Why One Man Got a Guerrilla RFID Implant

Shannon writes "One of my writers just did an interview with Amal Graafstra, who just had an RFID implant put in his hand and has been building appliances for it to simplify and automate his life... "I guess I have my own Big Brother paranoia. Given the choice of Orwellian societies, I'd rather live in one based on RFID tags than fingerprints, DNA, or facial structure; an RFID tag system is easy to manage and opt out of, whereas DNA sampling or facial recognition, well, isn't.""

Tattoo

[markmcb]

I knew I shouldn't have gotten that bar code tattoo... Idiot!

The drawback is

[Timesprout]

the store detectives in walmart keep stopping him because they think he registers as a case of beer.

Until...

[varmittang]

Until someone catches your RFID tag info, and steals your identity.....again.

This guy is a tool

[Eric(b0mb)Dennis]

Hahaha when RFID implants are a normal occurance, I, for one, can't wait for the RFID Sniper Rifle

Deliver a SHOCKING suprise up to 500 feet away! Fun for the whole family

Guys with implants

[jokestress]

I hate that guys are getting implants. Sure, they look good, but they feel hard as rocks!

Re:What about jewelry instead?

[pentalive]

Stickem up! Gimmie your cash! Now!
Oh and I'll take that Nice Watch too.

Is he going to have his body 0wn3d?

[ErikTheRed]

Hopefully he's not using one of those 40-bit Texas Instruments RFID modules that was cracked recently [slashdot.org]. Nothing like having some 5cr1pt k1dd13z pwn1ng your entire self...

Given the CHOICE of Orwellian societies?

[StefanJ]

Yeah, all this nonsense about freedom and autonomy and choice and privacy is whack.

May as well metaphorically roll over on your back and piss on yourself in the face of Big Brother now and get to feel all cool about being an early adopter.

I know, let's ditch human dignity altogether and get a big ol' cattle tag clamped on our ears! Let people know whose herd you belong to!

Stefan

How to get rid of chip

[spywarearcata.com]

would be to microwave your hand. Don't do it too long though.

Re:RFID tags can be faked

[GreyPoopon]

So he has traded something unique and personal for something that can be read at a distance, copied and used freely by others.

"At a distance" in this case is less than two inches, although I'm sure somebody will use a Pringles can to make a reader that works at up to 1 km.

Defeat Face Recognition for $2 - Guaranteed!

[Anonymous Coward]

For $2 you can defeat the most expensivie and sophisticated facial recognition systems available.

Its even future proof!

See: http://store.yahoo.com/gsdotcom/grouchoglasses.htm l [yahoo.com]

Re:That can only mean...

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

You know what? he should have gotten the tag implanted in his p*nis: can you imagine the look on his neighbours' face when he sticks his peepee in the keyhole to open your door? That'd be priceless...

Re:I've always thought

[Anonymous Coward]

...nearly impossible to memorize anyone's other than yourself...

Bah, I'll recite your GUID from memory: EDB6154D dash 43E6 dash 4707 dash B453 dash 5FAB334B968E. So there.

Re:From his site

[SoTuA]

<nit pic>

<nit pick>it's nit pick, not pic.</nit pick>

New clothing requirements

[Linker3000]

Watch out for the new line of tin-foil gloves coming soon to a store near you.

RTFA?

[randomaxe]

Why does it always have to be an implant? Not a bracelet, necklace, belt insert, shoe insert, ring...

That's answered pretty early in the article, actually.

I became interested in RFID and other alternate means of identification a while back. I constantly lose my keys and my wallet -- yeah, I'm one of those guys. So I was sitting around thinking about keys and credit cards, and the obvious truth that these chunks of metal and pieces of plastic were really representing me and basically identifying me to whatever mechanisms and systems they worked with, be it my front door deadbolt or my bank account. I basically just wanted to get rid of my keys and wallet.

I'm guessing that it's not so frequent when he goes somewhere and accidentally leaves his left hand behind.

Re:Global identifiers make for poor identication

[StalinsNotDead]

What's to stop, say, the car dealer from keeping a copy of your global identifier (say, he's got a tape recorder in his pocket when you say it out loud), and then buying a vacation to Cuba with your identity?

Ethics?