More fuel for the fire for RFID privacy concerns...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu
Date: February 21, 2006 6:44:42 PM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: More fuel for the fire for RFID privacy concerns...

Well, so much for the "they can only be read at very short distance"  
defense...

(And one has to wonder how a system like this qualifies as:
Classification Code: 70 -- General purpose information technology  
equipment
General purpose???)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2006

HOMELAND SECURITY RFI HEIGHTENS PUBLIC CONCERNS OVER RFID DHS Wants  
to Track
Spychips in Moving Cars Going 55 MPH

"Call it Big Brother on steroids," say privacy advocates Katherine  
Albrecht
and Liz McIntyre, co-authors of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and
Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for beefed  
up RFID
technology that can read government-issued documents from up to 25 feet
away, pinpoint pedestrians on street corners, and glean the identity of
people whizzing by in cars at 55 miles per hour.

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is a controversial technology that
uses tiny microchips to track items from a distance. These RFID  
microchips
have earned the nickname "spychips" because each contains a unique
identification number, like a Social Security number for things, that  
can be
read silently and invisibly by radio waves. Privacy and civil liberties
advocates are opposed to the use of the technology on consumer items and
government documents because it can be used to track people without  
their
knowledge or consent.

...

A copy of the RFI is posted at the authors' website:
http://www.spychips.com/DHS-RFID.pdf



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