NY state inserts RFIDs into licenses; citizens next?
By Tim Stevens 
posted Sep 17th 2008 10:58AM
posted Sep 17th 2008 10:58AM
What can we say about RFIDs that hasn't already made you afraid? Your passport? Clonable. Your work ID and "secure" credit cards? Yeah, those too. Not scary enough? How about every adult New Yorker walking around with one in their back pocket? It's just a matter of time, as the Empire State's clearly enhanced drivers licenses (says so right on 'em) are now hitting the streets. For $30 on a new one, or $10 if you're looking to upgrade, you can get yourself a radio-wave emitting ID, enabling you to cross the border into Mexico, Canada, or the Caribbean sans-passport. Don't worry, the cards won't be broadcasting any personal information -- just a unique code that the government can use to track your every movement.[Via Crave]
Ah man Mclovin can't get apast this system....
He can if he takes a hammer to his ID. They'll still have to accept it.
Oops -- did I just say that!?!
Mclovin was from hawaii........ DUH!!!
And if you want to see where all this is going and haven't already, google around for the film "Zeitgeist". We're a few more "terrorist attacks" from being a monitored, regulated, data entry.
RFID blocking wallets. they work.
Just slip the license into a jacket made with aluminize mylar and it blocks the signal. One can recycle potato chips bags.....Environmentally Friendly move!!!
Totally unnecessary. The RFID chip can only be picked up within a short distance of the appropriate sensors. For some reason, the myth of Big Brother tracking your every movement with RFID just won't go away.
yeah you're right, we're never within a short distance of people who could simply wave a reader past our pockets and get our information... totally unnecessary.
hi, i'm actor troy maclure. you might remember me from such sarcastic replies as 'the macbook air is only good for cutting cakes' and 'gizmondo is a name we can trust'
Those can work, but microwave ovens work too, and you don't have to tote them around all day. (Which is good, considering that they're a touch heftier than hat-foil wallets.)
For some reason people think that half the population will be carrying these scanners around and scanning the other half population for the govenment.
The Big Brother idea in this case is beyond reason. Its short range, and any govement agent close enough to scan you convertly is also close enough to take a photo.
No, the dangers lie in the cloning and in individual abuse of the technology. This is useless for Big Brother tracking, this is more "stupid brother making data accessible to any sod nearby".
Theres many sensible well thought out objections to this technology use without going anywhere near the big-brother style irrational cliche. Its those reasons why people want wallets to keep their data safe.
oh fuck. I live in Jersey. We'll probably be next.
I'm sorry Scott, please accept my sincerest condolences.
Not the license issue, but for having to live in Jersey.
hey... if the Station Agent took place there it can't be all bad, right?
Not you too, Phan!
nj ftw, morris county representing
Yeah, Morris County in the hizzy~
I'm in Mo-Township
no one cares guys
I'm sorry too, I'm quite lucky not to live in New Jersey.
It will be just like watching airplanes on a radar. Now if only we could get the Terrorists to carry these it would improve our surgical Air-Drone strikes.
This is dumb. So it's been proven that RFID is weak security wise. Then they implement it in Credit Cards and, guess what? They're clonable. So what do they do? Put it into Passports. Now passports are clonable.
So at this point, I would think to myself "Ok, researches found flaws in RFID then passports and credit cards have been cloned due to RFID. So what have I learned here.... hmm... Let's put it in our licenses! Since no one has broken a license, we don't have anything to worry about!"
So Mclovin is safe... GENIUS!!!
=P
Dude, lay off McLovin's dick.
Don't block McLovin's dick, you should be guiding it.
Ill PASS on anything RFID untill they make it mandatory. Its only a matter of time until well all have RFID chips on us somehow at all times. BUT till that day comes...HELL NO.
That's like refusing to be raped until someone says, "pretty please?"
Let's all stop being so passive aggressive and GROW A PAIR! Refuse this stuff NOW and FOREVER!
i don't care if it is mandatory i will kill the chip so it is not active fuck that, and if they ever expand that into requiring implants i will fight to the death till they put one in me, this fuckin country is going down hill if this shit continues to get worse and people still call this home of the free those people should be shot
I literally just got a new license last week. Never saw this as an option though. And they didn't try to slip one by me either - no "enhanced" thing on it.
Being in NY though, would maybe be worth it if you visit Canada or plan to and don't have a passport (I don't).
I got a new license in NY last month ago and I saw the choice there, saying there was a wait for it at the time...
I'm by NYC so it doesn't really matter for me personally, but if you live in Buffalo or Rochester area where Canada is so close.. this has got to be amazing... I wonder if its possible to live in the US and work in Canada?
For us in the west, this is actually fairly useful. I live halfway between Rochester and Buffalo, and it isn't uncommon for a group of us to decide to go to Niagara Falls for the day, or Toronto for the weekend.
