Information is Power

I was eating lunch in the office when it occurred to me that I needed to pick up some bread on the way home from work. I sent a quick email home so my wife might remind me to stop at the market. She responded with a simple message that she’d try to remind me, but I was much more intrigued with the sidebar on my email display. Thanks to email scan technology paired with the RFID tag in my shoulder, in less than a second, Google was able to tell me that I could find the lowest price for bread at Fry’s just 5 minutes away. I didn’t want to go to Fry’s because they don’t carry the brand I like best, but Google was able to connect with my Facebook account and offered me some very important facts. Google told me that 80 per cent of my friends enjoy the bread they sell at Fry’s. In fact, many of my local friends shop at that specific location. According to their statistical information, there’s a 75 per cent chance I will run into my good friend Joe if I get to the store between 4:30 and 5:00pm on Tuesdays.

I blink, and my privacy is gone

I received an envelope from Chase. It contained a new debit card and a slip of paper. The paper mentions that my new card features blink, which allows contact-less payment. Initially, I questioned the security of my finances. What would happen if I walked past the checkout counter at just the right time? Could my account be debited for someone else's purchase?
I searched the slip of paper for any documentation, but I found little more than a statement claiming that I will have Zero Liability for any unauthorized card transactions, made in certain fashion, when reported promptly.
Since this notification concluded that the security of my finances would be in jeopardy by activating this debit card, I searched the paperwork for any way to opt out of the program.
I found nothing, so I called the customer service number, and asked about blink. The gentleman I spoke with didn't seem to know anything about it. He kept asking for personal information so that he could access my account. I didn't see why he would need to access my account; I just had some questions about blink. He asked several times for my social security number, and every time he was denied. I let him know that the slip of paper says it works anywhere that PayPass works. He seemed to be able to find some information about PayPass, which he shared with me. When I asked what company he worked for, he told me Washington Mutual. I found it funny that Chase took control of WaMu, and then sent out new debit cards to WaMu customers with technology that WaMu representatives have never been introduced to - and using the WaMu customer service system to respond to inquiries.
He told me that one of the very important functions of PayPass is that it contains an RFID tag, and that it is virtually impossible to ever change your PIN. I could not understand the benefit of the latter, and he explained that if I ever lost my card, they would mail a new one to me without resetting the PIN. It seemed dangerous to me - if someone found my card and discovered my PIN, would they have permanent access to my account? I was certainly interested in this RFID tag, and thoughts of potential horrors associated with it flooded my mind. I asked how to opt out, since the letter also told me my current RFID-free card would expire much earlier than the date stamped on it. There was nothing he could do. Any card I would get would have the tag embedded behind the logo.
I chose not to activate the card. Instead, I'm going cash. Even if I store my paycheck at the bank, I will be withdrawing cash once weekly at maximum. I took the card and shredded it with scissors until I found the RFID tag. It was right under the blink logo.

Why stop RFID?

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification tags) are microchips that gather and share information about their surroundings. They are read by a remote sensor that can obtain all kinds of personal information about you or the "product" they are attached to and then store it on a database. They are commonly used for practical reasons such as EZPass, contact-less payment, and inventory tracking, but are also used to track the location and verify the identities of human beings. This is advanced technology that could quickly spiral out of control and put your life in the hands of another.

There has already been research linking RFID chips with certain types of cancer in animals http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/full/43/4/545. Do you want to carry around—or even be injected with—another object that could cause harm to you and your family?

These are computer-based systems, and therefore their databases have the capability of being hacked into (and already have been in the past). Once your personal information is stored on them, anyone could access it. Your information could also be sold to advertising agencies, which would then use it to market specifically to you. Google already knows what you write to your friends. Do you want them to know exactly where you were last night, too? They might even contact you to find out why you didn’t go see that movie you said you would see. What’s to stop these companies from using this information to control you to do what they want?

Already, governments around the world have proposed their use in passports, driver’s licenses, and in the flesh of law enforcement agents and military forces. How long will it be before they propose to implant civilians with chips? Some employers will use RFID implantation as a requirement for employees. If the government had the power to monitor your every move, would you feel safe? Protected? Free? Or does this remind you of novels such as 1984—horror stories that, when we read them as teenagers, we shuddered with fear.

It is time for the people to become informed about these devices before they are used against us. Please, invite your friends to be part of the movement to ban RFID from personal identification systems.


Protect your identity, protect your privacy, stop RFID