American Passports to Have RFID Chips 668
pr1000 writes "Wired is reporting that the State Department is planned on adding RFID chips to new American passports, starting with diplomat's passports in January. Those worried about the privacy concerns of RFID should take notice, as this rollout could set a precedent."
Bruce Schneier (Score:5, Informative)
Bruce Schneier has made some interesting observations [schneier.com] on the RFID passport plans. Somehow, I do not see how this could possibly make us "safer".
Re:Bruce Schneier (Score:4, Insightful)
My first question is there a way I could make/buy a shield that mask the RFID signal? I can see a case like I have my palm in that would shield my passport until I gave it to the Custom Agent.
I wonder it my new passport will have this I just sent in my renewal paperwork...
-S
Re:Bruce Schneier (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bruce Schneier (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course nothing stopping me from walking up to the reader and opening my shielded case and walking through.
But while you walk around with a non shield RFID the CIA will know exactly who you are and able to add notes to your passport with out your knowledge.
-S
There IS an RFID DOS (Score:5, Insightful)
The RFID tag is simply a sequence of bits. You can ask about portions of its tag -- "do you start with sequence X". There is no way to communicate with only one tag; if you send a request, all tags in range hear it and send an affirmative signal if they do start with that sequence (and nothing otherwise).
When a reader needs to scan many RFID tags at once, it sends a signal saying 'Whose next bit is a 1?' and 'Whose next bit is a 0?' and counts the chirps for each response. When it gets zero chirps, it knows to stop (there are no tags with that ID). If it gets only one chirp, it has found a unique tag and records it. Otherwise, it recurs down both trees.
If you build a device that always says 'yes' to both questions, the reader will have to recur down both trees 'forever' or give up until you leave range.
This seems to have the desired effect of preventing RFID scans without your knowledge, and it would certainly be handy to be able to turn it off at will.
LincolnQ
Re:There IS an RFID DOS (Score:3, Insightful)
RFID-be-gone anyone?
Re:There IS an RFID DOS (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't take false security in miss-applying technology.
Some lead bags to make them flexible, use lead paint. The lead particles are suspended in the paint and are not connected to their neigbors. This will block the very short wavelength of X-rays, but allow longer wave radio to pass right on through as the lead particles are not very much of a wavelength at UHF frequecies and below. You are looking for someting that is fully conductive to kill the E field component of a radio wave to make a Farady Cage.
A cage made from particles not connected to it's neighbors may not work well at frequencies it's not designed to shunt.
Here is an experiment you can do right in your own kitchen.. Follow the directions carefully to avoid equipment dammage..
If you have a good strong cell signal in your house (like I do), call your cell phone.
Now place it in your microwave oven.
***** Do not turn on the oven! ******
Close the door.
****** Do not turn on the oven *****
Did the signal get lost?
Is the phone still connected?
Do you have any signal strength on the display?
Here is the explination of why the phone may remain connected.
The cavity of the oven is a metal box.. It should fully block RF.. It does.. The door is metal. It should block RF.. It does. The joint between the door and the cavity should have an RF seal..
Well it kinda does. The door seal on a microwave oven consists of a row of 1/4 wave stubbs that reflect energy from the magnetron back into the cavity preventing their escape. It reflects an RF short from the open end of the stub back to the gap between the door and the cavity. This reflected short connectes the door to the cavity making a continious connection to that frequency. If the door seal gets dirty or has anything caught in it, it no longer works properly. That is why the oven owners manual is worded strongly on keeping the door seal clean, in good shape, and having nothing caught in it. This stub does not work at frequencies it's not designed for. It blocks 802.11b just fine. Your 2.4 GHZ phone might not work in the microwave as that's the frequency it's designed to block. Other frequencies get past with some attenuation.
This applies to the lead film bags. They are OK at X-rays, but may fall short in UHF and VHF.
Do the microwave/phone experiment with your cell phone and the film bag. Did it loose connection when placed in the bag and the bag closed?
If the phone did not loose the signal, then you may want to try another solution.
Re:What's the fuss about? (Score:5, Insightful)
Today, you carry some form of ID, be it driver's license in the US, a national ID in Europe or whatever. You are most of the time obliged to show this piece of ID to law enforcement officers if they ask for.
