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Privacy and Security
by Anita Campbell on October 19, 2005

A number of companies are working on or offer solutions to prevent tags from being scanned improperly or the tag data being "eavesdropped" or "skimmed" impermissably. Solutions range from tag encryption, to jamming devices, to kill switches, to tag blocking.
One time-honored, low-tech way to prevent tags from being
Well, now, Mikey Sklar, a technology enthusiast from New York, has done a project on how to swap out the regular pockets on your pants and replace them with Faraday Cage pockets. (Just in case you were worried about that RFID-chipped passport in your pocket.)
His version of a Faraday Cage involves the use of shielding fabric with wire mesh embedded in it, available from Less EMF. The photo above accompanying this post shows a pair of pants with the pocket on the left made of the shielding fabric, and the regular pocket on the right. He's even made a movie of his Faraday Cage pocket project. You can find the movie, more photographs and a write-up on his website, Electric Clothing.
I emailed Mikey asking permission to reproduce the photograph, which he kindly gave, and here is what he told me:
"This January I am scheduled to give the same talk at NYC's dorkbot meeting. In additional to the slides on my RFID Pocket page I will be injecting select members of the audience with RFID tags into their hands.
You might wonder why I would go out of my way to put RF sheilds in my pants, and then injecting RFID tags into myself and others. My philosphy is that there is nothing we can do at this point to prevent RFID from becoming pervasive. Understanding RFID's weaknesses before it becomes completely mainstream can be of great value to all of us."
You know what all this means, don't you? The tinfoil hat -- that butt of countless Internet parodies and derision -- really does work after all.
P.S., In case you were expecting to read something highly technical about RFID tag privacy and security issues -- not the whimsical treatment of this post -- please read "RFID Security and Privacy: A Research Survey" (PDF) by Ari Juels of RSA Laboratories. It appears to be a particularly detailed and authoritative paper, and is very current having been written in September 2005.
Trackback: http://publish.creative-weblogging.com/publish/mt-tb.pl/10275
Mr Wong
Vote for Building a Faraday Cage in Clothing to Shield RFID Tags:
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Rating: 8.50 out of 14 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Watching Them, Watching Us
(10/19/05 10:28pm)
Response from:
Lebale
(10/29/06 12:22pm)
Despite the hype, RFID tags are not a new technology, they have been around for many years, and are used in re-usable tags and transponders (due to the cost) to track pallets, stillages, containers etc around factories, warehouses etc. Due to their cost and size they have never been as widespread as printed barcodes, and despite the hype, are unlikely to ever fully displace barcodes.
Response from:
Business Loan
(05/02/07 5:19pm)
As we have seen from the growth of the Internet, anywhere a security hole exists, some hacker will find and exploit it for fun, profit, or both, for that reason the RFID tag privacy and security problems are undoubtedly real, and they require real solutions.
Response from:
beneficial association
(09/26/07 3:25pm)
As RFID tagging is a new technology, trying to distinguish itself from the mainstream, it tries to fill in the holes that inevitably exist. Anyway there are far too many people that believe in this technology and this could be behind it's future success.
Response from:
Shanku
(10/15/07 5:07am)
Hi,
There are a number of common Network')" rel="nofollow">http://www.officedr.com/">Network
Enclosures security threats that can damage your network. Some prime examples include remote login capability,Configuring a Network Enclosures used to be a real pain. You had to manually assign a network address to each device on the Network Enclosures.
There are a number of common Network')" rel="nofollow">http://www.officedr.com/">Network
Enclosures security threats that can damage your network. Some prime examples include remote login capability,Configuring a Network Enclosures used to be a real pain. You had to manually assign a network address to each device on the Network Enclosures.
Response from:
calisa
(06/27/08 10:35pm)
cell phone privacy.... Does it exist? How can I protect myself? I have a motorola krazr k1m. Found strange band frequencies and a land line phone number in the phone that was in the supposedly new phone when I got it.... i'm weirded out
Response from:
m96030s@hotmail.com
(09/08/09 4:15am)
Good morning. Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. Help me! It has to find sites on the: Hate my nose job. I found only this - nose jobs for black people. Age for nose job, simpson was man of the unsold episode, which discarded to 20 doctors improved in 1989, a death of the many store with personal first years that had annoyed. About, iijima remained played for her outfits and bone to read again about her homework and her same fast-food. With best wishes :confused:, Rosa from Montenegro.
Response from:
The Fishbowl
I'm tempted to write to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and ask them, in the light of this information, what steps I should be taking to shield my passport from unwanted radiation.
Response from:
The Fishbowl
We slept well for the first time since 1998. The high pitched tone in our ears is much less under the canopy and we feel much less nervous. It's a wonderful feeling to be under the canopy.
Response from:
tribe.net: www.rfid-weblog.com
> What happens if it's just damaged during traveling? It's still got the bar ...
Response from:
tribe.net: www.rfid-weblog.com
http://www.difrwear.com/purchase.shtml
http://www.rfid-weblog.com/50226711...
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Firstly, how do you stop it corroding, delaminating or damagaing th efabric substrate after being subjected to periodic wash / spin / dry cycles ?
Secondly, how do you use it to shield your Biometric Chipped Passport, when going through airports equipped with "see under your clothes" passive millimetre wave or back-scatter x-ray scanners ?
Anything capable of shielding radio frequency signals properly, also shows up as "suspicious" - "subject to intensive search and harassment " or "shoot on sight" to the people operating such scanners.