The Trouble with RFID

wintermute42 writes "Simson Garfinkel, author of Practical Unix & Internet Security along with Gene Spafford and Alan Schwartz, has an article in The Nation on RFID tags. They're not just for tracking stuff. They can track you too."

Only if...

[caston]

your stupid enough to forget to rip the tag off your shirt after you buy it.

Hello darkness my old friend....

[tommck]

Oh wait...

Anyone with two feet and perhaps access to a car

[ObviousGuy]

Anyone can track you. Really. All it takes is a notebook and pencil.

Get over yourselves. Jeez.

Obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

In Soviet Russia RFID tracks you. Wait... that's not right is it?

Spam

[Anonymous Coward]

Great. We'll have inboxes filled with "Track your neighbour" and "Generic RFID removal" in no time.

time...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't wait until I get to check out what underwear a girl is wearing without looking, perv heaven!

tin foil hat

[ch-chuck]

Now I need a tin foil jumpsuit, boots, gloves and helmet.

What's in a name...

[lukewarmfusion]

like Simson Garfinkel. First of all, it's not exactly a common-sounding name to me. Maybe it is in other parts of the world.

Second, can I withstand the desire to crack a Simon & Garfunkel joke? I mean, almost all the letters are there...

Hello R-F my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again.
Because the data softly creeping
I am just lying here weeping
Because a hacker
Just stole my identity...
And now my bank account is silenced.

Re:Only if...

[ktulu1115]

I don't think your new pet fish/hamster/whathaveyou would like that very much...

Re:question

[DOCStoobie]

MAN...you carry 1000 RFID transmitters, PLANES WILL LAND ON YOU ... you will track them in with your stong RF footprint .....

Re:Only if...

[onyxruby]

Hmm, and I just bought some tshirts the other day that were advertised as "tagless". Perhaps if I took a scissors to random parts of my clothes?

How dare they!

[Channard]

This is an insult! No-one has the right to infringe our privacy like this! I for one will be boycotting all stores/establishments that use RFID. I find the idea of a device that can be used to track my movements and habits utterly reprehensible. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to town to go shopping using my credit card and many clubcards.

Lets swap tags

[G4from128k]

If they are going to track us, why not make it fun. We can all get together and swap RFID tags. Some mischevious shoppers in Britain do that with their Tesco loyalty cards, so why not do it with RFID to. And if one person carries multiple tags from different people, then they can make it look like an entire flock of people are at the door.

The alternative is to wrap ourselves in tin-foil. Hmmm.. I wonder is metallic clothing will soon be fashionable. Maybe that's why all those SciFi movies have people in shiny suits - they had to worry about RFID tracking.

Volition and benefit

[The Ape With No Name]

In this case, you willingly put it on in order to operate and interact with your community of runners. Basically, to see who is the best among you and to see what your time is for personal reasons.

In the scary case, WalMart puts an RFID tag on my tighty-whities and then I go to Target and over the intercom comes a voice that says, "John Allman, Welcome to Target. We have tighty-whities for sale."

Personally, I am learning to sew.

Only a problem if you never change clothes

[blorg]

My browser (Opera) has an option for deleting all cookies on exit so to prevent tracking across sessions. Similarly, as the RFID tags are implanted in your clothes, you can only be identified uniquely, and tracked, if you never change your clothes...

Ok, I forgot, this is Slashdot.

Condoms already had RFIDs

[HarveyBirdman]

But you wouldn't know unless you need to roll them all the way to the end.

Brilliant Plan

[Snosty]

Cut off all your RFID tags and keep them somewhere safe. On a weekly basis get together with all your friends and put all your collective tags in one bucket. Take, at random, your share and carry them with you for that coming week. Repeat process next week. This way any data gathered through these tags would be a random assortment of movements from you and your friends.

Correlate that, bitches!

Re:Only a problem if you never change clothes

[whovian]

What happens when you wear the same pair of shoes with different clotes?

The fashion police haul you away.

Re:Only if...

[dahamsta]

Just throw everything you buy from Wal-Mart in the bin, save yourself the worry.

NOW I'M WORRIED.

[GeneralEmergency]

It seems like a paranoid fellow can't even buy alumunum foil anymore without being monitored.

Now what'll I use to line my Official Area 51 Ball Cap?

Welcome to WalMart....

[scorp1us]

Automatic 'In' Door Scan Results:
Customer #4323423432 Scan Results:
Product: Jams, Size Medium: M, Style: 11, Color: Blue, Purchased at Target
Product: OP Sunglasses, Style: 13, Color: Blue, Purchased at Target

Alert!: Customer Has No Shirt On!
Alert!: Customer Has No Shoes On!
Security Dispatched
Computed Customer Loyalty Discount: -10%

'Out' Door Scan Results:
Customer #4323423432 Scan Results:
Product: Jams, Size Medium: M, Style: 11, Color: Blue, SN:1232mdsfskd2, Purchased at Target
Product: OP Sunglasses, Style: 13, Color: Blue, Purchased at Target
Product: Mens Medium T-Shirt Style 1404A, Purchased at Walmart
Product: Mens Burkenstocks Size 10 Style 14A, Purchased at Walmart

Shipping Time: 1h 14m. Last visit (By Jams SN) Oct 11, 2003. Approximate customer weight 140lbs. Customer Type: 'Surfer Dude'
Customized 'sufer dude' email and circulars flagged for next mailing cycle.

Great SPAM everywhere you go..WTF

[Prince Vegeta SSJ4]

Individual walks into the drugstore

RFID scanner picks up the condom in his wallet

60inch Plasma Monitor: Greetings Mr. Smith, it's been 60 months since you last purchased that box of Troy Extra Super Ribbed, the one in your pocket has expired, would you like to purchase some more?

If you liked that item, you may find these appealing: Super Personal Lube 3000, Peanut Butter & Chicken Flavored body oil, Hustler Magazine, MIT:Technology Review, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

of course the only reason you came to the store in the firstplace, was to bring your grandma to get some fix-o-dent (of course she is seeing and hearing all of this as well, along with your local spiritual advisor, your wife(who never knew about the condoms), and who knows whom else.

what names....

[Anonymous Coward]

"simson garfinkel"... simon and garfunkel?

"gene spafford"... gene splicing -- afford?

and may the "schwartz" be with you!

thank you, thank you, I'll be logged in all week.

Re:Only a problem if you never change clothes

[TALlama]

I can see it now:

PHB: So, how's that big information thingy coming?
Dilbert: The RFID database?
PHB: Yeah, sure.
Dilbert: Well sir, we've got a whole lot of data. But it turns out that in the entire world, there is only one woman, and she keeps changing her clothes.
PHB: So I've only been rejected once. Good to know.

A new business opportunity

[r_j_prahad]

For a scant few bucks an hour, I will take your RFID tags out for a walk about the town. Spend a few more dollars, your RFID tags get to go to the opera, making you appear a very sophisticated gent. But skimp on the tip, and your tags spend a half hour in an alley known for prostitution and drugs.

This month's special - your RFID tags get a tour of the White House! And maybe even a chance to meet the president's RFID tags. Register soon as there are only a few openings available each year.