Mark's Blog: 2014

RFID. Caveat emptor.

Mark van Vuuren (2009)

What is RFID?

RFID (Radio Frequency IDentity) is a microchip that can be attached to objects for the primary purpose of identifying and tracking said objects using radio waves. Gone are the barcode and magnetic strip. With the RFID chip a radio frequency is issued requiring no more direct contact or line-of-site scanning.[1]

You might recognize it – it’s the chip that’s used in pets, placed just under the skin (i.e. subdermal) so that the veterinarian can scan the lost cat or dog to obtain key information, like the owner’s details. RFID is currently used in a number of other applications, e.g. product tracking, supply chain management, cash-free highway tolls, asset management, libraries, stock control, animal control (such as Great White shark tagging), and vehicle tracking systems.[2] [3] [4]

What is unique about an RFID chip is the ease with which it can be attached to objects, the amount of data the chip can store, and the ease with which the chip can be read.[5]

So, it sounds like a good thing, right?

How RFID works

The general design of an RFID chip has two parts: the first is the integrated circuit for storing and processing information, receiving and issuing the radio signal; the second part is the antenna that does the sending and receiving of the radio frequency.

Apart from the basic design, there are two types of RFID chip: Active (contains a battery and can issue a radio frequency) and passive (no battery but requires an external stimulus to provoke a signal transmission).

The application of the RFID chip is either attached to the object being tracked, or it can be applied under the skin.

How big is the chip? The size varies on the manufacturer and the purpose. It can be about an inch squared. The subdermal model is approximately the size of a grain of rice (8mm).[6]

There are smaller forms of the chip, e.g. Hitachi had developed a passive RFID measuring 0.4mm by 0.4 mm named the mu-chip.[7] Subsequent to this Hitachi developed an even smaller passive chip at 0.05 mm by 0.05 mm.[8]

Is the chip global? Yes.

“ …all major international trading countries including Japan and China have approved active RFID products operating at 433 MHz that are based on ISO 18000-7 standards. The global RF community is moving to authorize the common HF, UHF and microwave frequencies to enable RFID usage around the world.”[9]

Why is RFID worthy of your attention?

RFID already exists and is used commercially.
The RFID chip is small, and with the advance of technology will become smaller, containing more data and be able to transmit data with a more powerful signal.
The subdermal RFID chip was FDA approved in 2004.[10]
The RFID chip can be applied to the frail and to children; it can also be applied to the general human population. It’s been applied as a wearable RFID tag to over 1 million babies in 2007.[11]
Subdermal positioning of the RFID chip in humans is expected to be on top of one’s hand, or one’s shoulder.
It is possible that with a chip under your skin it can act as a credit card, allowing you to transact without the hassle of cash.[12]
“The Mark of the Beast” recorded in the New Testament, Book of Revelation 13:16-18.

RFID benefits

The RFID chip in the frail or mentally handicapped will provide a means to quickly and accurately identify the patient’s personal and medical details allowing for efficient and effective medical attention.
If your dog is lost yet contains a chip then any vet with an RFID scanner can identify the animal and return it to you.
The RFID chip can be placed in your driver’s license; of course, the card could be lost. Ideally, a means to keep all pertinent information close at hand is for you to carry the RFID chip under your skin.
If prisoners were chipped then their presence would be easier to monitor throughout the prison, and if they escaped then recovering them should be easier.
If everyone were chipped, then illegal aliens would be controllable, as would be terrorists.
With a subdermal chip your Social Security details, medical history and credit information are always on your person, making your life easier.

Subdermal RFID

The RFID chip, once implanted under your skin, becomes a means to keep a lot of information about yourself in one place. Some might argue that the RFID chip has suddenly moved from an information repository to a human control device.

What could the subdermal chip be used for?

Apart from medical information of babies and the infirm, the chip could store information that is important to your welfare, like personal details, medical info, prescriptions, bank details, etc.
To allow you to transact. The extended risk is that one can only transact with a chip.
To determine your location or movements.

How much information can the subdermal chip store?

Just lately the 64 gigabyte USB flashstick has been developed. Given the advance of technology, the chip capacity is not an issue.[13] Is there a limitation to technology? If you’re a fan of Kurtzweil’s Singularity then the answer is no because technology is not linear, it’s exponential.[14]

What type of information could the subdermal chip store specifically about you?

