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Thread: Goodbye RFID!!!

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    Default Goodbye RFID!!!

    RFID Cards Get Spin Treatment




    By Mark Baard

    Story location:

    02:00 AM Mar. 29, 2005 PT

    Conspiracy theorists and civil libertarians, fear not. The U.S. government will not use radio-frequency identification tags in the passports it issues to millions of Americans in the coming years.

    Instead, the government will use "contactless chips."

    The distinction is part of an effort by the Department of Homeland Security and one of its RFID suppliers, Philips Semiconductors, to brand RFID tags in identification documents as "proximity chips," "contactless chips" or "contactless integrated circuits" -- anything but "RFID."

    The Homeland Security Department is playing word games to dodge the privacy debate raging over RFID tags, which will eventually replace bar-code labels on consumer goods, said privacy rights advocates this week.

    An RFID tag is a microchip attached to an antenna, which transmits unique information to a reader device that can be anywhere from a few inches to several feet away. The technology, with its many names ("contactless chips" has been around for some time), is used in security access cards, E-ZPass automatic toll-paying devices and ski-lift tickets.

    Computer scientists and data-encryption experts, the editors of an RFID industry journal -- even the makers of the contactless chips themselves -- all agree that the Homeland Security Department is using RFID technology.

    But the Homeland Security Department is very carefully avoiding use of the term "RFID." The department, along with Philips, is also backing a trade group that is branding ID documents with RFID tags as "contactless smartcards."

    "We'd prefer," said Joseph Broghamer, Homeland Security's director of authentication technologies, "that the terms 'RFID,' or even 'RF,' not be used at all (when referring to the RFID-tagged smartcards). Let's get 'RF' out of it altogether."

    The Homeland Security Department this spring will begin issuing RFID-tagged employee ID cards (which include fingerprint records) to tens of thousands of its employees. Homeland Security's employee ID card has "contactless" technology to speed workers' access to secure areas, said Broghamer. He also wants to replace conventional reader devices, because their metal contacts break down after repeated use.

    The department is also evaluating technology pitches from several RFID tag manufacturers, including Philips, for an RFID-tagged passport containing biometric data. The government's plan will earn billions of dollars for the RFID suppliers while helping security officials track individuals more effectively by detecting their ID documents' radio signals in airport terminals, or wherever reader devices are present.

    The Homeland Security Department and Philips said they worry that the public will confuse the RFID tags in ID documents with those used by retailers, such as Wal-Mart, to track consumer goods. Contactless chips, said Broghamer, are more sophisticated than retail RFID tags, because they can carry more information and can better protect sensitive personal information.

    But there is another problem with the "RFID" name: Many people associate the term with radio chips "that blab personal information indiscriminately" to any reader device, said Lee Tien, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

    Privacy rights groups such as the EFF, the American Civil Liberties Union and CASPIAN have for years argued that RFID tags on consumer goods could be used to spy on individuals.

    That is why Homeland Security is engaging in doublespeak, to dupe Americans into accepting RFID tags on their passports, said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program.

    "It's a frightening, Orwellian use of the language," said Steinhardt, referring to the "contactless" branding effort. Steinhardt called the RFID tags the Homeland Security Department is using, which have faster processors and more storage capacity than retail tags, "RFID on steroids."

    Government agents will use reader devices to track individuals wherever they use their RFID-tagged identification documents, Steinhardt and Tien said.

    "They can call it a contactless chip," said Tien, "but it is still RFID. And it shares virtually all of the same vulnerabilities."

    Identity thieves will be able to lift an RFID-tagged passport holder's personally identifiable information with reader devices that can be purchased for less than $500, said Steinhardt.

    Terrorists could also track down and kidnap Americans oversees by secretly reading their chipped passports.

    "Let's say you are in Beirut, carrying a passport with an RFID tag," said Steinhardt. "A terrorist with a portable reader device could easily tell who is the American (in a public space)."

