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Hitachi's Tiny RFID Chips

Posted by kdawson on Thu Feb 15, 2007 01:05 PM
from the bugged-dust dept.
Privacy
paltemalte writes "Hitachi has just come out with a new crop of RFID tags, measuring only 1/20 of a millimeter square. That's 1/8 the size (in linear dimension) of Hitachi's currently shipping mu-chips, which are 0.4 mm square. The new chip's width is slightly smaller than a human hair. These chips could put an end to shoplifting forever, but they could also be used by a governments or other entities to 'dust' crowds or areas, easily tagging anyone present without their knowledge or consent. Will someone come up with a surefire way of neutralizing chips that may be on your body or in your clothing?" Hard to pin down a source on this. The article cites another blog, which points to an article in Japanese.
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  • What they didn't tell you (Score:5, Informative)

    by JesseL (107722) on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:10PM (#18026604) Homepage Journal
    Most RFID chips still have to be attached to a much larger coil antenna to make a tag that will actually work.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by JesseL (107722)
      To elaborate, there are RFID chips with embedded antennas but they obviously have very limited range. The other issue that should be recognized by people with concerns about "crowd dusting" is just how hard it is to build RFID systems that can handle reading lots of tags at once without collisions.

    • Most RFID chips still have to be attached to a much larger coil antenna to make a tag that will actually work.

      A nanotube coil antenna???

      • Its physical size would still be dictated by the frequency being used.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by ajlitt (19055)
          Lucky for you Hitachi mentions the frequency: 2.4GHz. Assuming this device uses a quarter-wave dipole, you're looking at a 6.5cm long antenna. That'd be pretty noticeable.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by sysopd (617656)

      Most RFID chips still have to be attached to a much larger coil antenna to make a tag that will actually work.

      The "new" RFID innovation for embedding in clothing etc is conductive thread antennae. The antenna is woven into the clothing or item and disguises as an ordinary thread. To be less conspicuous the thread can be woven into the label or a seam.

      Philips patent for a flexible fabric antenna [freepatentsonline.com].

  • Something to worry about... but maybe not so much. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Captain Sarcastic (109765) * on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:11PM (#18026610)
    The people who are concerned about "crowd-dusting" have some valid concerns. It might be one of those nifty little ways of keeping track of who showed up at the protest march, or something like that.

    On the other hand, I don't know what the effective range is on these RFID chips. If it is more than 30 feet, then I'd definitely worry. If it's less than 3 feet, then by-hand scanning or pass-through-booth scanning are the only ways of effectively managing that.

    If it's between those two ranges, then... I wouldn't panic. Yet.
    • Unless you use a large antenna (several centimetres squared) you are talking about a range of millimetres.

      • Re:Something to worry about... but maybe not so mu (Score:4, Informative)

        by sunwukong (412560) on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:27PM (#18026862)
        Hitachi's current product, the Mu-chip [hitachi-eu.com], has a supposed reading range of 400mm with a 54mm antenna [hitachi-eu.com].

        Dunno what the proposed range and antenna requirements for the new chip will be.
        • If the range is similar to what you mentioned, then at best the law enforcement would only be able to know how many DVDs are currently in stock at Best Buy, tracking people with RFID would be kind of difficult with the shear number of devices using it unless these chips use a novel frequency.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Djupblue (780563)
          The reading distance is not so much limited by reader sensitivity as the amount of rf-power received by the chip. The chip has to receive enough power to operate, albeit very little. Then the chip creates a modulated reflection, that means that the more power you transmit the more power you get back. The specified reading range is not a hard limit, you can get a lot longer distance if you use a reader that put out more power than the spec states. We read rfid chips at up to about 10 meters in optimal condit

      • I can't wait till they combine this with body glitter...

        Man: Hi honey - I'm so glad to be done with that all nighter. Boy we sure had a lot of work to do at the office.
        Wife: (gets out scanner) Oh yeah? Then who's Tiffany1456xoxoxo?!

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by DigitalLogic (599056)
      Are these the same people they are going to use the microwave passive weapon on?

    • Re:Something to worry about... but maybe not so mu (Score:4, Funny)

      by SnowZero (92219) on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:22PM (#18026816)
      you:

      The people who are concerned about "crowd-dusting" have some valid concerns.

      Summary:

      Will someone come up with a surefire way of neutralizing chips that may be on your body or in your clothing?"


