Bugged
Guest columnist Gib from Chicago has given us a brief, non-paranoid backgrounder on some of the electronic bugs infesting modern life. Gib is a scientist, electronics engineer, and former designer of electronic circuitry and instrumentation.
***************
I just got my new passport. It has an embedded RFID chip, and is therefore classified as an “electronic device.” For anyone wondering about the great swarms of bugs colonizing this Orwellian age, here’s some basic information.
Definitions:
RFID. Radio Frequency IDentification An automatic data capture technology. Can be a passive chip powered by transmitted radio energy from the interrogating reader (short range), or a transponder (long range). IPASS and EZ-PASS use RFID technology, as does IFF (Identification - Friend or Foe) for military IDs.
Transponder. A data storage device containing both a receiver and a transmitter. When it receives a properly coded query signal it responds by transmitting back information stored inside it. For highway toll use it sends back the identity of the vehicle and it’s owner. It also sends back the amount of money remaining in the user’s toll account as stored in the transponder. The querying signal then deducts the amount of the toll from this balance. When the balance gets low, the Highway Authority is authorized to charge the user’s credit card to replenish the toll account. If you go through the toll booth with no active transponder, a photo is automatically taken of your license plate and the report sent to a processing center for action. You can go on line and download a complete record of your toll usage.
This technology is the wave (no pun intended) of the future. I don’t think I like it — shades of Big Brother watching you. Our toll roads in Illinois have now enforced its use by making tolls paid by coins twice as much as those paid via a transponder. In the military, such a system has been in use since WWII to make the echo of friendly planes show up on the radar display with an identifying mark. Any plane not showing such ID then is considered suspicious, and a potential target for anti-aircraft fire. That could include you if your IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) system was not working properly, or you forgot to turn it on.
Systems with transponders are called “Active” systems.
The usage now building up at a great rate is of “Passive” systems. Here, an electronic chip is embedded in a store’s product, or now in your new passport. Since there is no battery in the device to supply the transmitter, the power to do so is derived from the querying radio signal. Consequently, passive systems are short range. These systems will speed up store check-out, replacing bar code scanning in many instances, and should also speed-up passport lines in entering another country. They will, of course, also improve border security.
There is, however, concern that people could build a device called a “skimmer” that would beam a brief, powerful Radio Frequency (RF) signal at RFID chips containing private information, and use extra-sensitive receivers to pick it up at a distance. The new passport information claims that they have technology (probably sophisticated coding) to prevent skimming.
Once the chips show up in your driver’s license, and maybe your credit cards, you will be open to having your identity and other information stolen my yet another mechanism. I do not have my IPass (Illinois Toll transponder) mounted up on the windshield as instructed; I keep it down inside the car in a metal box, and only hold it up when passing a toll booth. There is absolutely no reason that they cannot eventually set up speed traps that query your transponder for your identity, and then automatically take a photo of your license and mail out traffic tickets. Great for city income, and no cop’s salary to pay.
Welcome to the future!
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>