Either the officer authenticates him/herself with his badge, a similar ID item or just the entire appearance along with police equipment and police car. So in 99% of all cases, I know when my ID is checked and by whom and I'm sure it was read by real officers on duty or someone is going to jail for posing as one.
With RFID, none of us can ever know if we were checked, let alone by whom. If that person was really authorized by law and duty to check us, we can only pray for. We want to hide our ID from anyone's eyes who has not identified himself as a lawful officer on duty. With RFID it is hardly possible.
If the regular police cannot or does not perform simple duties in plain sight, with proper uniform, without hiding the officers identity behind something, having the officers armed only with the law and a baton, our society as a whole is in trouble. Riot shields, handcuffs and a low power hand gun may be necessary at times, but cable ties, fully automatic rifles, masks are certainly unacceptable for me. Special units can have them, but regular policemen and -women should not. Hidden and unnoticed checks for unsuspecting passer-bys performed by guess-who are totally out of question.
Law enforcement should not use mobster tactics. Should not be armed like mobsters, should not act like them. This may give criminals and terrorists an advantage, but it is the only way to make sure we can distinguish between officers and mobsters. If we allow the police to act like the mob, guess how long it takes for these two to merge...
Re:What's the fuss about? (Score:4, Interesting)
Well said.
I don't have much of a problem showing an ID to someone that asks for it, and I know why and what they are looking for and who they are. But being surveilled to the point that they have a complete ID on me with no physical intervention is a little scary.
Its not too tough to track someone today after the fact with such things as CC receipts, easypass things, witnesses, phone records, etc. But these things take a warrant, again after the fact. Being criminally investigated in realtime, err, no thank you.
How does this work? If you treat someone like a child, they will act like a child. If you treat someone like a criminal, they will be a good upstanding citizen? I don't think so.
If the feds want to update the passports with electronic technology, use barcodes or something. Actually, the more I think about it, it might be much more stealth to have a reveresed engineered passport RFID tag to say whatever you want. I don't see how this would be illegal because its not fraud or falsifying a document because if anyone asks for the passport, give it to them, but drive by scanning, I'm Homer Simpson and my ssn is 078-05-1120. Thanks for asking.
As a precedent to? (Score:4, Funny)
And you thought it was just a Vitamin K shot.
Gods own country ... (Score:4, Insightful)
And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their right hand, or in their foreheads, even that not any might buy or sell except those having the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of its name.
The bible always makes a good reading - not that I am a beliver, or so.
Re:Gods own country ... (Score:3, Interesting)
RFIDs are getting us further from Amageddon. No longer will they be stamped on out foreheads or right hands, but they will be able to read the number of the beast straight from our pocket. Thus, we will have averted Armageddon.
Re:Bit OT but... (Score:3, Informative)
I did a bit of googling and came up with this page [apocalipsis.org]. It gives a few different theories and possible explainations, from seemingly credible sources.
Search for "v16" on the page to find the beginning of the discussion about the mark.
Tracking... (Score:5, Interesting)
This new step is another step towards control - remember, that is what this is all about. Bad guys get around the system - the 9/11 guys were all bona-fide visitors. Good guys, which is everyone else, gets tracked and watched.
I'm glad I'm outside the country 8+ months of the year.
Re:Tracking... (Score:5, Interesting)
Do as to others etc. Not that Blair would ever upset Bush though, I wonder what will happen if Kerry gets in...
Re:Tracking... (Score:5, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Tracking... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Tracking... (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you saying that the parent post of yours is doing some xenophobe afirmations?
The point is that if you go to US and you're not from the US (I do not say american... cubans are americans too) you have a serious risk of being humiliated by US frontier guards, being the risk proportional to:
- Size of your moustach
- Darkness of your skin
My brother went to US last year. He has no moustach, but a aggressively black hair and he has a dark skin. He was locked by the airport guards for 3 hours. They even assured that he was on a black list (!!!) only to scare him to see his reaction.Well, if that is what you call freedom
Re:Tracking... (Score:3, Insightful)
The German people living in the year 1934 did know he was a dictator, but they never suspected him to be a mass murderer of epic proportions. In hindsight, we can laugh or tremble at their foolish beliefs, see through the Nazis lousy ideological concealment and pat ourselves on the back how we would have foreseen the Holocaust and the rest of this dark chapter of history.