Example: your entire medical records, including the time 20 years ago when you got a dose of the clap? How about ten years ago when a kindly medical practitioner prescribed anti-depressants when your sister and mother died in a car crash. Since then your insurance premiums have increased as you are seen as a permanent suicide risk and your promotion mysteriously never comes through. And every sensor you walk past is picking up this data.
Perhaps the chip contains your life’s shopping history derived from your cashless RFID transactions, marketing specialists can identify you by your income, shopping habits, brand preference, and offer you specialist products that complement your lifestyle. Complicated but manageable data means new categories of earner, spender, saver, traveler, investor.
In 20 years time the chip will probably contain your genome information – watch the movie Gattaca (1997).
If an RFID receiver was placed at every intersection through which you travel, then a pattern of your behaviour would be available to sociologists and psychologists. This helps you how? How about RFID satellite tracking?[15]
The information on your chip is stolen (“hacked”) and used against you.[16]

The potential of RFID

The RFID chip is not the end of the technology revolution as we know it. Although we benefit from the work of computer pioneers like Alan Turing, John Mauchly, Johan Backus, Wesley A. Clark, James Gosling, Mark Andreessen, Tim Berners-Lee, in the greater context their discoveries and work happened only yesterday.[17]

What is the RFID development potential?

1. More powerful data transmission from your chip to a receiver.

2. More powerful data reception from your chip. The Great-White shark tagging mentioned earlier applies whereby shark movement is collected by satellite.[18]

3. New markets. The formal explanation is new research opportunities and personal health management that benefit the public. The opposite argument is that it’s about new markets, meaning money is to be made, jobs are to be had, tax dollars to be generated. A well-meaning idea that is not profitable will sink; conversely, a profitable idea will always be sold as well-meaning.

If we assume that money is defined as the currency of value-transfer, then there’s a lot of value to be transferred from the RFID chip:

Investors. These are the guys with cash who’d like to make more.
Chip manufacturers, who make chips to service the global population of 7 billion.
Medical services, which will implant the chip under your skin for a fee, who also sell reader units, consultant services and monitoring software. The US medical target market for medical monitoring chips stands at 45 million Americans.[19]
Satellite communications development, creating a larger surface area of continuous global monitoring.
Chip programming, so that the chip is sensitive to an infinite choice of options.
Satellite data sold to Service Providers. Example: a particular Service Provider might specialize in wild animal control and buys data time from the satellite vendor, and then in turn sells the movement of the animals to the game farmer/ conservation researcher, who in turn manages their assets more effectively and in turn recoups the cost of the information from the end-user.
Chip data sold to market research companies and marketing specialists without your knowledge or permission. The marketing agents benefit from knowing how groups make, save and spend money, and this in turn is sold to the party who can profit from this information.

Example: you’re in the upper income bracket, with a wife who also works; you drive a Porsche and she a Lexus. You both spend 90 percent of your disposable income on consumer goods. This information is known through chip analysis. Marketing specialists are paying for your demographic to “offer you a service”.

Journalists, who rely on advertisers to fund their magazines/ journals/ newspapers, and report on RFID activities, acting as communicators but more so as legitimators of the “Next Big Thing”.
Advertisers wishing to recoup their costs, who in turn rely on journalists to tell a nice story that promotes their interests.

4. RFID as a transacting mechanism makes banking easier – the removal of paperwork, the presentation of full audit trail, less client interaction, with a greater number of transactions due to ease of payment for both the client and the vendor. Example: paying to enter a movie may simply require walking past a payment point.

5. RFID as a transacting mechanism provides a singular source of one’s deposits, purchases and cash transfers. It also simplifies the taxation process. In a completely cashless society the gap between Potential tax due and Actual tax paid is reduced. More tax money will flow in in the form of annual personal and company tax as well as through variable taxes (i.e. incurred as you spend) like licenses, levies, GST, VAT, etc. The government will have more money to offer an effective service to its citizens, or as some might think, more money to mismanage. Will the added income from RFID decrease the US National Debt, that minor problem that grows at $3,7 billion per day?[20] Perhaps more money will be available for more wars on the other side of the planet, so that a $700 billion Iraq War and $200 billion Afghanistan war will pale by comparison.[21]

6. A Saudi inventor has applied for a German patent for a subdermal chip that allows the subject to be monitored through GPS (Global Positioning System); the chip contains cyanide that can be released by an external party if said chip-holder becomes a security risk.[22] [23] [24] [25]

The RFID players

Of the RFID contributors, here are three:

In the development of the RFID chip:

1. VeriChip and Digital Angel Corp

In 2004 the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) approved VeriChip’s RFID chip for use in humans.[26] VeriChip[27] has traded on NASDAQ since 2007. VeriChip is based in Delray Beach, Florida, USA. VeriChip is a subsidiary of Digital Angel Corporation (formerly Applied Digital Solutions)[28] also based in Delray Beach.

