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RFID and
the End of Privacy
Truthout | March
29, 2007
By
Deniz Yeter
Wal-Mart,
Target, IBM and the Department of Defense plan to chip, track and
catalogue everything manufactured on planet Earth.
[T]he
widespread use of RFID tags on merchandise such as clothing would
make it possible for the locations of people, animals and objects to
be tracked on a global scale - a privacy invasion of Orwellian
proportions. - US patent application 20020116274 for IBM, filed
February 21, 2001. (1)
Imagine a world
where everything is fitted with an RFID (Radio Frequency
Identification) spychip, containing a unique ID for each of the same
product to differentiate it from others, and tracked in real time.
It sounds
far-fetched, but that is exactly what RFID companies like Accenture
and the Auto-ID labs at MIT have been trying to do since 1999.
They're
now backed with funding from over a hundred major corporations
(2)
including some big names like Coca-Cola, Kraft, CVS, Proctor and
Gamble, Kelloggs, Best Buy, Home Depot, and even the US Postal
Service.
Already,
products like Gillette Mach3 razor blades have been fitted with half
a billion RFID tags (3)
and sold at Wal-Marts throughout the country without the knowledge
or consent of the consumer back in January of 2003.
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The actual RFID tag found on
the packaging of Gillette Mach3 razor blades
(4);
notice the RFID chip in the middle that
distinguishes it from a normal EAS anti-theft tag
(5)
that is also hidden inside the packaging.
(Photo: Deniz Yeter) |
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RFID is also
known as an EPC, or an Electronic Product Code, which is what
companies plan to implement to replace the current UPC barcode, or
Universal Product Code.
Companies like
Pepsi, Nestle, Pfizer, Phillip Morris USA, Johnson & Johnson and
many others want to make this EPC universal, meaning every thing
ever made on planet Earth must be tagged with an RFID chip.
Each RFID chip
contains a unique ID unlike barcodes, and can emit information
constantly as an active RFID chip or on when triggered by a RFID
reader as a passive RFID chip.
Products
that have been fitted with RFID include Calvin Klein and Abercrombie
and Fitch clothing (6),
Kleenex and Huggies baby wipes (7),
Toyotas after 2004 (8),
Viagra and Oxycontin prescription bottles (9),
company loyalty and membership cards (10),
library books (11),
every new US passport beginning in October 2006 (12),
and many, many more that companies won't disclose.
To find out
more about the subject, I contacted Dr. Katherine Albrecht, the
founder and director of CASPIAN (Spychips.com), Consumers Against
Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering; a Harvard graduate, and
also the author of Spychips, the definitive book on the
subject of RFID and its dangers to privacy.
She told me
that some of the most recent targets of RFID chipping include "HP
printers and scanners, Sanyo televisions," and "many other
electronic goods sold at Wal-Mart stores throughout the country."
"Products
tagged by RFID readers can be monitored by smart shelves," which can
direct cameras to "take a mug shot of you once you pick up the
tagged product," even if you were simply looking at it.
Kathrine
told me that this is exactly what happened in Broken Arrow,
Oklahoma, where unsuspecting shoppers had their pictures taken by
one of Wal-Mart's own smart shelves when they picked up a stick of
Lipfinity's Max Factor. (13)
She also
said that Levi's jeans tagged with RFID are also being sold
somewhere in the country as part of a trial run for RFID
(14),
but "they won't tell us exactly where or which stores they are doing
this."
When
asked if this technology could be used to track people, she replied
that IBM has patented technology (15)
called the "Person Tracking Unit - their term, not ours - to track
individuals."
All it
takes is one chipped product in your pocket, an RFID tag in your
shoes or clothing, or even in the wheel of your car, as Katherine
tells me that even "Michelin Tires has begun to place RFID in all
their tires," beginning in 2004. (16)
Katherine
informed me that it would only take a few well-placed readers
strategically imbedded in road intersections, highway on-ramps,
parking lots, and store entrances and your trip can be catalogued.
"You wouldn't
need readers everywhere, as I explained to a reporter once."
I told her that
with only four readers I would be able to track her entire 60-mile
trip to our interview.
But
corporations and Big Brother aren't the only ones to worry about
getting your information, because this will revolutionize identity
theft, making it much easier for a criminal to steal your
information by scanning the RFID chips in the credit card in your
wallet or purse, or even in your trash.
"Around 20
million credit cards now have RFID placed within them without the
knowledge of the consumer," she informed me. She said there is no
sure-fire way to protect your information short of "cutting up your
credit cards."
This exposes
your personal information to an even greater risk of identity theft,
making your credit card number airborne with an RFID signal
transmitting actively or passively, waiting for someone with an RFID
reader to steal that number.
If you're
an owner of an American Express Blue Card (17)
then you might want to know that it's tagged with an RFID chip, but
she informed me that "sending it back and requesting another credit
card without an RFID reader" is an option.
Katherine added
that, "people with newly issued US passports containing RFID have no
choice when it comes to protecting their information."
"An RFID sleeve
can be purchased" or "wrapping your passport in aluminum foil is
another choice" to "contain the signal," but it's not a sure bet
since "RFID can travel through most anything."
