Transcript RFID Tags

RFID
RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
Jenna Nash
MJ Ko
Katie Stange
Kennedy Carruthers
What is RFID?
 Radio Frequency
Identification
 A small chip or tag that
reads radio waves used for
identification purposes
 Does not have to be in line
of vision
 Can be attached
to/implanted in products,
animals, or even human
beings
How does RFID work?
 Tags (or chips)
consist of two parts:
1) Antennae
2) Processor/ storage
 Receives signal from
reader and gives a
return signal with ID
number
 Reader sends
number to database
or server
Types of RFID tags
ACTIVE: Tag signal availability of 100ft.
HIGH signal strength
VERY LOW required signal strength from the reader
EX) Railway cars on a track
SEMI- PASSIVE: Tag signal availability only within field of reader
LOW signal strength
LOW required signal strength from the reader
PASSIVE:
Tag signal availability < 10 ft.
VERY LOW signal strength
VERY HIGH signal strength required from reader
EX) Retail Checkout
** Widely used because very cheap to make
RFID Technology: A History
 WWII (1939-1945): Germans, British, Japanese and
Americans all using radar to warn of approaching enemy aircraft.
 IFF Transponder: Identify Friend or Foe
(British)
RFID Technology: A History
 1970s:
 US government uses RFID to track nuclear materials in
transit.
 US Department of Agriculture partners with research lab to
develop a new passive RFID system to track cows and other
livestock
RFID Technology: A History
 1990s: RFID transforms into a networking technology (tags
like barcodes that are linked to an online database) used to
track items in supply chain
RFID Today
 Present:
RFID technology is widely used in
product tracking
 Products can be scanned in mass quantities and tracked
from manufacturer to retail to end consumer.
 Used by many large retailers such as Wal Mart
RFID Today
Its Everywhere!
RFID tags in:
CREDIT CARDS
CAR & HOME KEYS
PASSPORTS
CLOTHING
PACKAGED FOODS
EVERYDAY PRODUCTS
RFID Today
AND NOW…..IN YOU?
 In 1994, the FDA
approved implanted
RFID chips for humans
 Used for security and
automation of daily
tasks
 An extension of
biometrics; in theory it
is more secure than eye
scans or finger prints
The Controversy
Do the advantages of RFID
tags and implanted chips,
such as security and
convenience, outweigh its
associated risks, such as
breaches in personal
privacy?
Advantages of RFID chips
Safety and Security
 Locate/identify missing persons
 Monitor prisoners, people on
probation, and predators
Advantages of RFID chips
Easy Access
 Secure entry to office
and residential
buildings; other
venues
 Access by authorized
personnel only
 Ease security
concerns
Advantages of RFID chips
Medical Emergencies
 Monitor/Id patients more efficiently
 Alzheimer’s Disease
 Quickly access patient medical records
 Allergies, current medications, family history, etc.
 Immediate contact with EMS
Advantages of RFID chips
Advanced Product
Tracking
 Real- time data
management
 Dramatic benefits to
manufacturing process
Advantages of RFID chips
Quick Convenience
 Express payment = more efficient check in/out
 Grocery Store, Library, Hospital
 Instant identification
 Time saver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYY85IyDNM
Risky Business
The Downsides and Disadvantages
to RFID Technology
Breach of
Security
 Illicit use
 Hacking/viruses
 Frequencies can be intercepted and
manipulated or counterfeited due to novelty of
technology
 Physical theft
 Threat of physical harm associated with
implanted identification information
Infiltrated RFID systems can mean
 Identity Theft
 Unauthorized logging of purchases
 Tracking/tracing whereabouts of products
beyond the retail environment
 Stalking
Technological Limitations
 RFID chips readable from ONLY 100ft.
away
 Useless in terms of finding lost persons
Invasions of Privacy
 Human Implantation
 With the widespread usage of the tags, the
whereabouts of people with RFID implants
may potentially be tracked
 Non-democratic governments can gain even
more power to deprive people of freedom and
privacy
Invasions of Privacy
 Consumer products
 “Spy Chips” : Consumer often unaware of tags
embedded in products
 Passive tag design allows for tracking to continue
after the purchase has been made
 Scanning conducted from far away without consumer
knowledge
 http://youtube.com/watch?v=tiOuZWZ1Dac
A Simple Solution?
1) STRICTLY ENFORCED GOVERNMENT
REGULATION SYSTEM
2) IMPLANTED RFID OPTIONS
3) REMOVE THE SECRECY FACTOR
Requirements for Regulation
 Authorized access to Homeland Security
and other security companies
 Special identification codes to ensure
privacy protection
 Tracking in emergency situations only
 Enhanced security systems
Optional Removal
 Adults have the right to choose to have RFID
chip implanted in them or not.
 Any children implanted with RFID should
have the option to remove it once they turn
18.
VeriChip Corp. Privacy Protection
System
 16 digit identification number
 Entered into secure database
 Information granted to the systems are at the hands
of the customer
Clipped Tags
another way to regulate
 RFID tag designed to
improve consumer
privacy protection
 Consumers can take off
a part of the RFID tag
 Only can be read at
short range
 Still can be used for
later purposes
Obivision
 Open Business Innovation
 RFID tags with data freely transferable
 “Privacy Mode” after the sale
 Business benefit while protecting
consumers’ privacy
“Without changing our pattern of thought, we will not be able to
solve the problems we created with our current patterns of
thought”
-Albert Einstein
Zombie Tags
 An RFID tag that can
be deactivated
 Once you leave the
store, there is a
special reader that
sends a special
deactivating signal to
the tag
 RFID tag "dies."
Remove the Secrecy Factor
 Notification on products that contain RFID
tags
 Just like warning labels, ingredient lists, nutritional
information
 Remove the notion that RFID tags are
“spy tags”
RULE Utilitarian decision
Advantages
Disadvantages
 Revolutionize inventory
 Privacy invasion
systems/ product tracking
in real time
 Security
 Helpful in medical and
safety emergencies
 Promotes convenience to
enhance consumer
experience
 Unauthorized purchase logs
 Human tracking
 Extreme circumstances
when counterfeited
 Surgery to replace or remove
chip
 Identity theft