    University of California at Berkeley assistant professor David Wagner, who researches computer security and cryptography, has reviewed engineering studies of the type of RFID tag that will be used in passports. Wagner called Steinhardt's terrorist scenario "absolutely conceivable."

    "And," said Wagner, "unlike an ID with a bar code or magnetic strip, you'd never know your card has been read."

    Homeland Security's Broghamer insisted that the contactless chips for ID documents are vastly different from RFID tags used in retail supply chains, because contactless chips must be held very close to a reader device to be activated and to transmit their data.

    RFID manufacturers are typically making radio tags for ID documents that comply with ISO/IEC 14443, the contactless chip industry technology standard. This standard limits transmission ranges to a distance of about 4 inches. Other RFID tags can be read at distances up to 30 feet, making them easier targets for identity thieves trying to capture their data, said Broghamer.

    Broghamer would not admit to something engineers testing ISO/IEC 14443-compliant chips have demonstrated, however: that electronic eavesdroppers up to 30 feet away can capture data (including biometric records) while it is being sent by the chips to an authorized reader device.

    ISO/IEC 14443-compliant chips can also be read directly over much longer distances by specially built devices, according to a Tel Aviv University study (.pdf).

    Broghamer seemed eager to stay on-message about the Homeland Security Department's name for its RFID technology, despite its apparent vulnerabilities.

    "I nearly fell out of my chair," Broghamer said, when he read a Wired News report that the Homeland Security Department's employee ID card will include an RFID tag. "I never used the term 'RFID,'" said Broghamer, describing a presentation he made at a technology conference last month. "I only used 'contactless chip' or 'proximity chip' to describe it."

    A Philips sales executive, however, testifying last summer to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, called contactless smartcards "RFID systems with advanced computing power, storage and strong encryption accelerators, offering advanced services with enhanced security and privacy protection."

    The Homeland Security Department's employee ID card will use state-of-the-art authentication and encryption systems to protect the department and its employees from identity thieves and spies with unauthorized RFID tag readers, said Broghamer.

    But the chips in passports will not have any of those digital security features, said Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Kimberly Weissman. "We want it to be compatible," she said, "with as many reader devices used by other countries as possible."














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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    sorry guys. I tried to change the font but it won't seem to work.


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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    RFID is a great idea whose time has come.
    Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

    William F. Buckley, Jr.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    but on your passport??? That seems so big brotherish


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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    I wonder if sticking the passport in the microwave for about five seconds would destroy the tag.
    Former SCJ now in rehab.

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    Veteran Member myssi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Just wrap the passport in tin foil...

    Would an RFID really work for the 10 years a passport could be valid?

    Seems like they should fix whatever problem it is with the readers and simply make it a contact reader.

    There are many 2D barcode schemes that could encode 5000 bytes of data... some are even multi-color. How much biometric data do they plan on storing with a passport?

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Is it waterproof? You could drop the passport in a puddle while in France...heh

    Of course, the criminals...who they really want to track will slip right on through...

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    Rebuildme
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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by myssi
    Just wrap the passport in tin foil...
    Not just the passport, your entire body!!!!!!!!!!!

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    this is actually part of a larger question of controlling the issuance / validity of American ID documents, and via the Real ID act (currently approved by the house and waiting for senate action) may find its way to every state issued driver's license as well as US passports. The potential for abuse of stored data in such documents is indeed a privacy concern, however it is only one of a long list of concerns regarding the pros / cons of switching to 'stored personal info' ID's.

    One very significant point on the flip side is that stolen 'stored personal info' ID's will be essentially useless to would-be impostors, and that producing false 'stored personal info' ID's will be two orders of magnitude more difficult than today's requirement of simply glueing a new picture under the lamination of a stolen passport or driver's license ! In conjunction with point of origination verification requirements that the identity of the person requesting the issuance of a driver's license is actually the US citizen they claim to be, this should go a long way towards making would-be terrorists and criminals lives more difficult.

    However, as always, there is plenty of opposition to go round ...



