[LINK] Re: RFID in Govt, and in People

[Kim Holburn]

On 2006 Oct 05, at 12:07 PM, Eric Scheid wrote:
> On 5/10/06 11:21 AM, "Marghanita da Cruz" <marghanita at ramin.com.au>  
> wrote:
>>> What NEW privacy concerns are specifically raised because of RFID?
>
>> It is the ease of tracking that RFID offers over Barcodes that raises
>> issues....identifying people or their habbits by their rubbish  
>> bins and
>> their contents, where they live by tracking where the book/clothing
>> goes...are these applications are in the realms of science fiction or
>> now legitimate objectives.
>
> I heard that supermarkets might use RFID to keep an eye on the  
> level of
> various goods on the shelf ... to know when the item is removed  
> from the
> shelf. All to do with maintaining inventory levels or something.

Yeah and supermarkets could note what books you are reading, where  
you bought your clothes and what credit cards you are carrying as you  
pass by a "reading" station?.

On the other hand noting would stop you from creating say, an RFID  
jacket with thousands of RFID tags in it, if it were an active device  
those tags could change constantly!!!

> Combine that with library cards with RFID chips one might carry in  
> one's
> pocket, and They might now be able to track what books people read  
> *in* the
> library (ie. the books they *don't* checkout).
>
> The thing is, is this feasible?
>
> (this prompts another curious question: we've had great and long  
> debate
> about the range for reading RFID, and I've also noted comments  
> about RFID
> readers being overwhelmed with too many responses ... but could one  
> design
> an RFID reader with very limited range, ideal for scanning the  
> smaller set
> of RFIDs physically within 12" only?)

I believe this is what the RFID industry wants us to believe all  
readers are like!

--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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