Even encrypting
the signal doesn't guarantee anything, which doesn't protect your
sensitive information and is believed to be a fundamental flaw with
the technology itself that cannot be resolved.
Criminals can
drive through a neighborhood and use an RFID reader to gather your
personal information from your trash in a matter of seconds, with
the new added convenience of not having to sort through your dirty
garbage.
Shredding
important documents or even throwing away packaging tagged with RFID
in the garbage could pose a risk, especially if the US Postal
Service gets its way in tagging every bit of mail with RFID.
A thief could
walk around in a crowded area to snatch dozens of Social Security or
credit card numbers or other sensitive information in a matter of
seconds by using a portable RFID reader.
Katherine told
me that stalkers could use one of these RFID readers to stalk their
victims and know where they were 24/7.
This could also
expose policemen, servicemen, politicians, celebrities and other
important or famous people to danger from terrorism or other acts of
violence when anonymity is necessary to a person's job or life.
Katherine also
informed me that carrying valuables would become more dangerous
since "a criminal could wait outside a mall" and "use an RFID reader
to see if you're wearing anything of value like a Rolex," or scan
your car or even your home for goods to see if it's worth breaking
into.
RFID is an open
secret, kept under the radar from the unsuspecting public by
corporations who hope to meet their goals before the average
consumer catches on to them.
These companies
know full well of the fierce public opposition that is met once
people realize their plans, and hope that no one finds out, or if
they do they're too apathetic to act.
According
to a confidential Auto-ID Center study (18),
one of the leading RFID companies since the beginning of the RFID
industry found that 78 percent of surveyed consumers "reacted
negatively" to RFID when asked about privacy, with more than half
claiming "to be extremely or very concerned."
"Consumers did
not want 'smart tags' in their homes," and "reassurance that 'tags'
could be turned off and privacy guaranteed was not compelling."
These companies
are dependent on our purchases, and all it takes is a few outraged
customers to reverse these actions, as is shown by many anti-RFID
campaigns across the globe.
Sources:
(1)
United States patent application 20020116274.
Hind, John R. "Method to Address Security and Privacy Issues of the
Use of RFID Systems to Track Consumer Products." Assigned to
International Business Machines. February 21, 2001.
(2)
"RFID Sponsors." Consumers Against Supermarket
Privacy Invasion and Numbering.
http://www.spychips.com/devices/rfid_sponsors.html
(3)
Ewalt, David M. and Hayes, Mary. "Gillette
Razors Get New Edge: RFID Tags." InformationWeek. January 13, 2003.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20030110S0028
(4)
"What is RFID?" Consumers Against Supermarket
Privacy Invasion and Numbering.
http://www.spychips.com/what-is-rfid.html
(5)
"Gillette Mach3 Razor Tag Images." Consumers
Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering.
http://www.spychips.com/devices/gillette-tag-images.html
(6)
"Mystery Clothing Company Plans Item-Level
RFID Rollout." Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and
Numbering. September 23, 2004.
http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/checkpoint-photos.html
(7)
Bacheldor, Beth. "RFID Kick-Start."
InformationWeek. May 24, 2004.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=20900361
(8)
"Toyota South Africa Motors Ltd. Selects Alien
Technology; RFID Solution for Vehicle Identification." Alien
Technology Corporation. October 17, 2005.
http://www.alientechnology.com/newsevents/2005/press101705d.php
(9)
Wyld, David C. "Viagra and Oxycontin Tagged,
but Future Still Uncertain for RFID in Pharma." RFID News. March 21,
2006.
http://www.rfidnews.org/library/2006/03/21/viagra-and-oxycontin-tagged-but-future-still-uncertain-for-rfid-in-pharma/
(19)
Shabi, Rachel. "The Card Up Their Sleeve." The
Guardian. July 19, 2003.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,999866,00.html
(11)
"Plan for Library Book Tagging Generates
Privacy Concerns." Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Advisory.
October 2, 2003.
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/RFID/20031002_eff_pr.php
(12)
Prince, Paul. "United States Sets Date for
E-Passports." RFID Journal. October 25, 2005.
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1951/1/132/
(13)
"Scandal: Wal-Mart, P&G Involved in Secret
RFID Testing." Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and
Numbering. November 10, 2003.
http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/broken-arrow.html
(14)
"Spychipped Levi's Brand Jeans Hit the US."
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering. April
27, 2006.
http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/levis-secret-testing.html
(15)
United States patent application 20020165758.
Hind, John R. "Identification and Tracking of Persons Using RFID-Tagged
Items." Assigned to International Business Machines. November 7,
2002.
http://www.spychips.com/documents/ATT00075.pdf
(16)
Sullivan, Laurie. "Michelin Expands RFID
Tests." InformationWeek. October 12, 2004.
http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=49901180
(17)
"American Express Addresses RFID People Tracking Plans." Consumers
Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering. March 9, 2007.
http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/american-express-conference.html
(18)
Kim, Phyllis L. "Auto-ID Center
Communications." Fleishman-Hillard Inc. November 14, 2001.
http://cryptome.org/rfid/pk-fh.pdf
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