      What you see as a problem, I see as a business opportunity: Everyone needs a SnowTech-1000 personal EMP! Protect your loved ones by protecting your anonymity, from corrupt governments, angry neighbors, and evil computer AIs. Pre-order[1] yours today, for only 3 easy payments of $59.95!

      [1] In order to protect your national security, we may sell this information to our sales partners, such as certain national public entities.

    • On the other hand, I don't know what the effective range is on these RFID chips. If it is more than 30 feet, then I'd definitely worry. If it's less than 3 feet, then by-hand scanning or pass-through-booth scanning are the only ways of effectively managing that.

      Here's a scary thought :

      You work for some branch of the Federal Government, and you attend a protest rally. You get "dusted", and when you show up for work the next day the RFID reader you walk through (in the metal detector you pass through) alerts

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by tinkertim (918832) *

          You've got to be fucking joking. Try this: Go to rally. Go home. Take a shower. Problem solved.

          Hmm, better also :

          Wash your jacket (if you wore one, and never wear flannel to a protest rally), shoes, hat, backpack, etc, too, while you're at it .. and also consider that only a small fraction of the population would even understand what the heck RFID is or does, much less knowing to look for a 'flea'.

          Then, hope, just HOPE the food you ate doesn't contain polymer coated versions of these that 'stick with you' u

    • On the other hand, I don't know what the effective range is on these RFID chips. If it is more than 30 feet, then I'd definitely worry. If it's less than 3 feet, then by-hand scanning or pass-through-booth scanning are the only ways of effectively managing that. If it's between those two ranges, then... I wouldn't panic. Yet.

      I don't think you've fully appreciated the potential for people to do nefarious things with technology of this sort. I'm not trying to be paranoid, but let's just say for the sake
    • I don't know if "dusting" a group of people would work very well because after the event the tags would get on anyone that passed thru the area. You would get identified as being at the event when you simply passed thru after it was over.

  • Neutralize? (Score:5, Funny)

    by zyl0x (987342) on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:11PM (#18026620)
    You could always wrap yourself in tinfoil.. but then again, you would stick out a bit more than usual.
  • Jump in the microwave for three minutes!! Just make sure that your eyes don't start on fire [prisonplanet.com].
  • Well, during the discussion of RFID chips in passports, people were frequently suggesting that we throw our passports in the microwave for a few seconds to kill the chips. I'd imagine the same solution is applicable here, but for some reason I just don't think it'll fry- er, I mean fly.

  • Small tags have inherent limitations (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:16PM (#18026706)
    These tags are 1/20th mm square, correct? This means they are 1e-3/20 m = 5e-5m across. This corresponds to a frequency of 6 THz or for a quarter-wave antenna something like 6/4 THz = 1.5 THz. This is a very high frequency and not the easiest to make with existing technology (especially at significant power levels). This means that querying tags of this size is probably only feasible at short range using a beam that is directed at the tag as opposed to just looking in a vague region of space. Other companies have made optically addressed tags that push this direction even further but with even worse limitations. Also, at ~1 THz the attenuation due to dielectrics (or especially water) is very high and this limits the distance over which one can practically probe the chip.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Umbrel (1040414)
      Besides there is the cost of the scanning equipment, I can see a supermarket putting it on their 2 or 3 doors, but for a goverment to track all the people the cost (I guess) would be too high. Of course a totalitarian megalomaniac will try to pay but increasing taxes or something but I don't think it would work anyway.
    • This is just the transciever chip; it has to have an external antenna. Elsewhere, people have discussed their current chip offerings, which have antennas in the ~50mm range. Generally they print them out in the shape of a labyrinth-like square, to take up less space, but it still increases the size pretty dramatically.

      I suspect if you took the same antenna and made it into a 3d cube instead of a 2d concentric spiral, you'd probably end up with something pretty small ... still, not "dust" size.

  • Currency Tracking (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Kaikopere (892344) * on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:17PM (#18026722)
    Maybe my tinfoil hat is showing, but the first thing that sprang to my mind was "Great, now they have a way to track cash transactions". RFID chips in the currency, readers in the cash registers so you don't have to worry all that much about distance. They'll sell it as a way to prevent counterfeiting.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by stratjakt (596332)
        And they're already there as a means of anti-counterfeiting.