    I agree with Myssi that there are alternate technologies already available to graphically encode a fairly large amount of information which would eliminate the risk of an unauthorized 'proximity' reading of the info stored in a 'contactless' chip. However, going this route would also eliminate the possibility of writing new info onto a future passport or driver's license for example a record of border crossings and airplane boardings that ID was recently used for. While providing further reason for privacy concerns, having read/write capability would also add an extremely useful ability for border/airline/other official security agencies to immediately become aware of the travel patterns of the ID holder. My personal feeling is that if we're going to trust gov't with this sort of info capability in the first place, that we might as well go the entire gamut so that its purported purpose can be best achieved.

    The downside risk if the Real ID bill does not pass is, of course, the possibility that Homeland Security is in a position to mandate that state driver's licenses can no longer be used for Federal ID purposes - i.e. a de-facto requirement that every US citizen who wishes to cross an international border, or wishes to board an airplane, or wishes to prove his citizenship to start a new job, may be required to obtain a US passport to do so in the future.

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 03-30-2005 at 05:30 AM.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Rather than talking about HOW we should encode this information, I believe the real question is IF. I don't agree with requiring federal docments to do alot of things...we're allowing the concept of "security" (which as someone said is false, since the real criminals will do it anyway) to erode personal rights.

    Are we comfortable with being "scanned" whether contact or non-contact (though I'm more comfortable with something I can see happening, than having every metal detector equipped with a non-contact reader and letting everyone know my personal details) wherever we go?

    Does the population really support a "federal ID system" which will require carrying federal papers to do alot of everyday things? What about the limits on federal power....certain things shouldn't be federally regulated.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Does the population really support a "federal ID system" which will require carrying federal papers to do alot of everyday things? What about the limits on federal power....certain things shouldn't be federally regulated.
    Well, for a fact the crossing of international borders, commercial aviation, and new employment clearly fall under the umbrella of federal authority. Taking a position that 'certain things shouldn't be federally regulated' raises a two edged sword / you can't have your cake and eat it too. Disavowing federal authority over employment would indeed eliminate the federal ID requirement which already exists, but it would also eliminate such things as federal labor law jurisdiction, OSHA jurisdiction etc. Not to say that some states might welcome such a development, but I suspect that those states who make most active use of federal labor law, OSHA etc. will also be the ones who will be most active in opposing the Real ID act's requirement that state drivers licenses or other ID's for federal purposes must include a citizenship and identity verification requirement.

    I agree that any arguments over details i.e. 'contactless chips' vs bar codes are secondary to the basic point.

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    Featured Member discretedancer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    international transportation, even interstate transportation, employment, etc I don't mind. But we need to draw limits on what the federal ID cards should be for,when you should and shouldn't carry, etc.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by discretedancer
    international transportation, even interstate transportation, employment, etc I don't mind. But we need to draw limits on what the federal ID cards should be for,when you should and shouldn't carry, etc.
    herein lies the TRUE problem, that state issued driver's licenses are currently being used for Federal purposes in lieu of a Federal ID/Passport. Yet many states currently will issue driver's licenses to virtually anybody who shows up at a motor vehicle department, i.e. illegal aliens, suspected terrorists etc. with little or no actual verification of their true identity, their other documentation, their actual immigration status etc. (hence the famous dead baby birth certificate scam - search local newspaper archives near your birthday, find the obituary for a baby who died near that date, pay $10 for a copy of the dead baby's birth certificate - then take it to the DMV, pay $20 or whatever, and be issued a driver's license with the dead baby's name, your address, and your picture on it ! ).

    With proof that the 9/11 terrorists had been issued something like 60 phony drivers' licenses by various states, IMHO this is an area where something simply has to be done to clean up the act. Whether that's a uniform imposition of federal standards upon state drivers license issuance requirements i.e. the Real ID act, or whether that's a mandate that a Federal ID/passport be used for international border crossings, airplane boardings, new job paperwork etc. because state issued ID's can't be trusted for accuracy, is another question altogether.