Steve --
It most certainly is possible to live across the border from your work -- I knew several people who worked in Plattsburgh, NY with homes just across the border in Canada, most of them nurses at the town's major hospital (but also college professors and even some retail workers).
Your way, though (live in US, work in Canada), is somewhat less common, since it ends up kind of being the worst of both worlds -- you pay hefty Canadian taxes on your wages without getting the "free" healthcare you should get with them, forcing you to pay for coverage on your own stateside. Canadian healthcare is a benefit of residency, not citizenship or employment.
Obviously, while this driver's license facilitates the border-crossing bit, you still need the necessary right-to-work papers to pull this off (visa, permit or citizenship)
WAR IS PEACE
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
Are you actually from leeds or do you just support Leeds united. I'm in Barnsley myself.
2 + 2 = 5
and leeds is losers
just kiddin' ;)
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU
"2 + 2 = 5"
Only for extremely high values of 2! Stick to the facts, please.
damn it. I just moved an I wanted to get my NY driver's license updated with my new address . . . looks like I won't be driving anymore. I don't need some new fangled technologies with interwebs inside it to be emitting radar and sonar that close to my junkasaurus rex.
SONAR is already an acronym, so that would be SONARRFID or RSONARFID!
I'm pretty sure you can still get the "non enhanced" versions.
I looked into changing my address yesterday and on the form to get a new license, you're able to choose "Enhanced driver's license" or "Driver's license", both of which are $15 for a new card.
Bostero, no tenes verguenza de esos colores, rojo y blanco es mas suave para la vista...
man, having something that size in your pocket emitting sonar would be killer for Marco Polo!
It's really tacky how you harp on this issue telling people to be scared. Just explain the concern. If you have to implore your readers to be scared, perhaps the issue isn't really that scary to begin with. Besides I don't need to be afraid and peeing my pants to decide whether I suppport something or not. I'm against a lot of things that I don't bother getting emotionally frightened of. I find I make more rational decisions that way and feel less like an idiot ready to be manipulated into an opinion on something. Or maybe that's how you view your readership?
Oh please... your nick is RC (remote controlled)!
Why would'nt you be in favor of RFIDs
(just kidding mate, I could'nt help myself)
I never understood the fear of RFID. It has been implemented poorly in some situations but on a whole the technology is great. Inventory tracking without requiring line of sight means that entire pallets of items can be entered directly into inventory. There are so many great uses for the tech, yet everyone seems to condemn it because of a few people who did not do their research before implementing it into their products (ie credit cards and passports).
yes, credit cards and passports.... a few people... a few million.
why do you think we should raise ire about a technology that is questionable at best security-wise, being implemented with personal information that can, and has, been cloned? does one even need to ponder why before defaulting to 'why the hell not?'
Mark of the Beast 666 and all that jazz...
soon it will be inserted into every new born Baby...
is that what you really want?
The fear isn't of the technology, but in its use. Obviously for tracking pallets of merchandise or something with little or no security risk it's a fine technology. But for use in tracking personal information, it's too insecure to be viable. And the very idea of having something that is trackable on you at all times, regardless of the technology used, is distasteful to anyone with half a brain.
@Bob C
Don't own a cell phone either, eh? ;)
I for one don't carry a cellphone.
But I do pay for a lot of stuff with an electronic (non-RFID) card so at those times my blip shows up, and then there's the cameras, and cameras, and cameras, and cameras....∞
Move along, citizen.
Pick up that can.
i am soo getting one just for the hell of it !
OMG I can have a device so the government will know where I am so they can protect me 24/7 WOW!! I'm so happy! I really want to be tracked down every single step.
last i checked you needed to show a passport to get to mexico and canada, what's the difference if they track you through scanning a passport or waiving an rfid card? this isn't minority report
your bigger concern should be if someone cloned your license and entered mexico or canada under your identity
I can't wait till they put RFID scanners in govt buildings, then banks, checkpoints and streetlamps, then start solving crimes by seeing who was where and when!
Freedom for security, right??
Anyone at all interested in (or scared by) this kind of stuff should download the free e-book by Cory Doctorow called "Little Brother." It is a fictional story set in the near future. In a very "1984" fashion, California decays into a police state under the watchful eye of the DHS after a terrorist attack on the bay bridge. The book is a quick, entertaining read and illustrates some the potentially chilling effects these devices can have on civil liberties. Its definately worth checking out
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/
Seconded.
It's a good read.
Meh... I'll bite. Checking it out now, and I'll report back to you in the future.
from mr. boingboing himself...
++
Read it, it's good.
Is it just me or does that license photo look like Alanis Morissette?
No that is Ms. Document. .
i'm seeing more of a jennifer garner...
The picture is way to good it must be a BOT.
Fixable with a hammer, right?
i know this girl.. well... she used to be a guy
she was born on 6-9 LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLll!!
