RFID Licenses and Passports May Compromise Personal Information
Written by Gregory Kennedy
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Manson,WA(MVT) - Last spring, Governor Gregoire signed a law that spawned a pilot program to voluntarily include an RFID device in Washington State driver's licenses. The device will allow the Canadian border officials to identify a driver as their vehicle arrives. As an alternative to passports, the new device will be less expensive than a passport and harder to counterfeit. Along with the benefits, there is a growing concern about criminals stealing your personal information by scanning your new driver's license without your knowledge.
The new license will contain an RFID device that transmits information when it is excited by a reader signal. The card can be read up to 33 feet away, even from the privacy of your wallet or purse. An identity thief could retrieve this information if they possess the proper technology.
There are also concerns that the new license can be used to track an individual's activities without their knowledge. An RFID device can be read on-the-fly while you are driving down the street. It can be used in crowds of people to search for individuals. One can argue that this is a good thing for catching criminals. But, as any science fiction fan knows, once the identifying system is in place, laws can change, making criminals out of the innocent. A real-life example: German government innocently passed a law to identify the Jewish population in Germany. Later, the Jews were rounded up and the rest is history. That may be an extreme example, but it happened.
Because of these fears, Washington and Vermont both include an RF blocking "sleeve" that you can carry your license in. This will prevent others from reading the card.
Several private companies also produce the RFID shielding sleeves. Some produce shielding wallets and purses. They cite that there are many documents in use today (credit cards, ID cards, etc.) that contain RFID devices. You may be totally unaware that you are carrying such a device. They recommend keeping all of your cards in some sort of an RFID shield.
In summary, any advance in technology carries with it the opportunity for good and evil. It is the responsibility of ourselves, and our government, to protect our privacy. At the same time, we need security. Striking a balance between the two is never an easy task.
For some interesting articles on RFID security, click on the following links:
Manson,WA(MVT) - Last spring, Governor Gregoire signed a law that spawned a pilot program to voluntarily include an RFID device in Washington State driver's licenses. The device will allow the Canadian border officials to identify a driver as their vehicle arrives. As an alternative to passports, the new device will be less expensive than a passport and harder to counterfeit. Along with the benefits, there is a growing concern about criminals stealing your personal information by scanning your new driver's license without your knowledge.
Dow Jones
