After reading the shocking articles about RFID radio tags in schnews and the guardian i wonder if anyone is doing anything about it?
Tesco in Cambridge + Guardian article url (well worth reading)
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/07/274518.html
schnews expose RFID chips
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/07/274466.html
According to a campaigner from http://www.nocards.org , the ball is now on a UK pitch...
"Wake up, England!" she says. "You guys are the frontline. You need to fight this to stop it happening in the rest of the world." Such a fight, she suggests, could start by demanding more information and more security guarantees on RFID tagging before it becomes a feature of our retail landscape. Or it could start by questioning whether a discount on your favourite brand of butter or a free trip to the zoo is worth the cost of being spied on. Or, to begin with, it might just start with a very simple statement: "No, I don't have a sodding loyalty card!"
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/07/274518.html schnews expose RFID chips
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/07/274466.html According to a campaigner from
http://www.nocards.org , the ball is now on a UK pitch... "Wake up, England!" she says. "You guys are the frontline. You need to fight this to stop it happening in the rest of the world." Such a fight, she suggests, could start by demanding more information and more security guarantees on RFID tagging before it becomes a feature of our retail landscape. Or it could start by questioning whether a discount on your favourite brand of butter or a free trip to the zoo is worth the cost of being spied on. Or, to begin with, it might just start with a very simple statement: "No, I don't have a sodding loyalty card!"
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action stations
31.07.2003 12:28
Pre-emptive war on RFID chips.
Station Actions
e-mail:
action@stations.org
Homepage:
http://actionstations.org
see also
01.08.2003 10:53
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see also
01.08.2003 10:53
~
Tesco action this Saturday!!!
06.08.2003 19:57
Call to Action
** Give the TESCO big brother chip the flick **
TESCO’s Cambridge is carrying out a pilot program of RFID tracking technology on
their Gillette razor products (see below)
We will hold an information action to encourage shoppers to refuse to be guinea
pigs in this privacy eating experiment.
Join us. 10 – 12 noon, Saturday, August 9, 2003 @ TESCO Supermarket, Newmarket
Road, Cambridge
We need to stop them now, before this spreads like a virus to other products and
shops.
Concerned Cambridge Residents
WATCH OUT !
This supermarket is using RFID tags on certain items.
By shopping at TESCO today, you may be a guinea pig in an experiment.
When you pick up GILLETTE razor blades off the shelf, you will be tagged by an
eletronic device. Not only that, the hidden ship communicates with the camera
system that stores your picture in a database!
"The supermarket chain Tesco has admitted testing controversial technology that
tracks customers..." - The Guardian, Saturday July 19, 2003.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips are tiny electronic circuits which
can be embedded in almost anything you can think of: packaging, clothing,
electronics, vehicle parts etc. The device is triggered by a radio signal on a
specific frequency. Each RFID tag has a unique dentification number and will
respond by transmitting that number. The tag’s unique number can then be looked
up in a database to find out any information that the owner of the system cares
to attach to it.
TESCO is experimenting in this store with RFID tags on GILLETTE packs. If this
trial is successful a broader range of goods will be tagged. This system,
apparently inoffensive, can easily intrude in your personal privacy. Tags can be
buried in your clothes and consequently you would be transmitting without your
knowledge personal information that can be retrieved by anyone who has the
proper equipment.
STOP this electronic dog collar in its infancy!
If we act now,we can stop this tagging spreading to other products and shops :
* Raise your concern about the RFID at the store management and
write a letter to TESCO.
* Don’t shop at TESCO and tell them why you won’t shop there anymore (Freephone:
0800 505555, Email :
* Don’t buy GILLETTE products and tell them about it
* If you must buy GILLETTE products, ask a shop assistant to remove the chip
before you leave TESCO's.
* Ask your local MP Anne Campbell to raise this issue in
(Tel: 0118 987 5222). Parliament (
If you would like more information on this concern, log on to:
Poon
What are RFID tags?
07.08.2003 08:47
These are tiny, almost microscopic, electronic circuits which can be
embedded in almost anything you can think of -- packaging, clothing,
consumer electronics, vehicle parts etc. Although the device is microscopic, it seems in order to be usable a somewhat larger antenna is required -- of the order of several centimetres, although this could possibly be very very fine.