Today, we are ver
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Tracking... (Score:3, Insightful)
By all means, stop over!
If you're comming to the US for a visit, I can recommend NYC or Boston (expensive!), Chicago, D.C., but there's some other places that I'd guess you'd like too:
- Portland [portland.me.us], ME
- Asheville [asheville.com], NC
- Billings [topix.net], MN
- Boulder [boulder.co.us], CO
- Philadelphia [philly.com], PA
If you visit a big city, stay our of town, within walking distance to a rail link. The hotel room will be 1/2 - 2/3 less than staying downtown. For smaller cities, you'll need to rent a car.
RFID Worries... (Score:2)
Re:RFID Worries... (Score:5, Informative)
New U.S. passports will soon be read remotely at borders around the world, thanks to embedded chips that will broadcast on command an individual's name, address and digital photo to a computerized reader.
Any questions?
Re:RFID Worries... (Score:3, Informative)
Quote from the article:
"Security experts said the U.S. government decided not to encrypt the data because of the risks involved in sharing the method of decryption with other countries."
Man, if some people would just RTFA, the world would be such a better place...
Failure (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Failure (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Failure (Score:4, Interesting)
And even worse : who will be blamed if your tag is stolen ? You ? The gov ? Certainly not the crooks as they usually get away with everything. My guess is that the new passport will carry a EULA that shifts all responsabilities to the carrier.
Re:Failure (Score:4, Interesting)
There has never been a document which cannot be forged. Even if such a mythical document could be created there is still the problem of criminal gangs getting a foothold in the issuing of "real" documents, through either getting a job with the issuing agency or bribing/blackmailing existing employees.
And even worse : who will be blamed if your tag is stolen ? You ? The gov ? Certainly not the crooks as they usually get away with everything.
When it comes to identity theft the "crooks" include foreign governments. Even when they get caught, as recently happened in New Zealand, all they got was a few months in jail...
Re:Failure (Score:3, Funny)
[...]unless you start wrapping foil around your wallet. But that would beat the purpose of the RF in RFID
And here I was, thinking that "RF" meant "wRapped in Foil"...
Simple solution (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Simple solution (Score:3, Interesting)
The reasoning is that if you (want to) block those signals, you're probably out attempting to steal something
Re:Simple solution (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Simple solution (Score:3, Interesting)
In a very basic explaination the blockers work by send all possible RFID numbers(in the billions and billions) so that readers get over wealmed and give up.
Thier is some talk that when RFID become more used that bags will have the blocker chip in them. This would allow the all benifits of RFID for the consumer but also allow privacy. Some other ideas have a keychain fob with
Schneier's Take (Score:3, Informative)
What makes you think you have privacy? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure, RFID can be read from a distance, but many of us seem sooooo worried about RFID and yet happily keep carrying a mobile phone, willingly pay by card or withdraw money from an ATM, and get in view of security cameras. No tinfoil hat is going to protect against that.
If there are privacy issues, it is because someone decides to abuse the technology, RFID or not.
If you want privacy, pay cash only, stay home, don't use phones, and don't do anything that requires identifying yourself.
It's all in the mind (Score:5, Insightful)
Hell, it's your country, your politics, your ideals, and your decision; I don't really care - it's mainly a curiosity for me that sociological values can change so rapidly.
I've just obtained a visa for the US, and had to give my fingerprints - I was curiously antagonistic towards this, and again it's nothing more than another incremental step. After thinking about it for a while I realised it's nothing to do with privacy, it's that I mentally associate being fingerprinted with being a criminal.
I felt I'd been judged and summarily convicted of something (what, I don't know, being an alien perhaps). As a reasonably law-abiding citizen (ok, I admit I sometimes exceed the speed limit on a motorway
Simon.
