Europe: RFID-documents
01 May 2006
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is an automatic data capture technology which uses tiny tracking chips that can be affixed to products (or passports and ID cards). These tiny chips can be used to track items at a distance, so that those who carry the chip around with them, knowingly or unknowingly, do not know which information about their purchasing behaviour, or in case of an RFID tagged passport, personal details, is transmitted to unwanted parties. RFID chips, often hidden, are already being used by businesses and the EU has agreed that the technology can be used in passports. The opposition to RFID and its implications for privacy, human rights and environmental effects, is growing, and campaigners are disseminating information on how to destroy the chips.
The German Chaos Computer Club, which campaigns on data protection and leads a "stop RFID campaign" in Germany, says that:
Small RFID tracking chips see increasing use all around us. Whether you are driving a car (ignition keys, immobiliser systems), or are a lumber jack dragging trees about in a forest, whether you use a ski-lift, visit a soccer game, or wish to register and track the yoghurt containers on the shelves of the small shop you own - almost everywhere you will encounter commercial solutions for the use of RFID once you start looking. And mostly for the sole benefit of the users, i.e. the companies. Personnel, customers and privacy are the ones that bear the risks.
Chips can be read from up to 100 metres, as in cases of tagged car license plates, for example. There is a passive and an active variant, the latter runs on a tiny battery that needs to be changed once in a while. RFID can be used for all sorts of purposes, for example, to track products (used by retailers to make shoplifting more difficult or to spy on consumer behaviour) in the security industry or for personal use (e.g. tagging house keys). They are also found in tickets (football matches or transport), ID-cards, bank notes, books and are even used in forestry. With a small glass layer around them these small chips can even be implanted subcutaneously, which according to some is useful for tagging pets and cattle.
It did not take long before the wish to tag people was formulated. One of the first companies to implant its personnel with RFID chips was the security company CitiWatch in Cincinnati which now runs a unit whose doors only open to people with certain chips in their biceps (1). The patent holder and producer of the chip, the company VeriChip, has proposed implanting RFID chips in all immigrants to the USA, at least this is what Scott Silverman, VeriChip's chairman of the board, demanded on 16 May on Fox News Channel (2). Fortunately, whilst the use of RFID is growing, so is opposition to this technology. Aside from the obvious privacy concerns, basic human rights are endangered through the use of RFID chips. The implant of an RFID chip should be seen as a surgical procedure, human rights and civil liberties activists argue, and if applied against the will of the person concerned, should be treated as unlawful maltreatment (3). Resistance is also growing from within the tech-scene, which is showing how easily the chip can be read by unwanted parties, or even hacked or cloned (i.e. copied) (4). An increasing number of sites are giving tips on how to destroy the chips. Apparently, they do not survive a grilling in the microwave, which might not be of use if it is attached to your yoghurt container or implanted in your arm - the chips have been known to go up in flames when microwaved. The solution in the latter case might be a small portable EMP generator, which can be constructed from an old flash camera. RFID zappers are also on the market, as well as key rings that can detect and warn you if an RFID reading machine is active near you.
The EU agreed, in December 2004, that RFID chips containing peoples' fingerprints are to be included in new passports i