    Personally speaking, I prefer that states be required to perform thorough ID verifications before issuing driver's licenses/state ID cards. This not only would keep the State Dep't from poking around in the lives of ordinary Americans, but it would also clean up the states' acts in regard to social welfare benefit eligibility, employment eligibility etc. for illegal aliens who can currently obtain fake driver's licenses very easily.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    also, the state/local interest in identifying illegal aliens continues to increase - it's now becoming an issue in states far from the Mexican border ...

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Personally I always use my US Passport whenever I can... to cash checks, board a plane, to buy alcohol, to apply for a job, etc. It always makes a better impression than just a driver's license. A passport doesn't really prove where you live since the address is supposed to be written in by you in pencil. A birth certificate of course has no photo, barcode, hologram... just a state stamp... it only proves a birthdate and place of birth for someone by itself. I can't understand why all employers now want an actual Social Security card to prove your SSN for their I9 form. It has no barcode, hologram, or photo... nothing that is tamper-proof or could not be forged. All it has is a printed number... you can just write down the number for them and it would prove just as much.

    Just for fun I tried using my federally issued Library of Congress ID card as proof of my ID. It has a photo and other information. But they wouldn't accept it as ID. (If they knew the paperwork and documents required to get the card they would have accepted it.) Oh well.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    I got an ID in Florida. The old man who was processing it didn't even look at my passport, he just asked me the questions. When it was time for country of birth question, he looked at me and said, "I don't even need to ask you this", and types in USA (I don't have an accent). Oops! The system is VERY fallible..........

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Myssi...what is a library of congress card?

    It's not the system that is fallible...it's the people who do not follow the rules/regs/procedures that is fallible.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." --From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy

    If we allow non-contact IDs to be required-carry (similar to old German "travel papers") for every US citizen...how long before travel is restricted based on societal/political viewpoints?

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    If we allow non-contact IDs to be required-carry (similar to old German "travel papers") for every US citizen...how long before travel is restricted based on societal/political viewpoints?
    I have no problem with the idea of travel being restricted for illegal aliens ! Also, nobody would be forcing anyone to obtain a federal ID, leaving them free to drive between any of the 48 states. As to societal/political overtones restricting the allowed travel of US citizens, that's a matter which would need to be passed by congress plus survive the US judiciary, meaning zero chance of a Soviet Union/Nazi Germany situation developing.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Don't you hate it when criminals and terrorists are smarter and more up-=to-date with technology than the people we elect/hire to become experts at protecting us? Don't you hate it when they turn the protection into intrusion in our lives? Don't you hate it when "concerned" citizens get the two confused and interfere with reasonable protection systems they devise.
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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Threlayer...the criminals/terrorists are not necessarily smarter or more up-to-date than the people we elect/hire to become experts at protecting us. They simply do not have to deal with the mountains of paperwork, eons of "may I pleases" and "budget constraints".

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    They simply do not have to deal with the mountains of paperwork, eons of "may I pleases" and "budget constraints"
    All true, but you left out US courts aiding the criminals/terrorists while tying one hand of those trying to protect us.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    ^ Hmmm...true...however I think I could fit that under the "may I please" section.

    They also do not have to worry about doing something that would be construed as "politically incorrect" and worry about costing their candidate the next election.

    *sigh* Damned if you do...damned if you don't.

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,...tml?tw=rss.TOP
    A link with some additional information.... they want to store/broadcast 64K bytes of data, and don't want to encrypt, etc.

    [BTW a Library of Congress card is... a library card for the Library of Congress... allows you to be a 'reader'...that is able enter the reading room (where all the desks are) and research whatever. Staff will bring you documents, etc. Take a tour of the LOC (actually 3 buildings) sometime...you can view the reading room (beautiful place, huge dome), but not enter.]

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    Default Re: Goodbye RFID!!!

    Sounds like the perfect place for a book nerd.

    I should go there sometime.

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