Case I: RFID(Radio Frequency Identification Device)
RFID stands for radio frequency identification. A computer chip is attached to an antenna, and they are often referred to together as an RFID tag. Data stored on the chip transmits wirelessly through the antenna to an RFID reader or scanning device that operates on the same frequency as the antenna.
Are all RFID tags and readers the same?
Makers of RFID tags and readers use proprietary technology and design their systems to run on different frequencies (anywhere from 125 KHz to about 915 MHz). Tags designed by one company generally cannot be read by readers made by another company or by readers running on different frequencies. That may not be an issue in the future as industry standards are more broadly adopted.
RFID devices can be active or passive. Active RFID tags have a battery that provides power to transmit data on the chip, and can transmit data 100 feet or more. Passive RFID tags get their power from the RFID reader. When an RFID reader is directed at a passive RFID tag running on the same frequency, the reader sends an electromagnetic wave to the tag. This powers the tag to send data to the reader. Passive RFID usually requires a reader to be within a foot of the chip, but depending on the frequency, can be read from up to 20 feet away.
What’s stored on the chip?
This depends on the storage size of the chip. Most RFID tags used by manufacturers to track products store only about 2 KB of data, which usually consists only of a unique serial number identifying the product. But RFID chips proposed for new electronic passports can store more data, such as a person’s name, address, birth date and biometric data like a digital photo or fingerprint and iris scans.
What is RFID used for?
RFID tags store data about a product or person who carries the tag. The tag can be embedded in product packaging, in library books, in credit cards or in an ID badge or document, such as a driver’s license or passport. The tags can track products and pallets in warehouses and on store shelves. They’re also used in electronic toll passes and key fobs. They’ve tracked cows and cadavers, and people are increasingly implanting them in pets. RFID chips have been embedded in bracelets worn by Alzheimer’s patients, prison inmates and guards, and children in hospitals to make sure intruders don’t abduct them.
Earlier this year, a California school required students to wear an ID tag embedded with an RFID chip to track their movements and monitor attendance. The move caused controversy, however, because the school neglected to tell students or parents that the badges contained a tracking device. An implantable RFID chip, called the VeriChip, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for security and health-care applications. The VeriChip is designed to be planted beneath the skin and would contain a serial number or password that medical personnel could obtain by scanning a patient’s arm. The serial number could then be entered into a computer database to access a medical file set up by the patient.
Why is it becoming so popular?
Low-frequency RFID has been around for about 30 years, but it hasn’t been practical for widespread use because manufacturing the chips and readers has been expensive. Also, a lack of standards that would allow any RFID reader to scan any chip kept the technology from being widely adopted, but proposed standards could help change that. Some RFID tags now cost less than 50 cents. Manufacturers like RFID because the technology is more convenient and durable than bar codes, which can be difficult to read if not passed directly in front of a scanner or if the bar code has faded or is torn on the product package. An RFID tag can also hold more useful information than a bar code, such as the expiration date of a perishable product like milk.
What are the concerns about RFID?
Privacy activists worry that RFID tags on individual products, rather than warehouse pallets, could track consumers inside and outside stores. Companies could collect information about customer interests based on where they go, especially if the serial numbers on tags are tied to an individual through purchases. Activists also warn that if tags are used widely in consumer products, police or FBI agents monitoring a political rally or religious service could scan a room with an RFID reader to determine quickly who is present or with whom the person carrying a tag associates.
What about using RFID on identification documents?
Activists are afraid an identity thief or terrorist could surreptitiously read the data on an RFID tag in a driver’s license or passport and use it to create a duplicate document. Or an intruder could pick up data on a chip through “eavesdropping,” which occurs when one reader picks up data as it is transmitted from a tag to another reader.
Can anyone hack an RFID chip to change information stored on it?
They conceivably could if the tag is a read-write tag as opposed to a read-only tag and the data stored on it is not encrypted. (Read-write means you can read data on the tag as well as write over or add to the existing data.)
What do RFID proponents say?
Businesses using RFID tags say they have no interest in gathering information on consumers and simply want to use the devices to increase efficiency and reduce data entry. They also claim RFID tags could be manufactured so they can be killed once they leave a store. It would also be difficult for law enforcement to obtain personal information about people based on RFID tags embedded in consumer products without having access to a store database that connects the data to a person. Data stored on ID badges could be encrypted to protect it from surreptitious scanning.
Does any legislation govern the use of RFID tags and information stored on them?
here isn’t federal legislation specifically covering RFID, but other laws covering the privacy of data and law enforcement access to it would apply to RFID tags. Pending legislation in California would prohibit the use of RFID technology in state-issued documents, with some exceptions.
