Be Afraid: Powder-Sized RFID Chips
Fri Feb 16, 2007 8:58AM EST
See Comments (1248)
Everyone's so paranoid about the RFID chips that are already in place in so many parts of our lives, so here's an item (via Engadget and Pink Tentacle) about Hitachi's new powder-sized RFID chips to make us even more scared of Big Brother (or little-Brother-ID thief). RFID chips are tiny microchips that use radio waves to do everything from conduct credit card transactions (as on those little key-fob-Paypass MasterCard thingies) and pay for tolls (EZ Pass and its ilk) to keeping track of your devices and travel (U.S. passports). Hitachi plans to start marketing these new chips—seriously no bigger than a speck of dust at 0.05 x 0.05 mm—in two to three years. The company says this super-tiny chip can be used in paper, currency, gift certificates, and the like, but as some sites have pointed out, today's chips are already small enough for those uses. So, as Engadget cracked, does this mean we should be watching what we eat in case of some James-Bond-style pepper-shaker swap?
Maybe, but is the terror around RFID over-hyped? According to most proponents of the technology, and my own experiences paying with PayPass at my local drug store, you really need to physically tap the RFID chip to something for the transaction to go through. And yet, when I go through a toll booth, my RFID-enabled EZ Pass box is only about ten feet away from the sensor. So maybe it is time to watch what you eat, lest Big Brother starts to track you wirelessly (or you spill some RFID powder from which evil ID thieves can extract your vital stats!)
What do you think? Is RFID worth the convenience or is it setting up some dangerous privacy-invasion precedents?
Related links:
Is RFID On Your Radar?
Step Right Up for Your Microchip Implant
Getting Swiped with a No-Swipe Credit Card
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Comments on Be Afraid: Powder-Sized RFID Chips
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2 Posted by shadowfax4269 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:15PM EDT Report Abuse
Personally I think it is a lot of paranoia. As the previous person stated good or basd is determined by the people that use it. I just think people in general are scared someone might find out they actually like porn....or listen to Britney Spears. Perosnally I think Big Brother could care less unless your watching child porn, in which you should be burned at the stake, or Britney Spears becomes a terrorist and her music is used to incite riots. People complain about not being safe and how there are criminals on the street everywhere! But those same people are usually against giving up a little privacy or inconvinience to live in a safer neighborhood. Working in law enforcement I listen everyday to how people complain about not being safe or get upset that we aren't able to trace a phone number or cell phone number of an ex-husband who keeps calling saying he is on his way up to kill them. You ask that same person if we should be able to trace their cell phone when needed and they would say no it's a violation of their rights...
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3 Posted by seasideroses95519 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:11PM EDT Report Abuse
RFID is just another way that the government will be able to have full control over the people, so that the "group" that controls the government will have full control over the people, so as to fulfill their agenda, which can only happen when there's no resistance from "free" people. Beware of all this technology that presents itself as being merely for the purpose of more "convenience" etc.in our lives when most of them are basically "trojan horses", gaining more and more entrance and control and access to us; we are being like the frog in the pot, slowly being boiled alive without our realizing it until it's too late. At this point, I am only relying on the safety and security I find in belonging to Jesus Christ.
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4 Posted by dcflag_metalchik on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse
That is so scary. Paranoia galore I say. I mean...nobody is safe. What happend to the right to privacy? Not cool...it's seriously scary.
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5 Posted by takeo37 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:54PM EDT Report Abuse
can anyone say 666...be afriad ...VERY AFRAID!!!!!
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1 Posted by trmprognut on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse
It is no different than the first stone a human used to smash grain and then throw at his enemy. It is a tool. Whether it is bad or good is determined by the person that uses it. The human race, in the past, has never stopped improvements based on a few evil minds. I don't think we should start now. I am in the healthcare industry and these chips potentially could improve patient safety. We will see.