What? You're fading.
I wonder if this is the reason they came down so hard on the "Mythbusters" guys.
Nothing like publicly exposing critical flaws of a governmental system shortly before a state-wide rollout that's already been contracted and about to be implemented, huh?
Well, not anymore anyway.
You know we should get ammmmmfggmfffff...
I HEARTILY ENDORSE THIS GREAT NEW SYSTEM!
END COMMUNICATION
Real ID act is being implemented while the plebeians eat, sleep, and shop.
Welcome to the New World Order...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc7i0wCFf8g
They came down hard on the Mythbusters?
Was it for the Rocket Car v2, or the Can You Surf An Explosion myths?
Its all OPTIONAL and this is not a requirement. That should of been explained in the post.
i'm sure there's a way to hack with the rfid or atleast a crack
Washington State has had these Enhanced licenses for almost a year now. It does help a lot going through the Canadian Border crossing. Upon receiving one of these licenses they give you a foil sleeve to keep your card in. If you're crossing the border, they advise you to take it out of the sleeve before crossing to help speed the process.
I don't really see the big deal about it, it just contains a unique number.
Just a unique number. That points to you. That someone else could fake to make it look like you went somewhere.
Add on what the someone else might have then done, and you get the point.
"All your whereabouts are belong to us!"
Look out Canada here I come!!!
Tomorrow's post will be "Toronto Adopts NY's RFID Tags in Licenses". There is no escape, man. =P
Jeeze... can we have more X-Files and Lone Gunman paranoia??? Please???
Tim, et al,
Please get one thing straight: "radio-wave emitting ID" is completely wrong. RFID's don't emit *anything* until they are energized in a RFID field, like going thru an EZPass toll booth or getting a wand waved over it. An Al Qaeda RFID carrying 'mofo' coming across the Canadian or Mexican frontiers--not via a port of entry--into the US can't be tracked with an RFID. The range of those things are in feet and inches, not miles...
Also concur with Bob that RFID's are great for inventory control across a wide range of products. And, oh-by-the-way, they sure as hell make it a lot faster on toll roads when you can zip thru the EZPass lane at 60+ mph for a 2nd Gen EZPass system lane. Still have to go 10-15 mph thru a 1st Gen lane.
Hoo-Ah!
Retired Intel Guy
in soviet russia, intel retire you
I welcome this. I'm not about doing things outside the the law. So I'm glad those who are will stick out like a sore thumb
people still use this argument? go move to china if you hate your personal liberties so much.
You probably welcome The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 also. You minion.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1955/show
i actually think this is a good idea... im 25 but look young and i get harassed everywhere i go about my id! now they wont even have to look at it to prove im of age instead of having to get police involved... its happened a few times to me so i welcome something of this sort
uh.... "of age" you mean at bars? yeah i'm sure they'll be running em through RFID scanners, yep. btw, i don't see how this improves your situation anyway.
Cory needs some facial hair.
while he's at it he should buy some Kazakh pubis.
damn, i just renewed my license last month! no RFID tracking for me.
already making plans to drop off the grid; screw this big brother b.s.
Other border states have implemented this already. It appears to be optional in all of them. There was a furor when Washington did this last year, but truthfully it's cheaper than a passport and a great benefit for those who need them. If you want to put your tinfoil hat on and worry about this, just opt out. Or throw it in the microwave for a few seconds if you don't have that option.
Another personal liberty broken by this administration.
Why don't they do that in Afghanistan, Irak, Iran or whatever they like. But to us!?
Those people are insane, probably they know by now that we don't trust this government.
They are hiding something because to start monitoring what we do speaks tons of what their intentions are.
I'm thinking if the terrorist we look for aren't here, between us? just a thought.
What the...
You're saying the NY government was behind the Iraq invasion? NOW everything starts to make sense.
NY Gov?!
HA!! no way, the idea came from the above to the Senate did you know that?
NY is implementing it before is law my friend.
Look how this lobbyst are trying to make you loose your freedom.
http://rfidlawblog.mckennalong.com/archives/cat-government-usage-of-rfid.html
I wish people on 'teh internets' would learn how to spell LOSE!
People seem to think these things have a limited range off a few feet but you are very wrong. I Know farmers who use the RFID on cattle and they have their system working from distances of 1 sq mile upto hundreds of SQ miles depending on how many antenna's they have on their land. But one basic antenna can easy reach 100-500ft.
It's optional now. Then commercial on how great it is and how much everyone's life is better now. Then the majority of the brainwashed will be onboard with it and soon after RFID of some form will become mandatory for all.
quit complaining people... this is nothing that powerful earth magnet,or hammer or microwave on thaw cant fix. quit complaing and go around the problem
seriously folks, stop whining and take your authoritarian government medicine already, jeez
Stalking just got a lot easier.