Re:It's all in the mind (Score:3, Informative)
Not strictly true. In the UK you can be made to give your fingerprints if you are arrested. That is not the same as being caught breaking the law, since plenty of innocent people get arrested. Now, once upon a time this didn't matter a great deal, since the police could only keep your prints if you were subsequently convicted and since most innocent people who are arrested are not convicted the odds were that your
Re:What makes you think you have privacy? (Score:3, Insightful)
Identity theft is already a serious problem, and RFID tags just make people more vulnerable. Imagine if someone copied your tag and then commited a crime.
There's also abuse of the information by public officials. Throughout history there are instances of people abusing so-called private information. For example, a police officer accessing information on the cute girl who lives next door.
The more centralized
No really, you don't really have a choice (Score:3, Insightful)
This would be the main problem, because tracing people with or without RFID is still perfectly possible. What I'm saying is that choice is limited, regardless of RFID - yes, you can switch off your phone, but it won't be of much use then.
Ever travelled abroad with a passport (without RFID)? You better believe that it was registered when you passed the border. RFID doesn't change that.
As for the main problem, '*anyone* being able to scan you' rather than just
No enyryption of the data (Score:5, Insightful)
And those very same security "experts" obviously don't know that there are methods for secure encryption known throughout the world even now? You don't need to be an expert to know that!
And no, I can't see any other explanation. It cannot be the possibility of unallowed reading of the data: That's even easier if the data isn't encrypted at all. And it cannot be the possibility of making forged passports: Having data not encrypted makes this not any harder than having it encrypted with a known encryption.
Even in the worst case scenario, when the decryption key was made public by some other state, the situation couldn't get worse than without any encryption at all. Of course, the USA could just decide not to give the key (or any specification at all) to countries they don't trust. Those countries would then just have to do what they do now: Rely on the non-RFID portion of the passport (which is currently all that is in a passport).
So there is really no excuse to store unencrypted data on the RFID chip.
RFID co-channel interference? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:RFID co-channel interference? (Score:5, Informative)
It might be more of a problem if there are RFID _readers_ all over the place. They might interfere with eachother's attempt at scanning for RFID chips. I have no idea whether the protocols allow for this.
Biometrics imposed on the world (Score:4, Interesting)
Seems only fair that similar invasions of privacy should be imposed on Americans too. What's good for the goose...
Re:Biometrics imposed on the world (Score:3, Informative)
And crap (well even more crap than the usual crapulatity of biometrics) biometrics at that. BBC report about tests of the system [bbc.co.uk].
What I can't work out is the motive for enforcing face recognition biometrics. Human beings are so good at face recognition and machines so bad at it that it's hard to believe anyone would propose such a system unless there was some other payoff, but I can
Re:Biometrics imposed on the world (Score:3, Informative)
Well for the UK government the reason is 'because it's new and a very nice man from [insert name of big IT company] told us that everyone would want it next year.'
The British government must be the World's largest consumer of bad IT projects - a magistrates' courts system that had to be abandoned, a procurement system for the Ministry of Defence that didn't procur, passports not being issued, tax refunds not paid, child sup
Not a problem... (Score:4, Funny)
Grump
Govt makes own citizens walking targets! (Score:4, Interesting)
So the US government is making it easier for people to target its own citizens. Nice.
The Terrorist Bomber's Dream! (Score:5, Interesting)
So, lets assume that the RFID chips in US Passports will be readable from "a long way away". Doesn't matter if it's 10 feet, 20 feet or 50 feet. Lets just say it's more than a few inches.
What does this mean? It means that a bomber with a moderate budget could build a detonator for an explosive device which goes off when it can detect the presence of an RFID chip.
It doesn't need to actually read the chip (lets assume the passport data is encrypted), it just needs to know it's there.
Furthermore, it could count the number of unique RFIDs which are currently in range, and only detonate the explosive when enough of them are seen at the same time.
It could be planted days, weeks or months in advance, and it'd sit there until its batteries ran down waiting for the right moment to go off.
The result is a bomb which only goes off when a sufficiently large density of American citizens is present.
- mark
Re:The Terrorist Bomber's Dream! (Score:3, Interesting)
Why wait? They could do it now with the RFID in $20 bills. Hey, by counting number of unique IDs, they could target only wealthy Americans.
