Hitachi's Tiny RFID Chips

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.

Neutralize?

[zyl0x]

You could always wrap yourself in tinfoil.. but then again, you would stick out a bit more than usual.

Obvious solution...

[Cemu]

Jump in the microwave for three minutes!! Just make sure that your eyes don't start on fire [prisonplanet.com].

Re:Something to worry about... but maybe not so mu

[SnowZero]

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?"

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Re:perfect use - lost kid finder

[sunwukong]

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!"

Re:hysterics

[sunwukong]

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!"

Re:Get laws outlawing that use

[stratjakt]

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 easily transfer to every cat you pet, person you touch, etc, and basically generate an assload of false positives. It's a retarded idea at just about every level. If I found out the government was doing this, I'd be pissed more because of the waste of taxpayer dollars on some ridiculous goofy scheme, than the "privacy invasion" implications - though I don't see how someone who chooses to protest publically thinks he should retain any privacy.

Any particular bill banning "bad uses of technology" would be infinately long if we had to explicitly list every retarded conspiracy theory somebody comes up with.

What if these RFID tags become self aware? Should the newly sentient RFID tag being have the right to vote? Should it be illegal for an employer to discriminiate against a being made entirely of RFID tags?

What if some government agent makes a giant hammer of RFID tags glued together, then uses it to hit people indiscriminately? I think we should start focusing on this problem now.

Re:Something to worry about... but maybe not so mu

[jimbojw]

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?!

The obvious solution: RFID spam

[Dekortage]

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."

Fighting back with RFID readers

[parvenu74]

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:perfect use - lost kid finder

[iamhassi]

"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.

Re:Something to worry about... Nude

[k31bang]

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'.

The Solution to most of your problems: Nudity :-)