Digital Angel Corp. NASDAQ: DIGA[29]

VeriChip NASDAQ: CHIP[30]

VeriChip focuses on RFID chips as well as subdermal bio-sensors (e.g. mechanisms to measure glucose levels).

Associated products:

· VeriMed Emergency & medical ID system, from the VeriChip Corp.[31]

· VeriPay Systems In 2003 Applied Digital Solutions announced VeriPay™, intended as a subdermal RFID payment technology for cash and credit transactions.[32]

· Verifone Specializes in POS (Point of Sale equipment). NYSE: PAY.[33]

· VeriKid Anti-kidnapping device[34] from Applied Digital Solutions.

· VeriTrace Disaster relief and emergency management; a product from VeriChip Corp.[35]

· VeriGuard Building access control,[36] a product from Applied Digital Solutions.

In the development of global card payment standards (which includes contactless cards):

2. EMVCo

EMVCo is a collaboration of four equal-share global companies – American Express, JCB (formerly Japan Credit Bureau), Mastercard and VISA.[37] EMV was started in 1999 by Europay International, Mastercard International and Visa International.[38] EMV is a global standard for Europay, Mastercard and VISA cards and smart reading terminals to work together to deliver interoperability and enhanced security.[39] In early 2008 there were 700 million EMV compliant chip-based payment cards in use worldwide.[40] The 5mm by 3mm you see on your debit/ credit/ charge card is known as an EMV chip.[41]

In the development of digital security:

3. Gemalto

Gemalto is a Dutch-based digital security company with a global client base. The chip requires security features to prevent identity theft/ data theft/ deletion of data, etc. Their focus is the digital security of SIM cards, smart cards, tokens, etc. In 2007 this company produced more than 1,2 billion security computing devices.[42]

If you examine your bank card there’s a good chance that the digital security was designed by Gemalto and the software that allows the card to be used by global vendors was designed by EMVCo.

RFID risks

1. Cancer

In 2007 reports alleged there was a link between the subdermal chips and a cancer link in pets.[43] [44]

Verichip, the manufacturers of the technology, denied this.[45] You research, you decide.[46]

2. Mandatory subscription

In the New Testament bible, the Book of Revelation 13:16-18 (KJV) states:

And [the Antichrist] causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, save [except] he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.[47]

It is remarkable that the above was written almost 2000 years ago and some argue this ‘mark’ is the subdermal RFID chip.[48] [49]

“Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSX) an advanced technology development company, announced that the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Scott R. Silverman, in his speech today at the ID World 2003 in Paris, France, revealed the Company's newest subdermal RFID solution called VeriPay(TM). VeriPay is intended to be a secure, subdermal RFID (radio frequency identification) payment technology for cash and credit transactions.”[50]

Here’s the metaphor: our current credit cards are used for transacting so why not move this to an RFID chip - it can be done, but will this come to pass? Just as we are now reliant on the replacement of cash with credit cards/ charge cards/ fuel cards and debit cards, the same reliance can move to RFID. Conversely – can one actually have a bank account and transact only with cash (i.e. without a card of some sorts)? If RFID is a technological improvement to the current card system that promotes efficiency and reduces transaction costs, then it will replace cards. If we accept that one cannot transact without the current card system, then the RFID as a replacement implies that with time the same irreversibility will apply to RFID; by deduction RFID will be the only means by which to transact.

There is the differing opinion that the Mark of the Beast is not the chip per se but a pattern of letters and symbols that indicate allegiance to Satan.[51]

Reference to the forehead and right hand is used throughout the Bible, e.g. Exodus 13:8-9; 13:15-16; Deuteronomy 6:6-9; 11:16-23; Revelation 7:2-3; 13:16-18; 14:1; 20:4.[52]

3. Your information is susceptible to fraud

A common concern is the safety of the RFID data; more specifically, the safety of your data on your RFID chip. As you walk down the street there might be multiple readers drawing information from your chip and you’re not aware of this because it’s a radio-wave and the reader can be out of sight.

A GOOGLE search on ‘RFID hack’ reveals that current RFID cards can be hacked; it’s possible that security improves.[53] [54] You research, you decide.

