, so that the owners' accountability for their companies' actions are zero.
p.s. This is not a US problem, but a world problem. The two richest women in the world are European heads of state with nationalized petroleum corporations.
Parent
Amish Folk == Textile Pirates! Run for the hills! (Score:5, Funny)
Well, the original article did say that...
Now, I was just about to post something to the effect that while it may well be a privacy negative, anyone who thinks it's a health hazard has probably caught Alzheimers from the aluminum in their tinfoil hat. (Which would be pretty hard, considering the Aluminum-Alzheimer's link has been largely debunked, but never underestimate the power of the placebo effect on a dedicated conspiracy theorist!)
But reading your post... I just realized... who are the real clothing pirates? Who's the greatest threat to WalMart and Chinese Hegemony? Who's the biggest threat the CIAA (Cotton Industry Association of America, oh what an appropriate acronym!)
My God! The friggin' Amish! Of course! The Amish are engaged in the rampant PIRATING of TEXTILES, and they're doing it RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES, RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA!
So yeah, if the research company did the polling in Pennsylvania, you can bet your ass that 61% would fear the health consequences of RFID tags. Hatch! Utah! Mormons! It's a MORMON CONSPIRACY to ERADICATE the AMISH! Gotta get the word out on Slashdot! Hey, check out that horse and buggy across the street, but that's weird, it's got two clean-shaven young drivers in white shirts, damn nice buggy, but the drivers sure don't look Ami{$4[[4][NO CARRIER
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disabling? (Score:5, Interesting)
Is it possible for end-users to easily disable an RFID? It seems to me some well-placed magnets, or hell, even the business end of a stable gun, should be able to knock out the RFID. How hard would it really be?
And yeah yeah, the evil government will make it illegal for us to do that. I'm honestly curious, not interested in conspiracy theory.
Microwave oven. (Score:5, Informative)
Hopefully the thing the device is embedded in won't be harmed by the microwave.
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Re:Microwave oven. (Score:5, Insightful)
Be careful what you nuke.
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Re:Microwave oven. (Score:5, Funny)
WARNING: Do NOT microwave shorts before removing them from body. Side effects could include actually reading those spams that offer to help you grow larger body parts.
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Re:Microwave oven. (Score:5, Interesting)
I view this technology much like the use of genetically modified foodstuffs, the technology itself has tremendous potential to make life better/easier, but I think that before we start intorducing these things to the market (a little late on the GM foods for that) we need a serious public awareness / education program. I simply don't trust corporations to use this sort of technology responsibly. Until there are serious and meaningful checks in place to prevent abuse, I strongly oppose the use of these technologies.
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Are you kidding? (Score:5, Interesting)
Maybe though, the courts will recognize how utterly detremental the DCMA (and the like) are to this free society. Yes we give up a certain amount of privacy living in a free society(apologies for the American-Centric) but this does not mean that corporations have the right to track us or our products.
Bite me to any business that thinks I'll buy RFID products, I'll make my clothes out of hemp and be the nut in uncomfortable clothes if I have to be.
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Re:disabling? (Score:5, Funny)
Nah... too easy.
What I want to do is reprogram the suckers so when they scan my clothing I will be wearing a alarm clock on my head, have a 12 pack of Gillete Razors hidden in my shoes, answer to the name of Rover, have my shots for distemper, but due for a booster on rabies.
~Z
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Re:disabling? (Score:5, Informative)
With your logic, a 2 watt cellphone would have a range of about 4 feet.
Just to put things into further perspective, radio enthusiasts have contests to see how far around the
You've fallen victim to some of the strategies outlined in the articles this whole story is about. You've been pacified into believing radio waves are severely limited in range. And you believed it. Even going so far as to try to convince other people that a half watt of power is insignificant for distances greater than a meter, which is completely absurd.
You're repeating a meme. You have been "pacified" according to the gameplan set forth in the memos.
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umm (Score:5, Funny)
Well, I can't now, thanks to Slashdot. Good job Slashdot, covering up RFID tag conspiracies.
Exactly! (Score:5, Funny)
They forgot something (Score:5, Funny)
- Identify potential consumer road blocks/fears.
- Construct a proactive framework to minimise negatives arising.
- Assess consumer reaction if press develop scare stories and develop best messages to pacify.
Sounds like they forgot one step: PROFIT!
