Consumerist
privacy
Posts Tagged “
RFID
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privacy
the store of tomorrow
German Department Store Launches RFID-Enhanced Men's Department
A German department store is trying a new RFID system in its men's department, where it's tagged 30,000 pieces with Smart Chip labels. When shoppers take garments into the dressing room, an integrated display shows the customer price, materials, and care instructions, as well as sizes and colors available. Later this year, the screens will also show complimentary pieces, a great help if you're not good at matching clothes or are color blind. More »
security
Don't Like RFID In Your Credit Card? Ask 'Em To Turn It Off
While the danger of someone long-distance slurping the account information communicating out the RFID chips being increasingly embedded in credit cards is, for the time being, remote, reader Eyebrows McGee reports success in asking AmEx to turn it off... More »
tin foil hats
Credit card companies are putting magical radio chips inside your credit cards to allow for "touch n go" "contact-less" payments, but if for some reason the idea of a miniature beacon transmitting your credit card information, albeit however encrypted the companies feel like making them, there is something you can do about, blogs Cody: Dremel!
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How To De-RFID Your Credit Card
Credit card companies are putting magical radio chips inside your credit cards to allow for "touch n go" "contact-less" payments, but if for some reason the idea of a miniature beacon transmitting your credit card information, albeit however encrypted the companies feel like making them, there is something you can do about, blogs Cody: Dremel!
More »
rfid
Protect Your RFID Credit Card With A RF Jammer
Credit card companies are embedding radio frequency tags (RFID) in credit cards. Since these are transmitters, there's the possibility of a thief using an RFID sniffer to snag your credit card digits. More »
passport
HOW TO: Disable RFID in Your New Passport
Despite the fact that RFID chips are not secure and can be read by hackers, any U.S. Passport issued after Jan 1 will contain an RFID chip. If you'd like to risk 25 years in prison for tampering with it, Wired has a primer on how to disable the chip and protect yourself from ID theft. More »
rfid
Personal RFID Firewall Invented
This paper outlines a system for protecting yourself from the threat of RFID bandits snagging the credit card information you broadcast. The "RFID Guardian" jams your RFID signals, then it clones their signals and rebroadcasts them only if and when you tell it. If the banks won't make the cards more secure, it's up to the user to protect himself. — BEN POPKEN More »
consumer alert
No-Swipe Credit Cards Pose Risk Says Senator
Credit cards that use RFID signals to conduct transactions could put consumers at risk for identity theft and credit card fraud, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY said in a press conference Sunday. More »
gawker
NYC RFID Subway Turnstiles Spread
New RFID turnstiles mean Citibank customers with enabled cards or credit wands need never fumble for a Metrocard again. More »
privacy
RFID Confuses The US Government
Despite a report by Homeland security, the US is going ahead with plans to put RFID tags in everything from passports to drivers licenses. More »
banks
Long-Distance RFID Snagging Possible, Already Done
After posting about the danger posed by magic wand credit cards, some readers pooh-poohed the notion that someone could build a device capable of reading RFID from a distance. More »
banks
Foil RFID Thieves. Literally.
The tin-foil hat contingent may have finally hit on something right. More »
consumer alert
No-Swipe Credit Card No Problem For Thieves
Radio-frequency enabled credit cards allow consumers to complete transactions with a flick of the wrist, but new research shows that it's not just consumers and merchants who will find the new system easier. More »
rfid
RFIDs Cloned Within Human Flesh
If it means I have to memorize one less arbitrary pin code in my life, you can tattoo a bar code on my forehead as far as I'm concerned. Still, many are worried about the privacy issues involved in implanted RFID chips, and the prospect of living in a society that may make them mandatory. Big Brother and all that. More »
employment
Ohio Employees Have a Chip On Their Forearm
Most people don't mind wearing a security badge to work, but CityWatcher.com's new employee identity verification system may be the first of its kind: RFID microchip implants. The Cincinnati-based video surveillance firm has "chipped" a couple of its employees, implanting glass-encased RFID transmitters in their forearms. The chips act much like current RFID badging technologies, granting the chipped employees access to restricted areas—the main difference seems to be that a determined thief would have to cut the chip out of the employee instead of simply making off with their badge. Makes the $10 badge replacement fee pale in comparison, we think. More »
wal-mart
How Wal-Mart Consumes Countries
MSN Money has a more objective business-oriented look at Wal-Mart's sprawling empire of consumerism, weighing both pros and cons of their practices. Of course, this being the Consumerist and Wal-Mart being our favorite corporate antichrist figure [which does not, we note, prevent us from worshiping them. -Ed.], we're going to blockquote part of the con:Most important, Wal-Mart is exporting a retailing and supply-chain system that trains and influences not only the "associates" but the public as well. People in these many countries become Wal-Mart customers. They will live with the results of Wal-Mart's (and Procter & Gamble's (PG, news, msgs)) commitment to radio-frequency identification (RFID). The technology sneaks into the store on cat s feet.More »
