re Ariz. college using RFID for class attendance

[Dave Farber <dfarber () me com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
> Date: May 4, 2010 9:30:00 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] re Ariz. college using RFID for class attendance

> I think it is worth pointing out here that RFIDs provide no "proof" whatever of human presence, for all the reasons 
> above, *plus* a more fundamental reason:  it is quite easy to produce a device that can behave like an RFID in all 
> manner of ways.
>
> Students at MIT have demonstrated that it is trivial to clone MIT ID card RFIDs (and the cards used for passes on the 
> T).   It is also straighforward to *remote* an ID - that is, by connecting over a network, forward any "query" or 
> "test" over the Internet to a place where the ID card actually resides (this beats the "challenge response" card as a 
> test of "presence").
>
> And for that matter, RFIDs can be read from 10's of meters away from the reader, merely by engineering a different 
> reader.
>
> There is a certain brand of "magical thinking" that surrounds those who think RFIDs are somehow better than merely 
> taking attendance.  Especially those who assert the "rights" of teachers and universities to *require* students to 
> behave like slaves beholden to masters.
>
> Let's just acknowledge that society, including academia, is full of power-hungry people who want people to submit to 
> their will.
>
> But we don't have to submit.



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