Re:They forgot something (Score:5, Insightful)
This may have been modded "Funny" but it's actually quite informative. Of course us anti-corporatists have known this all along, but it's interesting to see these guys being so open and honest about their intent to "PACIFY" the "CONSUMERS". Look at any and all marketing today. It's all designed to pacify us in one way or another... to stun us, blind us, or numb our minds to what is really going on. The goal is to get us to be a bunch of nice passive cows, buying and believing everything we are fed.
When someone brings up a concern, or protests the action of a large corporation or government, the powers that be go into spin mode, "developing the best message to pacify" the people.
I'd love to see these Adolf Hitler try to run for president today. I imagine he'd hire these very same people to "construct a proactive framework to minimise negatives arising" and try to best pacify the pesky human rights folks...
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Not so bad (Score:5, Insightful)
Some people will happily ignore reasonable explanations and cling desperately to their paranoid delusion. These people cannot be convinced otherwise. Rather they need to be brain-washed to get that stupid idea out of their head.
The "green tag" idea sounds like genius.
But an RFID conspiracy seems a little far to jump. The technology is in its infancy. It's not in everything, the opposite is true. But rest assured that an RFID Tag Canceler is in the works to milk money from the privacy obsessed.
I may get one myself...
I wonder if there's a patent.
-tom
Yeah, like cigarettes... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's why I fully place my trust in governments and corporations to tell me what's healthy and what's not.
After all, everyone knows that smoking is good for you [worlded.org]. And there's no danger in mining uranium [canadiancontent.ca] or genetically modified food [purefood.org] or syphillis treatments [virginia.edu] or the drinking water [erinbrockovich.com], etc.
Yep, if a big organization says it's safe, that's good enough for me.
W
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Re:Not so bad (Score:5, Insightful)
Grocery stores give dicounts for those willing to have there purchasing patterns tracked.
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Re:Not so bad (Score:5, Insightful)
According to their own memos, the RFID has learned people do not want RFID. And their plans are to bludgeon people into accepting them until they become to prevailant to resist.
In this task, they've assembled a long list of people, including government officials.
Also, they mention specifically the usefulness of leveraging apathetic people, such as yourself, in forwarding the acceptance tags. They know the kinds of personalities in this game, and have a strategy for each of them. Personalities like yours are a piece of cake. Some people are just born to wear the brown shirt.
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Re:Not so bad (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Not so bad (Score:5, Insightful)
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Warm and toasty (Score:5, Informative)
Don't forget to put a cup of water in there too, to prevent mucking up the magnatron.
Mirror (Score:5, Informative)
The mirror is here:
http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~workmj/cryptome.org/rfid
More from the horse's mouth...wheeee (Score:5, Funny)
Well I went a-exploring:
Search for "1.Earn Trust 2. Collect Info 3.??? 4. Profit"
1 to 5 of 100 results for: "1.Earn Trust 2. Collect Info 3.??? 4. Profit"
Search for "We think we absolutely rock"
1 to 5 of 92 results for: "We think we absolutely rock"
Search for "You can't trust us with your personal data"
1 to 5 of 100 results for: "You can't trust us with your personal data"
God this is awesome... (Score:5, Funny)
To experience the Auto-ID Center's security holes firsthand, simply visit the web site at http://www.autoidcenter.org [autoidcenter.org] and type "confidential" in the site search box.
This actually works!
Color me convinced-- I sure can trust these masters of technology with embedding "green tags" in my clothing! I'm sure the info will never be abused or fall into the wrong hands...
W
Current contents don't show stupidity (Score:5, Interesting)
Admittedly, I'm too lazy to explore further, but it certainly appears that, at present, the "confidential" documents to be found aren't considered confidential any more.
That said, as I noted, I got 59 results; does anyone who hit it earlier recall more?
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You didn't look at the pages closely... (Score:5, Informative)
From the website search engine:
(Bold emphasis mine...)
Notice that this sample says "Confidential until September 2002". Now, unless you know for a fact that they were available for reading prior to September of last year, then there's really no problem unless they're talking about some sort of big-brother-esque system.
Now, this isn't saying that they're not. But, as seeing that Cryptome's
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Re:You didn't look at the pages closely... (Score:5, Insightful)
According to this article [com.com] the 500million tags that Gillette purchased "Alien Technology says its RFID tags can be read up to 15 feet away". And that is with the LEGAL readers the store is using. How far away can they be read with my illegal jiggawatt reader and directional antenna? How long will it take people to decode the 64-bit codes to determine which bits are brand/model/size/etc. and read the codes from great distances?