You are a very, very, very stupid person. (Score:4, Interesting)
The 'terrorists' upon whose actions all of this insane police state nonsense is based were funded and manipulated by both the U.S. and Israel specifically because the psychopaths in power want to stay in power so that they can have all the money, power, sex and cocaine. Having to work for a living, or serve in the military [rense.com], is scary for them, and so they choose instead to trick all the trusting citizens into believing in 'terrorists'.
Anybody who looks at the details clearly will see the manipulation.
Remember the 'terrorist' passport they, 'found' on top of the smoking remains of the WTC?
That is just one of a hundred loose threads, and if it doesn't get your brain ticking, then you are either sleeping or dead, and you richly deserve the hell you are seeing rise around you.
"Oooh. But Conspiracies don't exist! It's impossible for a large number of people to keep a secret!"
Yeah? What the heck does that prove? NEWSFLASH: Conspirators do not NEED to keep secrets when the populace has been brainwashed into constantly looking the other way whenever a piece of evidence pops up.
People would rather fight and yell and argue in favor of the psychopathic manipulator rather than deal with the truly awful possibility that they are being raped. This, in fact, is exactly the reason psychopaths are so dangerous. Normal people are hardwired into certain behavioral traits which make them excellent marks for this sort of manipulation.
Any 'terrorist' who uses RFID passports to blow up Americans will be doing so with the consent of the military industrial complex, and your spreading of fear is making those jerks giddy with the joy of a mind-job successfully executed.
I have to live in this world, too, and imbeciles like you are contributing to the misery smart people also have to deal with. Arrogant? Gee, sorry. I'll just quietly go off to a barbed wire camp so you don't have to feel like an idiot.
-FL
Re:The Terrorist Bomber's Dream! (Score:3, Interesting)
Bruce Schneier thinks the reason the RFID chips are being mandated for passwords is to permit the US Govt to read them from long distances in crowds.
He's not exactly the kind of guy who makes this stuff up.
Same principle, different application.
- mark
A signature would only provide limited security. (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course it will be difficult to change the data and create a fake passport, but you could copy the tag from someone else's passport (without their knowledge) and use it in identity theft.
A complication would be that blank RFID tags cannot be obtained with the same serial number (current RFID tags mostly have unique serial numbers that are pre-programmed by the chip manufacturer). I would expect that the serial number is included in the signature calculation.
However, you could still build your own functionally equivalent "RFID tag chip" using off the shelf logic components and program any serial number you like. It would not be as compact as a real RFID tag, but it could be used in situations where the tag would be read without being visible.
There's money in this... (Score:4, Insightful)
Block the tag w/ a foil bag (source cited) (Score:5, Informative)
RFID Hack Could Allow Retail Fraud [eweek.com]
Most of the concern seems to be around unauthorized person reading the RFID chip. According to this article blocking RFID chips is very easy to do if you have physical posession of the chip. Just wrap it in tinfoil. It would seem that someone would make a bag/box/pouch that would store your passport and protect it from being read w/o authorization. When you were in an area that required that you show your passport, the airport for example, you would just take the passport out of the bag. Sounds like a $19.95 solution to me.
I guess if you took your passport out at the hotel or some other place like that you could be "vulnerable". Maybe this solution [wired.com] from RSA woul help?
It does seem like the solution here is not to say "no RFIDs in the passports", but actually to ensure that there is a way to easily control when the tag is read. And there seem to be several solutions available.
Re:Block the tag w/ a foil bag (source cited) (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes; there's a solution called the "bar code," and it doesn't require any damned RF technology. Why bother using RFID if it isn't to be able to read the thing at a distance? If you're going to have to take it out of the pouch to deliver the information, they might as well have to run a barcode scanner over it as well.
