Topic: Stung by the DVLA

[Baccy Man]

RFID= radio frequency ID, they have been around since the 70's.

They have been in use for a long time for things like tagging pets.
The tags are currently being used at one Tesco distribution centre in the UK, where the tags allow the rapid inventory of bulk items. They are also in use as a passcard for the M6 Toll. As prices are dropping rapidly they are likely to be used much more widely in the near future.
Some of the concerns about their use are discussed HERE a google search will reveal loads more info on them.

[Larkshall]

Your every movement is now logged so if you are going to a lovers tryst leave the car, phone and credit card at home.

I travel thousands of miles without being tracked (without the car, phone switched off and not using the credit card). The mobile phone can only tell where you've been when it was switched on. Did you realise that the coverage for mobile phones is extremely poor, we often travel in areas which don't have coverage. Many areas only get coverage on or near trunk roads, go into the rural areas and you are on your own. In these areas you are better off with a CB transceiver.

In the infamous Norman Tebbits words, "Get on your bike"

[Eristic]

If you travel in your car you rarely go more than one mile without the details being recorded. While it is true there are areas of poor phone reception, that does not mean the base stations have totally lost you. When the data from multiple databases are compared, your position can be calculated to a fairly high degree of accuacy. At the momment, the number crunching facilities are poor and prone to error but that will change.

[Larkshall]

It cant track your phone if it is not switched on, otherwise the system would collapse with all the phones which are not in use.

[RobinOfTheHood]

Apparently they've been implanting rfid devices under the skin of certain american military personnel as well.

The mind boggles.

[DomPeace]

RFID have a lot of uses from bars in spain using it to allow you to pay for drinks to them replacing the standard dog tags in the military. They're a lot easier to use for identifying people than bio-metric data. You can buy your own bio RFID kit from thinkgeek.com. However these are passive tags and have to be put through a reader that is in a close proximity to the chip to get a response.

Certainly on the projects that we have run with rfid tags are not very successful and certainly don't help us with stock counts or anything else, at the moment the chips and labels are far too delicate to be used in a production environment. Though this doesn't stop major customers asking that we have all pallets that we send to them chipped. we don't use them on an item level as yet due to cost, and problems with activating and reading the response from all the chips

I don't see it as a major privacy thing where they are used at an item level or on a store security level they are on removable labels and packaging. Thise that aren't are deactivate as they are scanned (similar to the normal security devices passed over a pad and the chip inactivated). They're no more harmful than a barcode. 

[davyW]

RADIO FREAQUENCY IDENTIFACATION