They do not plan on disabling the tags when you leave the store either since one of Wal-Mart's listed benefits for RFID tags is "hassle-free returns".
How long until I can point a directional antenna at your home and fire up my jiggawatt reader to determine if you have anything worth taking?
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Spoofing/Jamming? (Score:5, Interesting)
Good RFID Article (Score:5, Informative)
RFID chips are being embedded in everything from jeans to paper money, and your privacy is at stake.
By Scott Granneman Jun 26 2003 09:15AM PT
Bar codes are something most of us never think about. We go to the grocery store to buy dog food, the checkout person runs our selection over the scanner, there's an audible beep or boop, and then we're told how much money we owe. Bar codes in that sense are an invisible technology that we see all the time, but without thinking about what's in front of our eyes.
Bar codes have been with us so long, and they're so ubiquitous, that its hard to remember that they're a relatively new technology that took a while to catch on. The patent for bar codes was issued in 1952. It took twenty years before a standard for bar codes was approved, but they still didn't catch on. Ten years later, only 15,000 suppliers were using bar codes. That changed in 1984. By 1987 - only three years later! - 75,000 suppliers were using bar codes. That's one heck of a growth curve.
So what changed in 1984? Who, or what, caused the change?
Wal-Mart.
When Wal-Mart talks, suppliers listen. So when Wal-Mart said that it wanted to use bar codes as a better way to manage inventory, bar codes became de rigeur. If you didn't use bar codes, you lost Wal-Mart's business. That's a death knell for most of their suppliers.
The same thing is happening today. I'm here to tell you that the bar code's days are numbered. There's a new technology in town, one that at first blush might seem insignificant to security professionals, but it's a technology that is going to be a big part of our future. And how do I know this? Pin it on Wal-Mart again; they're the big push behind this new technology.
Right now, you can buy a hammer, a pair of jeans, or a razor blade with anonymity. With RFID tags, that may be a thing of the past.
So what is it? RFID tags.
RFID 101
Invented in 1969 and patented in 1973, but only now becoming commercially and technologically viable, RFID tags are essentially microchips, the tinier the better. Some are only 1/3 of a millimeter across. These chips act as transponders (transmitters/responders), always listening for a radio signal sent by transceivers, or RFID readers. When a transponder receives a certain radio query, it responds by transmitting its unique ID code, perhaps a 128-bit number, back to the transceiver. Most RFID tags don't have batteries (How could they? They're 1/3 of a millimeter!). Instead, they are powered by the radio signal that wakes them up and requests an answer.
Most of these "broadcasts" are designed to be read between a few inches and several feet away, depending on the size of the antenna and the power driving the RFID tags (some are in fact powered by batteries, but due to the increased size and cost, they are not as common as the passive, non-battery-powered models). However, it is possible to increase that distance if you build a more sensitive RFID receiver.
RFID chips cost up to 50 cents, but prices are dropping. Once they get to 5 cents each, it will be cost-efficient to put RFID tags in almost anything that costs more than a dollar.
Who's using RFID?
RFID is already in use all around us. Ever chipped your pet dog or cat with an ID tag? Or used an EZPass through a toll booth? Or paid for gas using ExxonMobils' SpeedPass? Then you've used RFID.
Some uses, especially those related to security, seem like a great idea. For instance, Delta is testing RFID on some flights, tagging 40,000 customer bags in order to reduce baggage loss and make it easier to route bags if customers change their flight plans.
Three seaport operators - who account for 70% of the world's port operations - agreed to deploy RFID tags to track the 17,000 containers that arrive each day at US ports. Currently, less than 2% are inspected. RFID tags will be used to track the cont
Let 'em know how you feel (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, if you're actually upset about this, take 5 minutes and drop them an e-mail, or better yet, send them a letter (like, on real paper). Or call them. There's several feedback addresses and mailing addresses. That's what I'm going to do. Don't think "oh, 50 other people are writing, I don't need to", because those 50 other people are thinking the same thing.
Politicians don't read slashdot. Hundreds of +1, Insightful posts don't mean anything in the long run, but if a politician receives several hundred letters telling him why this is a bad idea, he might just give it a second thought. Heck, call your local news program if you want. If it's a slow day, (or if it's FOX News) I bet they might be interested...
Problem solved. (Score:5, Interesting)
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Simple enough solution to problem.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Brian Ellenberger
With that kind of attitude... (Score:5, Informative)
Who do you think will win?