4. Your privacy is compromised

Your RFID chip containing your personal information can be read by a RFID reader. How close should a reader be to you to read your chip? It is not a barcode being read but a radio wave. The initial distance was a few inches but with developing technology this has increased, based also on whether the chip is an active or passive chip. In 2006 the active chip could be read at a distance of 300 feet.[55] If you’re in your own home, can your chip still be read?

Given that satellite tagging of animals exists, miniaturization should follow.[56]

5. Transparency woes

The transparency surrounding the RFID chip should be the public’s main concern. Example: the transparency of vendor intent, the transparency about cancer risks, the transparency on what grounds the FDA approved the chip in 2004 and the extent to which they conducted tests on RFID cancer susceptibility. The transparency about out-of-court payments by RFID vendors and manufacturers to members of the public.

In 2008 Dutch university researchers cracked and cloned a travelcard; it’s claimed a billion of these cards had been sold. The manufacturer took the university to court to prevent this report being published.[57]

The popular TV series ‘Mythbusters’ intended to present a program on the RFID chip, looking at the reliability, security and trackability of the chip.

Co-host Adam Savage explains in September 2008:

"Texas Instruments comes on along with chief legal counsel for American Express, Visa, Discover, and everybody else (co-host Tory Belleci and a MythBusters producer) were way, way out-gunned," Savage told the crowd, "and (the lawyers) absolutely made it really clear to Discovery that they were not going to air this episode talking about how hackable this stuff was, and Discovery backed way down, being a large corporation that depends upon the revenue of the advertisers. Now it's on Discovery's radar and they won't let us go near it."[58]

Ironically, Savage retracted his statement the following day.[59]

6. Government accountability

It is surmised that the RFID chip as the only method of payment (i.e. no cash) will streamline the transaction process and also increase tax revenue as the distinction between Potential tax due and Actual tax paid is reduced.

Apart from more revenue, can the public confidently rely on the competence and integrity of the government? Some governmental problems of the past:

· Agent Orange. This herbicide and defoliant was used by the US military in the Vietnam war (1961-1972); 79 million liters were sprayed across South Vietnam resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and an additional 500,000 children born with birth defects. Although lawsuits did follow and some payments were made in the 1980’s to US soldiers, no Vietnamese have received compensation to date.[60] [61] [62]

· HAARP (High Frequency Active Aural Research Program). Suppose evidence came to the fore that HAARP contributed to the instability of global weather patterns, who (which person) would be accountable for this?[63] [64] [65] [66]

· Where exactly is the 100 ton Boeing 757 that hit the Pentagon on 911; specifically, the engines?[67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] For a balancing viewpoint, see the Snopes.com argument.[73]

If one assumes a major policy change occurs every 8 years (i.e. with a new US president in office), the effect of erroneous decision-making might not be evident in this time frame. One can of course sue the government, or try to. The issue of this paragraph is personal accountability, that decisions are made by persons of integrity and done so in good conscience.

Here’s a question to be asked in ten years time: Who in government knew that subdermal RFID might result in mass cancer outbreaks but still decided to proceed with its roll-out?

Disinformation

Although the internet offers a lot of information and research on various topics, there is a risk that websites contain information that is intentionally inaccurate, unreferenced or downright fallacious.

A general search on RFID through Google and YouTube showed three general categories of information: the facts (how it works, different products), the opinions (the majority showed concern about misuse) and the unsupported. This last group also includes viewpoints on the Mark of the Beast, 666, New World Order, Illuminati, one world government, North American Union, Amero, Bilderberg, Judgment Day, end-times, David Icke, lizard people, etc. with no clear line distinguishing fact, potential, intent, fear and fallacy.

Apart from confusion, another consequence of disinformation is doubt. Certain webpages opine that the number of the Beast is 616.[74] [75] [76]

Maybe there is no evil number after all; if so, maybe there’s no beast, if there’s no Beast then can Revelation 13:16-18 be ignored by Christians? If the primary argument against the RFID from church groups is that the subdermal RFID represents the Mark of the Beast but there’s confusion about the number of the Beast, then disinformation has served its purpose.