The device is triggered by a radio signal on a specific
frequency. Each RFID tag has a unique identification number and will
respond by transmitting that number. The power required to do this is
generated from the incoming signal, hence there is no need for bulky
batteries or the restriction on the device's lifetime that would
imply. The tag's unique number can then be looked up in an inventory
database to find out what it's embedded in, and from there any other
information the owner of the system cares to attach to it.
The range of the tags in this particular trial is not clear, but Alien
Technology's data sheets suggest it's probably somewhere around 5
metres, although there are undoubtedly longer-range devices in
development -- Alien already have a larger device with a 30m range.
There is some confusion and concern as to whether these devices will
remain active forever, potentially allowing the item to which it is
attached to be identified whenever it passes within range of a
suitable tag-reader. (Even with <5m range, a device on a doorway would
catch anything you were carrying.) If there is no authentication
involved in querying the identity of a tag (and there doesn't appear
to be) then it is possible for ANYONE with the right equipment to
establish that "the tag detected at this time and place is the same
one detected at this other time and place", without needing access to
the inventory database to find out what it's embedded in.
This leads to the possibility of an outside agent (eg the secret
service) building up a database of individuals and RFID tags which are
commonly detected in proximity to them. It can then be assumed that if
several of these are detected in a particular place, that's probably
because that person was there. If the tag numbers are allocated such
that a portion of the number gives a widely-known vendor-and-product
code, and the remainder a serial number, then it is possible to glean
even more information. And, if there is covert access to the inventory
database, the possibilities are still more frightening.
The most commonly-suggested method for disabling such devices yourself
after purchase is to place the item in a microwave, although this does
rather depend on the item being suitable for such treatment. (Don't
expect anything electronic to work afterwards, and expect a fire if
you try it with anything made from metal. Also some synthetic fabrics
might melt...)
There is also the possibility of disabling the tags either at home or
"in the field" using a high-powered burst of radio energy at the
frequency on which the tag operates. (Damaging tags that you have not
yet bought is probably illegal however.) Broadcasting white noise on
the response frequency of the tags is likely to jam the signal,
preventing the reader from identifying the tag, although it may
register the presence of the interference at that time. Either of
these techniques is likely to break various laws covering radio
transmissions however.
The techniques described in the previous two paragraphs have not been
tried by the author, and are for information only as a record of
suggestions that have been made. They may or may not work, be safe, or
be legal in practice.
Links:
Slashdot discussion of the Cambridge scheme
Cryptome has links to mirrors of documents leaked from the Auto-ID
Center, responsible for much RFID development
Slashdot discussion of the possibility of deactivating such devices
(not much detail, but amusing)
CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering), a US-based campaign group
Another Slashdot story, identifying who supplied the RFID tags to
Gilette, and with some informative comments.
Suppliers of Gillette's RFID tags
Data sheet for the tag they're probably using
Junkbusters article
RFID Industry pages
If anyone can lay their hands on a copy of this book (University
Library perhaps?) it probably contains a wealth of info for technical types...
Z
RFID - Time to make a stand
12.08.2003 14:34
Chris McDermott
e-mail:
info@notags.co.uk
Sandhurst protest
08.09.2003 13:39
Notags.co.uk will celebrate Radio Frequency Identification’s (RFID) ‘Big Moment in History’ with a demonstration outside a Tesco store in Sandhurst, Berkshire.
On Monday 15th September, the Auto-ID Centre is unveiling the first platform of the Electronic Product Control (EPC) network at a hotel in Chicago. Referred to by the Centre as RFID’s ‘Big Moment in History’ this network will allow computers to automatically track any man-made object that has an RFID tag inserted into it from the production line to the shelf and beyond.
The Tesco Extra store in Sandhurst is trialling RFID technology in DVD packaging.
The demonstration will take place 5.30 pm onwards on Monday 15th September at the Tesco Extra supermarket, The Meadows, Marshall Rd, Sandhurst, Surrey
Chris McDermott
e-mail:
info@notags.co.uk
Homepage:
http://www.notags.co.uk