I guess you haven't heard of the ACLU, NRA, NAACP, AARP, or the various other special interest groups in this country. Special interest groups represent a group of people gathering their resources to fight for a particular cause. They can wield power as great or greater than any corporation. I'm not aware of any single organization that can completely turn an election like the NRA or AARP can. Corporations can only give money, but special interests can directly give VOTES.
You personally will not stop Walmart or Sears from implementing the tags directly in items but the EFF may! So donate and get involved!
Brian Ellenberger
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Renaming strategy (Score:5, Interesting)
The corporate legalists knew full well that anyone opposing a "key" would only know to refer to it by that particular name. If you change the name, the problem vanishes because now no one knows to object to it.
Torn (Score:5, Interesting)
This technology has so much potential. I want to be able to remotely pay and walk right out of the store without waiting 15 minutes to check out two items; but I know that they're just going to use my purchases to send me more advertisements. RFIDs can give us information on our environment and we give it to them.
And that's the problem, exchange of information. After reading that article, these RFID manufacturers are already showing their lack of concern and ignorance how to secure their networks -- it's like a company that installs IIS and never patches, they're that clueless. And this technology needs to be secured right the first time; the last thing I need is yet another report of a bungling tech company leaking credit cards. It's not an MMORPG, where you get 8 months to fix, rollback and patch. This time it's worse, because a crack will not only expose financial data, but expose your personal location.
Now I don't do much to attract the ire of governments or corporations; I pay my bills, buy my music, and live my life in security. I don't worry about the gov collecting my info, because the government isn't coordinated enough to figure out what to do with it even if they had it. As a small potato, I worry more about the honesty of my fellow citizens. Store employees get caught scamming credit cards, and now, do we get to look forward to the future criminal "warscanning" around the neighborhood with his radio sensor, instantly detecting what valuables you have inside your house...
Somehow, we the community need to express our concern that the proper precautions are taken. This technology is coming, and the market potential is great. As end users, we need to demand an open access system, so that we might provide the checks and balances to keep the system honest. What else can I say, but whether we need to demand the government regulates an open system, or we use market forces to drive it into oblivion, the public can't let this slide.
Sun Microsystems (Score:5, Interesting)
Sounds more like privacy stands in the way of profit.
RFID -- good and bad (Score:5, Insightful)
It's all the other tracking. We're talking about a potential record of everyplace a person goes. The government is clearly willing to abuse such information -- organizations like the FBI have abused just about every other piece of information they are given, and have never made any attempt at reform. And there's a resurgence of suppression and punishment of dissidents, including arrests and who knows what else.
I wonder if there is a way that we could safely use this, though. Off the top of my head, here's the laws I might propose:
First, all items with RFID tags must be prominently marked. I don't care if it's a "green tag" or whatever -- so long as there's no variety, and it's directly on the item (not on a label somewhere). Second, all RFID reading machines must be in plain site of any place that they can read, and must be prominently marked. Maybe a blinking green light too, or something -- make it a little obnoxious, and make the reader's intent very clear.
Violation should result in heavy fines, but more importantly, a revokation of the RFID license -- the license to tag things with RFID sensors, to use readers, and all of that. You should not be able to simply risk it with not labeling the items properly -- because in doing it you risk being shut out of the game entirely. And obviously creating these tags should be carefully monitored, as should be fairly easy to do, since RFIDs are all about monitoring -- unauthorized ID numbers should be easy to track. The readers, though, would be harder to track... I imagine it won't be too long before you could rig up your own reader if you wanted.
So... destruction of the RFID tag should also be fairly easy. All of these would be fairly reasonable, I think.
Of course, this doesn't keep the government from breaking these rules on its own. And any law the government makes against itself will be ignored and grossly violated, because that's what the Justice Department does. So maybe this wouldn't work.
"Confidential until" dates on Auto-ID site are new (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Weeee! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Interesting stuff (Score:5, Funny)
Whoo hoo! Now I'll have an easy means to do my thesis!
My topic: Tracking the migratory patterns of trailer-park-dwelling white trash with radio signals.
The meteorology people are probably thrilled as well... no more trying to put instrument packages in a tornado's path, just zero in on the RFID tag in Cletus S. Yokel's sneaker, and track it when the tornado sucks him out of his double-wide.
Parent
Or (Score:5, Insightful)
"For privacy, we can make the RFID chips annihilate themselves."
The word "auto-destruct" leads me to this interpretation... It doesn't make sense to talk about the "auto-destruction" of privacy but it makes perfect sense to talk about RIF chips destroying themselves.
Tim
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