RFID and the End of Privacy

[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.



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)

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