Is the USA still a democratic system? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Is the USA still a democratic system? (Score:5, Insightful)
That isn't an option. We can't tell our representatives what to do, only select from the slate provided and pick one. We may tell them what we would like, but they are not required to do it. So no, we have absolutely no direct say on such topics. And since most Americans care more about whether we will allow use of stem cells for medical research or whether abortion will be a medical proceedure or if the puritanical elements get it relegated back to the alleys, we will never see such issues at the forefront. In fact, any candidate that comes out in opposition of the RFIDs will be branded a traitor to America that is soft on crime and terrorism that will get us all killed if elected. I hope this insight into the American political process helps. RFIDs are here to stay. The businesses like them, and they run the US, not the people that vote.
I had a dream. . . (Score:3, Funny)
Horrified, I dug out the offending material. It was one of those RFID chips the "Size of a grain of rice", --but in my dream it was more the size of a glass bean. It was also filled with lots of scary techno-bits and pieces whirring and blinking inside. Special effects in dream scapes tend to be a little over the top.
Heil Shrub.
-FL
Right, No One Knows Where I Am When I'm Overseas (Score:3, Insightful)
BTW, it's an especially good idea to add the chip to diplomatic passports. Passports can be, and are, counterfeited, so the chip will help to ensure authenticity.
UK too (Score:3, Interesting)
The data should be covered by the DPA so if I ever get a passport with a chip i'll be sure to ask for a printout of what's on it. I don't know if these will be RFID chips or not, i'd hope not, it will only be a matter of time before someone's passport is stolen while its still in their pocket.
Worried about privacy? Buy some RAM! (Score:3, Interesting)
If you put your passport in a static bag, wouldn't it act like a Faraday cage and shield your passport from being detected?
If so, and I haven't tested this (anyone wanna try?), then if you upgrade the RAM in your PC you should be "protected" from these RFID privacy problems.
Department of big brother (Score:3)
Annoying.
Overwhelm the system? (Score:3, Interesting)
Embrace it. Cover yourself in so many RFID devices that a scanner simply can't read them all reliably. I have no sense of how many that might be, but it would seem technically difficult to scan several thousand devices all at once. At a nickle per, you're really only talking about a couple hundred bucks even if you have to buy the devices yourself. With stores like Walmart essentially giving them away, you might not even have to do that. Sew them into your jacket or something so that when someone scans you, they're greeted by a cacophony of garbage signals.
Extend it. It won't be long before someone figures out how to either a) make their own RFID devices or b) modify existing ones. And there will be a window of opportunity before Congress makes doing so illegal. If you can make a chip that matches another, you can appear to be someone else. Or to be in two places at once. Or to teleport across a store or a country in a heartbeat.
Now, I certainly wouldn't suggest tampering with a device in a passport, of course, but the possibilities at Walmart are pretty interesting.
Even if you just buy legit devices from existing manufacturers, RFID can and will be used to consumers' benefit. RFID chips could be hidden by investigative journalists in products returned to stores and then used to prove that the store turns around and sells the item as "new" again. Not a big deal for a book, perhaps, but interesting when the item is, say, a car or a mattress or a rump roast.
Don't buy it (Score:3, Informative)
Easier to Forge (Score:4, Insightful)
People are lazy and cheap.
The government doesn't want to have to pay a bunch of agents to look at passports and agents don't want to have to look at passports all day long. I predict that with RFID chips embedded in passports, there will just be devices that you wave your passport near and they will check to see its validity. There will be a security guard nearby to jump on anyone that fails the scan, but nobody will be actually looking at the passports.
Along come Mr. Forger. He no longer needs to concentrate on making special paper, holigrams, and the like: all he needs to do is make it look decent and put a good RFID chip inside.
The only problem: where to get some valid RFID numbers. That's easy! Just hang out at the airport for a few hours with an RFID scanning device, brushing against people and scanning their passports. Then take home the numbers and create some RFID tags with them.
This wouldn't work as well if a picture popped up on a security guard's screen so that they can verify the holder of the passport looked like what they had on file, but...people are lazy.
Dangerous? (Score:3, Interesting)
Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:5, Insightful)
To take it one step further, if I am wifi'd into a database somehow, I can even do a few smarts and identify a "better" target (wealthier, public figure etc).
I carry an Australian passport and it will not shock me when "the Clever Country" bends over and does what the Americans do - yet again!
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:5, Funny)
The "worst" American tourist, is the oil rich, no brain texan with the loud hat, louder belly, and even louder mouth.
