| Through RFID “In the near future, every
single object will be connected to the Internet through a wireless address
and unique identifier”, was quipped by the global head of life science and
consumer product industries at Sun Microsystems Inc.
Certainly feels impressive, and let me just
help your imagination by setting a perfect scenario.
You are sitting at your home watching
television on a Sunday afternoon, and you know that your television is
connected to the internet. Your couch, table even your dining set is
connected to the internet. That is great for the automation!? Now, imagine
your shirt, jeans, even your undergarments connected to the internet! It is
only a futuristic setup, but the privacy implications of RFID are equivalent
in any application of RFID.
The basic privacy concerns associated with
an RFID system is the ability of ubiquitous tracking of anybody without
consent. And with RFID tags getting smaller and smaller, it is now even
possible to hide tags in such a way that the consumer may be unaware of the
presence of tags. For example, the tags may be sewn up within garment, or
molded within plastic or rubber. To the extent that researchers have already
developed tiny coded beads invisible to human eye that can be embedded in
inks to tag currency and other documents, or added to substances like
automobile paint, explosives, or other products that law enforcement
officers or retailers have a strong interest in tracking. Researchers say
that the technology should be ready for commercial use in 3-6 years.
In summary we can note the following ways
in which RFIDs can be used to bypass personal privacy:
- By placing RFID tags hidden from eyes,
and using it for stealth tracking.
- Using the unique identifiers provided
by RFID for profiling and identifying consumer pattern and behavior.
- Using hidden readers for stealth
tracking and getting personal information.
With all these privacy concerns, there is
bound to be some effort to thwart such attempt at privacy and maintain the
popularity of RFIDs. Researches at various places have yielded the following
methods of avoiding above-mentioned attacks.
- RSA Blocker Tags: These tags are
similar in size and appearance to RFID tags, helps in maintaining the
privacy of consumer by “spamming” any reader that attempts to scan tags
without the right authorization, thus confusing the reader to believe
that there are many tags in its proximity.
- Kill Switches: Newer RFID tags are
being shipped with a “Kill Switch”, which will allow the RFID tags to be
disabled. Thus a consumer will be given an option of disabling the RFID
tag before leaving the store, thus avoiding the possibility of stealth
tracking and profiling.
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