        Do you really think our government is capable of putting into place the infrastructure you'd need to "track cash"?

        Every POS machine would need to have this "secert uber reader chip" installed, and have some means of connectivity to report movements.

        And still, they might know someone spend a particular $20 at 7-11 for a pack of camels and a bag of chex mix, but how do they track that to a who? I guess they install the video cameras with the face-ma

  • How would they put an end to shoplifting? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by unassimilatible (225662) on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:31PM (#18026918) Journal
    An RF alarm at the door going off is NOT probable cause that a theft has occurred (since the dumb cashiers often forget to deactivate them after purchases, and due to false alarms). So any retails store dumb enough to allow its employees to detain a person based on such an alarm had better get their checkbooks out for false arrest, battery, and defamation claims...

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by JonWan (456212)
      I have to agree here. I have one of these things in my videostore. It operates on 8.2 Mhz and goes off for almost no reason. Any piece of metal that is a multiple of the wavelength is will set off the alarm. Sometimes it gets so bad I just turn it off. The investment in this thing wasn't worth it as I have only had 1 (one) movie since 1986 that someone tried to steal by hiding it in their coat, I caught that one because I saw them hide it. I have many more movies go missing because people won't bring them b
  • "Hard to pin down a source on this. The article cites another blog, which points to an article in Japanese." Stop promoting blogspam in the first place.

  • EASY to pin down a source. (Score:3, Informative)

    by 1u3hr (530656) on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:37PM (#18026988)
    The summary says: "Hard to pin down a source on this. The article cites another blog, which points to an article in Japanese."

    RTFA FFS. It has a link to Hitachi [hitachi.co.jp], in English:

    The mu-chip is Hitachi's response to resolving some of the issues associated with conventional RFID technology. The mu-hip uses the frequency of 2.45GHz. It has a 128-bit ROM for storing the ID with no write-read and no anti-collision capabilities. Its unique ID numbers can be used to individually identify trillions of trillions of objects with no duplication. Moreover with a size of 0.4mm square, the mu-chip is small enough to be attached to a variety of minute objects including embedding in paper.

  • they could also be used by a governments or other entities to 'dust' crowds or areas


    No. No, they couldn't. As at least two other posters have pointed out, these need to be attached to a coil antenna to get any sort of range on them.

    While the privacy implications of smaller chips are certainly distressing, claiming the government can "dust" people with a sort of "RFID powder" made up of these chips is FUD, plain and simple.
  • Let's hope that the Vrije Universiteit can get their RFID Guardian [rfidguardian.org] in production soon.
  • As chips get smaller and smaller, they tend to become more and more sensitive to electromagnetic interference. ...the layer of insulation between a transistor's gate and channel is so tiny that a moderately sized EM pulse should cause it to break down permanently.

    I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that the EMP needed to disable these chips would be of a lower magnitude than would cause damage to a person - unless maybe they have a pacemaker.

    Perhaps make like the guys in Cryptonomicon and turn your doo

  • Let's see here... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by cdrguru (88047) on Thursday February 15 2007, @01:58PM (#18027292) Homepage
    We all know that RFID can be read from geosynchronous satellites - they have shown that in lots of movies. Also, those roving satellites that they can move around whereever they are needed. I'm sure you have seen that in movies also.

    So, we have a micro-sized RFID chip that will let anything be tracked from orbit, easily and without anyone else knowing about it. This technology will soon be embedded in everything from the clothes we wear to the food we eat. That would be a really simple way to get the tracking devices into everyone, wouldn't it?

    Of course we wouldn't want to interrupt our movie-tech fantasy here with even the tinyest bit of reality. So we can forget about RFID having an EXTREMELY limited range and requiring compariatively large antennas to work. No, no. We all need to be extremely concerned about the Government (any government) wanting to track individual citizens. And employers wanting to keep track of people every second of every day so they can be sure they aren't giving any help to competitors or making money outside of their regular job. And how could we be concerned if we bothered to learn about RFID and how it really works. It is much better to read blogs and scary opinions of people that are in the group concensus about how dangerous this is.

    Remember, it is much better to be in a group of thousands and knowing they feel the same way about something rather than being the only one with the truth. Why, you'd be all alone then!
  • That "dusting" remark made me wonder:

    Can an RFID sensor read a tag if there are dozens (hundreds, thousands, tetrazillions) of tags within range? Like space junk, will the accumulation of RFID junk eventually render the technology useless?