Current human application of RFID

RFID as a non-subdermal human control is currently largely restricted to the medical field. Other applications include a wristwatch,[77] a wristwatch with GPS tracking,[78] cellular phones, etc. If this area interests you, search the Internet for “Personal Locator Device”.[79] [80] [81]

As a subdermal application, the BAJA holiday group has offered RFID to their patrons. The benefit is that you aren’t encumbered with a purse/ wallet while you’re in the sea/ pool/ bar, don’t need to carry cash with you or perform transactions.[82] [83] [84]

Given the risk of kidnapping in Mexico the subdermal RFID has been applied to potential victims. In the event of being kidnapped the RFID assists the police in their detection process.[85] [86]

Do your own research

The best approach to understand the RFID phenomenon, its application, benefits and risks is to do research. Weekly tabloid magazines are not a basis of fact. Do your own research; make the distinction between Potential and Intent, and when you hear “They’re going to implant everyone” find out who “They” are.

Using GOOGLE the following key words realized the following results:

RFID 14,500,000

RFID chip 225,000

RFID Invest 889,000

Examine differing viewpoints by researching websites, journals, books and user groups, for example:

http://www.rfidjournal.com/

http://www.morerfid.com/

http://www.rfidjournalevents.com/

http://www.rfid-cusp.org/

http://www.rfidsb.com/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3302883/The-Shocking-Truth-about-the-Verichip

http://whitepapers.zdnet.co.uk/0,1000000651,260160282p,00.htm

http://www.aclu.org/

http://www.katherinealbrecht.com/

http://www.spychips.com/

http://www.antichips.com/

http://www.time.com/time/

http://www.newsweek.com/

Set up your own webpage expressing your own concerns and conclusions and provide links to benefit other researchers.

RFID – the next step

When will it happen that a credit card payment can occur without one having to swipe one’s card, i.e. a contactless card in that you show your card to a scanner and the payment is processed? The answer is – a little while ago, actually.[87]

In 2005 Visa rolled out their contactless smart card (Visa Wave) in Malaysia.[88] [89]
In 2005 American Express Blue cards were issued with contactless technology.[90]
In September 2008 Garanti Bank in Turkey started rolling out 300,000 contactless bank cards.[91]
Currently Chase bank offers the contactless ‘blink’ card.[92]
The global contactless smart cards market is projected to cross US$ 2,35 billion in revenue by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts.[93] [94]

It’s possible you are aware of the contactless card, but as yet this technology has not spread to all corners of the earth.

How does the contactless process work?

The card contains an RFID chip. No signature is required and there is no need to hand the card to the cashier – consumers simply wave, pay and go.[95]

The subdermal option as an effective control against fraud seems to be a logical progression.

The point of this paragraph is to emphasize the dynamic nature of change, that what we assume is a potential future development may already be in the making.

When will it happen that a credit card payment can occur with a contactless chip under your skin?

DISCUSSION

RFID appears, at first glance, to be an innocuous and generally helpful piece of technology in the management of objects. The picture changes when it threatens to become a means to manage people. The full potential of RFID, the intent of the manufacturers and vendors and the implication of RFID on our lives, become important considerations.

The mentioned applications of RFID are: Product tracking, supply chain management, cash-free highway tolls, asset management, libraries, stock control, animal control (such as Great White shark tagging), vehicle tracking systems, child control, babies, the infirm, and contactless transacting.

One might want to look at RFID realistically and calmly but there is good reason to be cautious. To rely on the press, government and law to represent our best interests as RFID permeates into society in various forms is not realistic.

Given the presented risks (cancer, mandatory subscription, fraud, privacy, transparency, government accountability and disinformation) perhaps the most important risk is the lack of transparency and government accountability. The importance of personal research cannot be stressed enough.

Three arguments stand out:

New markets mean new money.
Kurzweil’s Singularity.

The rate of electronic development is phenomenal, involving inter alia miniaturization, satellite control, data transfer. Kurzweil’s Singularity and his Law of Accelerating Returns come to mind. RFID as we know it is in its infancy. Technology development is not linear, it’s exponential.[96] [97] [98]

For an eye-opening presentation about technology and the rate of change, this You Tube site is recommended http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWgL6LJAcuQ&feature=fvw

Revelation 13: 16-18.

The purpose of the ‘Mark of the Beast’ seems congruent with the potential of the subdermal chip. That such a concept could be foreseen two thousand years ago is concerning.

Conclusion

The RFID chip is a developing technology with a gamut of potential applications. Four key points to remember: Subdermal, developing technology, transparency, accountability.

The public, faced with a new market, has at its disposal the Press to promote transparency, the Government to regulate society, and the Law to protect ourselves and to ensure recourse. In the real world, however, the Press, Government and Law are fallible and are not independent of the income generated from new markets.

Man’s reach exceeds his grasp. Caveat emptor.

Appendix

RFID-related Google search words