I had a particularly intresting time a couple of months ago, with a particular specimen of Texan "mouth power". I was on the London underground heading to work, and there was a loud texan onboard, and he was ranting abotu how things were a lot "bigger" back home, to the absolute annoyance of all the other passengers on board (including his poor wife, who seemed a nice lady).
anyway, he comes up to me and asks me:
"Son, tell me now, what "tube" do i have to catch to go to Manchester"
now, here is a few facts for those not from UK/London.
- the Tube is our nickname for the London Underground, our subway/metro/transit.
- It covers ONLY london. nowhere else.
-Manchester is another city altogether.. like New York and Los Angeles
- there is a big ass advert in the train that he was looking at, which talks about day trips to manchester, and HOW to do it!?!?
most of the people on board were like, WTF? is this guy real...
I simply told him, "Stay on this train for about 4 hours, and it will reach manchester!"
What i didnt tell him, was the train in concern is the "Circle Line" which simply runs around london in a loop!!!!! {EVIL GRIN}
The smiles on the rest of the passengers were certainly a picture.. as was the way he was thanking me for my "advise", and was the last thing i saw... as i got off at the next station!
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:5, Insightful)
What i didnt tell him, was the train in concern is the "Circle Line" which simply runs around london in a loop!!!!! {EVIL GRIN}
So rather than inform an obvious newcomer to your country of this fact, you instead took the chance to be an asshole. And your country is better...how?
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:4, Informative)
I grew up in Texas and continue to live there (in an oil-rich area, no less), and though I occasionally see people wearing cowboy hats and big belt buckles, I don't know any one personally who would.
That bit about everything being bigger in Texas was a nice touch. Everyone who's been THROUGH Texas probably believes we all think that. All the gas station/gift shop places lining the interstates are filled with merchandise supporting that conclusion. But, again, I've never met anyone who actually cares. It's just tourist bologna.
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:5, Informative)
1. Like I said, Americans are loud. If you don't want to stick out, shut up.
2. Don't wear jewelery, especially in countries where it would be an obnoxious display of wealth, not to mention it automatically makes you a target.
3. If you still want to blend in, don't wear shorts, plaid, flannel, sneakers, or baseball caps. In some countries jeans too, but especially in Europe bluejeans are a fashion statement so your cut up old Levi's won't cut it
4. Say you're from Canada if you get into a sticky situation. Most anti-Americanism is directed at the government, but alot is not. It may sound funny, but seriously, and especially if you drink (alcohol+antiAmericanism=not good), you can diffuse a potentially explosive situation if you say you're from Canada. Eh?
5. Ask a travel agent. I know they're quickly becoming a thing of the past (with on-line booking), but they know what they're talking about. They'll have a lot better tips then I'll ever have.
6. Learn metric. You automatically sound much smarter. If you frequent pubs as much as I like to do (ok I'm a lush), people will ask you were you are from and then how far it is away from a major city. Pittsburgh? Oh maybe 500km west of Philadelphia. Don't know philly? 200km southwest on NYC. Just ballpark it. And when getting directions be prepared to hear meters.
7. Be careful of colloquialisms, people won't understand you. Use plain language.
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:5, Insightful)
Say you're from Canada if you get into a sticky situation. Most anti-Americanism is directed at the government, but alot is not. It may sound funny, but seriously, and especially if you drink (alcohol+antiAmericanism=not good), you can diffuse a potentially explosive situation if you say you're from Canada. Eh?
I'm a Canadian. Please don't do this.
What does it say about your great and proud country that you might feel the need to LIE about being one of it's citizens?
*sigh*
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:5, Funny)
I'll thank you not to refer to our President as a "tourist."