  • The obvious solution: RFID spam (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dekortage (697532) on Thursday February 15 2007, @02:49PM (#18028350) Homepage

    No need to neutralize RFID "dust" (if such a thing were really possible). Just coat yourself every morning with a good dose of random RFID tags and the government spy scanners will choke themselves silly.

    Friend: "Dude, what's with all the dandruff lately?"
    Me: "It's that new RFID-blocking shampoo I'm using. In addition to pro-vitamins and aloe vera, it contains thousands of random RFID particles that attach to my scalp. It also stops free radicals from damaging my natural curls, and gives me that extra level of metallic sheen."
    Friend: "This explains why your hair sets of all the security alarms."

    • Not really - the range on RFID chips is pretty small, you'd have to have readers installed everywhere, and privacy groups would be up in arms about that (not that they aren't already up in arms about the issue of RFID slowly pervading many aspects of daily life).
      • Maybe the GP was thinking more along the lines of a multiple birth or George Foreman type situation: "George *beep* IV go and clean your room!"

      • you'd have to have readers installed everywhere
        Well then, people would only allow that if there was some kind of boogey man so scary that they would gladly give up their freedoms at the slightest assurance that this will protect them. Of course, first you'd want to implement full deployment of a more conventional surveillance technology... CCTV cameras, for instance. But, you're right, privacy advocates old be up in arms about that, it'll never happen.
      • "Not really - the range on RFID chips is pretty small, you'd have to have readers installed everywhere"

        Shhh!!! This is just a great excuse for us geeks to tell some girl trying to hide out that she should strip down and get in my shower for a full body scrub down! ;)

        I can so see that happening in the next great futuristic thriller suspense movie like Minority Report.

        • A 0.05mm square is 1/64th the size of a 0.4mm square, not 1/8th. Did submitter fail geometry class or something?
          Apparently he paid better attention in that class than you did to the summary:
          ...measuring only 1/20 of a millimeter square. That's 1/8 the size (in linear dimension)
    • nah--more likely it will just increase thieves' tendencies to put their kidnapped "treasures" inside lead boxes. That doesn't sound good for the children.

    • Fighting back with RFID readers (Score:5, Funny)

      by parvenu74 (310712) on Thursday February 15 2007, @02:59PM (#18028540)
      Is there something about RFID that allows only a certain set of RFID readers to be able to read the chip? What I want to know is: how do I get an RFID reader? I want mount an RFID reader in front of my house and log all of the cars that come by, when they come by, if they are staying within "view" of the RFID reader for a certain amount of time (like, say, arriving an hour after I leave for work and leaving an hour before I return), etc. Pretty much every car is going to have RFID tagging in the near future, if only by way of the RFID chips being placed in new tired these days [rfidjournal.com], so the only "hard" part will be correlating the RFID to a person's identity, but if the RFID can trigger a video recorder then this challenge is narrowed down. Also, I want RFID stickers and/or micro-darts I can surreptitiously plant/shoot onto the neighborhood brat's skateboard so I can log and record their presence and what they're doing around my house... and above all else: I want an RFID jammer! Why? BECAUSE I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Richy_T (111409)
        No longer affiliated with this place but they have an affordable kit and are helpful with questions intersoft-us
    • a new tech that could be used for something "evil" and people shit themselves?

      Damn right we did! How else do you think we're going to get rid of those RFID chips they put in our GM food?!

      "Jebus -- eat some veggies once in a while!"

    • Someone comes up with a new tech that could be used for something "evil" and people shit themselves? If you're truly worried about being RFID tagged, or having stuff you're shoplifting being tagged, get scanner, locate the spot and apply a neutralizer (electricity, magnetics?). So I think there's no cause for world-wide panic quite yet.

      This is all great and everything, but with everything spiraling downwardly the way it is, you have to fake your info on every website, provide different passwords and emails

    • Because these bad/orwellian ideas are usually complete fantasy from either the far right, or far left, and are usually idiotic on their face.

      Seriously, do you think the US government is capable of the infrastructure needed to do such a thing? Why dust a crowd with RFID tags to ID who's there, why not take a fucking picture? Facial recognicion technology is pretty much mature. Casinos use it to flag "high rollers" as they walk in. The idea of "tagging" people like this is goofy, since the tags would easi

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