Next there will be a chip in youir brain

[Racket_Man]

I have heard rumors about this for a couple of years now. but now it seems that Wally World is turning it into a reality

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/0...cy-concerns%2F

on one hand great way to track inventory internal to a store or location. the downside as stated in the article is that if the RFID tag is NOT deactivated when leaving the store yes someone can track you and your stuff.

one of the arguments against was that a company can cruise the streets and find who owns what and use that as a direct marketing sceme or cold call you about a about to expire warranty, or junk mail you stuff.

and if the more shady of societies elements get a hold of the tech, well lets see who in the neighborhood has the best stuff. iust like finding an unsecured WiFi hot spot, let the flood gates open

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Ya know, if RFID chips worked the way that this article is concerned about, then I might be concerned as well.

But they do not and so I'm not concerned.

First of all, RFID chips, being unpowered, do not have the ability to transmit much in the way of data. They respond with a simple string of numbers. So to scan a stack of garments, one would take the handheld scanner over to the stack and start scanning. The RFID chips respond with the number and the scanner reads that number. So when the scanner is active, the RFID chip responds with (for sake of example) 123456789. The scanner sends the number to the central computer which looks up that 123456789 is a package of Fruit of the Loom, Size XL, Pocket T-Shirts.

To anyone else with a scanner, all they would get is the number 123456789 which is meaningless unless they had some way of knowing that 123456789 is the aforementioned t-shirts.

And besides, the link off that article to Gizmodo explains that the RFID chip is removable. So if having this chip gives you the creepy Oompa-Loompa vibes, remove it and whack the shit out of it with a hammer.

Oh and as for big ticket items and the concerns that a criminal could scan the garbage and notice that a big ticket item was recently purchased? Don't you think they would be more inclined to notice the big honking cardboard box the item came in? I mean a LCD TV box doesn't easily fit into a trashcan. And again, smash the gorram thing before tossing it for the smaller items like an XBox or PS3.

It is nothing more than an electronic form of UPC BarCodes. No one is going to track your socks like a lojack system. Your panties aren't going to scream to the EZPass systems that you're wearing leopard-print under your business suit.

Also think of this. If the system were intended as a form of loss prevention and they were not removable, the anti-theft alarm would go off when you come back wearing the denim shorts you bought a week ago. Even worse and more annoying to Walmart, the anti-theft alarm would go off every time someone walked out with a purchased item.

Then there is the fear of the Drivers Licence. Unless the states are willing to give Walmart access to the drivers licence systems, they are not going to get anything from the drivers licences. Hell if the states aren't willing to give access to Bars and Liquor stores to prevent underage drinking and forged Drivers Licences, they sure as heck aren't going to give it to a Walmart just to find out that Jane Smith buys X-brand blouses and has recently gone down a size.

This site is just doling out a heaping helping of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

[HYHYBT]

If I remember rightly from the last time this sort of complaint was going around (and from using cards containing them), the chips only have a range of a foot or two. And that's in open air; surely through walls would be less. So your neighbors (or anyone else) wouldn't be able to tell what's in your house by them unless they were already in your house to use the scanner. And, of course, if they're in your house then they don't *need* the chips to see what you have.

[Hobbs]

This is why Snopes is your friend.

[Daskinor]

I was going to do a long post on this. But yea the article is scaremongering.

Manufacturer buys a bunch of preprogrammed RFID. The cheep tags they use for this purpose only hold 128 bits of data. Its only enough for roughly 16 characters. Preprogrammed they will have only a string of data to exists as a unique identifier. If the tag is programed at the factory its normally programed with the bar code and or a serial number. Along with any unique identifier.

Wal-mart Buys a bunch of the same items. And the manufacturer installs a RFID tag somewhere. Usually something that is normally removed and thrown away after purchase.

Wal-Mart gets the items in and uses a big boy RFID scanner to scan all the items at one time. All the tags are put into Wal-Marts database to associate the tag with the item. They will then package the items into the shipping containers, then the containers are installed with a tag. Without going into detailed database structures, Wal-Marts computers know;

"Widget XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is in shipping box Y"

When box Y is shipped it will go though a large door reader on its way out. It will scan the large RFID chip and know it contains all its Widgets.

Once the Shipping box reaches the store it will go though another large door reader. And it will know that Box Y is now in the store and it still contains all its widgets. At this point the box will be opened and the items moved to a location. Once there the items are scanned by a hand scanner with a really short range and the location is updated in the database.

"Widget XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is in Isle 4, shelf 5 in store ZZZZZ"

Customer will then buy the item. The register will have an RFID reader instead of a bar code scanner. This also removes any chance of double scanning an item because all items will have an unique ID.

"Widget XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX purchased receipt #xxxxxxxxxxx"

All entrances and exits will have door readers installed, for maximum loss prevention. So if an item is not purchased goes through a scanner when you exit, it will set off an alarm.

How does this allow a store to track you. In most cases instead instead of knowing that you bought a gallon of milk. They will know that you bought a particular bottle of milk. In thier computers you bought bottle XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. In essence its the same kind of data they get when you use a loyalty card or a credit card to pay.

Yes the scanners can pick up other RFID tags. But all they will get is a number. Without a database to see what that number is associated with its just gibberish.

Now this is the most important part. And the news never says this. RFID tags work on different frequencies. Government ID RFID tags may work at 126 HTZ, but Wal-Marts work at 90. Unless the equipment is made to run on the frequency the tags use. IT CAN NOT READ THEM.

So for a criminal to go around and scan your trash for RFID tags. They will need a van full of allot of different RFID equipment. And the farther away your trash is the more power they need to make it work.