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:3, Interesting)
I, like MOST Londonners are VERY amiable to tourists, it keeps the London economy ticking, and many time I have gone to central london during the weekends, where myself and my friends have been very friendly towards tourists, showing them around, and stuff. Although we get nominal "expenses" for this, in reality we do it because we enjoy it, and love to learn about others. I ESPECIALLY am fond of New Yorkers, who I view as coming from London's sister city. I am a
Patient Selection (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, and special forces, they have had them for some time now to aid in "extraction". Um perhaps i wasnt supposed to reveal that.. Hmm someone at the door..*click*
Re:Or, on the other hand for target selection (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Law Enforcement (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Law Enforcement (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Law Enforcement - RFID RANGE (Score:3, Informative)
The simplest RFID is the magnetic foil in the "don't steal me" package in stores. It has no information, but just notes that "I'm here" by absorbing some power from the transmitter.
The "smart" RFID with information to send back, receives power from the external interrogator transmitter, turns on, decodes up to 128 bits (privacy) from the incoming signal to determine if it should respond, re
Re:Law Enforcement (Score:3, Informative)
Basically, an RFID "chip" is a passive, unpowered radio tranceiver. When it receives a radio transmission of a certain power level and frequency, the antenna resonates, inducing a current within the circuitry. This current is passed through filters - AND/OR/XOR/NOT gates or what not, I'm n
Re:Law Enforcement (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Law Enforcement (Score:3, Insightful)
In fact, one of those little black bags that hard drives and mobos come packed in might just work.
Re:Law Enforcement (Score:3, Interesting)
No encryption, only a digital signature...
He even admits it at the end of the article.
Now let's see what those tinfoil hats think about this. This could becoma a very interesting discussion
Anyway, once again I'm so glad I'm not American.
Terror (Score:3, Informative)
What if some terrorists connected such a transponder to an explosive device?
Imagine placing a bomb in some public place. A bomb that is totally harmless until a certain number of american passports are in close proximity and then BOOOM!
I hope someone in counter-terrorrism has thought of that and found a way to prevent it. If not they should do so ASAP.
Nudity (Score:5, Funny)
Going naked won't do it... (Score:3, Interesting)
Gait Recognition Technology May Aid Homeland Defense
The characteristics of your walk may not be as distinctive as the swaggering of John Wayne or the sashay of Joan Collins, but your stride may still be unique enough to identify you at a distance -- alone or among a group of people.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and elsewhere are developing technologies to recognize a person's walk, or gait. Results indicate
Re:ID... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:ID... (Score:4, Insightful)
The day that you will be detained when you refuse to show your passport while buying a certain newspaper for instance will be a very grim day...
Re:ID... (Score:4, Insightful)
If you refuse to show it, you're detained. Then, they open up your wallet/purse and look. All you did was delay everyone somewhat and create trouble for yourself with no real difference between they're waving you over or pointing a device.
Oh really? If you refuse to show it at the hotel? In the cab? In a restaurant? At the movie theater? There is no technical reason anyone can't set up a reader anywhere they want to snoop.
When I travel, my passport never leaves me. It's such a comfort to know it will be singing out my name, age, photo and home address to anyone who's curious. I feel safer already.
Re:ID... (Score:5, Insightful)
Scanning butts for cash (Score:4, Interesting)
This reminds me of a comment along similar lines.
When the U.S. mint added the shiny metallic strips to the bills, a friend of mine claimed quite seriously that it was so that it would be possible to "scan your butt" (or wherever you carry your wallet) to see if you were carrying loads of cash. My response at the time was sceptical, especially since the comment came from someone very non-tech, but wonder if it is even technically possible.
If the material is conductive, it should respond/reflect/absorb a specific frequency much like chaff does. Would it be possible to build a cash scanner? And if so ... "where can I get me one?" ;)
Re:War on Terrorism (Score:3, Funny)
Being warned is one thing. But until they ban the sale of bright white sneakers, baseball caps, and fanny packs, one can pick out an American tourist any day.
Re:One for the locals (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:spoof (Score:3, Insightful)
1. RSA Blocker Tag [rsasecurity.com]
2. Tinfoil cover
3. Faraday cage purse.
There is no money in discovering RFID blocking devices. There is a possible market in creating a cheap RFID detector.
Re:Bring It On. (Score:5, Insightful)
They you should be opposing the 'identity' culture, not supporting it.
These chips will do nothing to make people safer (they'll be no harder to forge than current passports), but will certainly make some people less safe by broadcasting their information to anyone with an RFID reader.