"Kifaa cha RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) ni kifaa cha ""kufahamisha kwa masafa ya redio.""" Chip ya kompyuta imeunganishwa na antena, na mara nyingi huitwa pamoja kama lebo ya RFID. Data iliyohifadhiwa kwenye chip hiyo hupitishwa bila waya kupitia antena kwa msomaji wa RFID au kifaa cha kuchunguza kinachofanya kazi kwa mzunguko sawa na antena. Je, tags zote za RFID na wasomaji ni sawa? Vifaa vya RFID vinaweza kutengenezwa kwa kutumia teknolojia ya kipekee na kuundwa kwa njia ya kawaida, ambayo inaweza kutumika katika masafa ya kati ya 125kHz na 915MHz. Tags iliyoundwa na kampuni moja kwa ujumla haiwezi kusomwa na wasomaji alifanya na kampuni nyingine au na wasomaji mbio juu ya masafa tofauti. Hiyo inaweza kuwa si suala katika siku zijazo kama viwango vya sekta ni zaidi kwa ujumla kupitishwa. Vifaa vya RFID vinaweza kuwa na nguvu au nguvu. RFID tags ni vifaa vya kuunganisha data kutoka kwa chip hadi kwenye chip, na inaweza kuunganisha data kutoka kwa chip hadi kwenye chip. Vipande vya RFID vya pasi vinapata nguvu zao kutoka kwa msomaji wa RFID. Wakati msomaji wa RFID anaelekezwa kwa tag ya RFID isiyo na nguvu inayoendesha kwenye mzunguko huo, msomaji hutuma wimbi la umeme kwa tag. Hii nguvu tag kutuma data kwa msomaji. RFID ya Passive inahitaji msomaji kuwa ndani ya futi ya chip, lakini kulingana na mzunguko, inaweza kusomwa kutoka umbali wa mita 20. Ni nini kilichohifadhiwa kwenye chip hiyo? Hii inategemea ukubwa wa kuhifadhi ya chip. Vipande vya RFID vinavyotumiwa na wazalishaji kufuatilia bidhaa huhifadhi data ya karibu 2Kb, ambayo kwa kawaida inajumuisha nambari ya kipekee ya mfululizo inayotambulisha bidhaa. Vipande vya RFID vilivyopendekezwa kwa ajili ya pasipoti mpya za elektroniki vinaweza kuhifadhi data zaidi, kama vile jina la mtu, anwani, tarehe ya kuzaliwa na data za biometriki kama picha ya dijiti au alama za vidole na skani za iris. RFID hutumiwa kwa nini? RFID tags kuhifadhi data kuhusu bidhaa au mtu ambaye hubeba tag. Tagi inaweza kuingizwa kwenye vifurushi vya bidhaa, katika vitabu vya maktaba, katika kadi za mkopo au katika beji ya kitambulisho au hati, kama vile leseni ya kuendesha gari au pasipoti. Vipande hivyo vinaweza kufuatilia bidhaa na mabamba yaliyo katika maghala na kwenye rafu za maduka. Wao pia hutumiwa katika passes za elektroniki za malipo na fobs muhimu. Wamefuatilia ng'ombe na maiti, na watu wanazidi kuziweka ndani ya wanyama wa kufugwa. Chip za RFID zimeingizwa kwenye bangili zinazovaliwa na wagonjwa wa Alzheimer, wafungwa wa gereza na walinzi, na watoto katika hospitali ili kuhakikisha kuwa wavamizi hawawachukui. Shule moja ya California ililazimisha wanafunzi kuvaa vitambulisho vya RFID ili kufuatilia mwendo wao na kuhudhuria. Hata hivyo, hatua hiyo ilisababisha ubishi kwa sababu shule hiyo ilisahau kuwaambia wanafunzi au wazazi kwamba beji hizo zilikuwa na kifaa cha kufuatilia. Chip ya RFID inayoweza kupandikizwa, inayoitwa VeriChip, hivi karibuni iliidhinishwa na Utawala wa Chakula na Dawa kwa matumizi ya usalama na huduma za afya. Vichipuko vya VeriChip vimeundwa kwa ajili ya kuingizwa chini ya ngozi na vinaweza kuwa na nambari ya mfululizo au password ambayo wafanyakazi wa matibabu wanaweza kupata kwa kuchunguza mkono wa mgonjwa. Kisha nambari hiyo ya mfululizo ingeweza kuingizwa katika hifadhidata ya kompyuta ili kupata faili ya kitiba iliyowekwa na mgonjwa. Kwa nini inazidi kupendwa sana? RFID ya masafa ya chini imekuwa karibu kwa miaka 30 lakini haijawahi kutumika kwa wingi kwa sababu kutengeneza chips na wasomaji imekuwa ghali. Pia, ukosefu wa viwango ambavyo vingeruhusu msomaji wa RFID kuchunguza chip yoyote ulizuia teknolojia hiyo kutumiwa sana, lakini viwango vilivyopendekezwa vinaweza kusaidia kubadilisha hilo. Vipande vya RFID vinaweza kuwa na bei ya chini ya senti 50. RFID ni rahisi zaidi na ya kudumu kuliko barcodes, ambayo inaweza kuwa vigumu kusoma ikiwa haipitwi moja kwa moja mbele ya scanner au ikiwa barcode imepungua au imevunjika kwenye kifurushi cha bidhaa. RFID tag inaweza pia kushikilia habari muhimu zaidi kuliko barcode, kama vile tarehe ya kumalizika kwa bidhaa inayoweza kuharibika kama maziwa. Ni nini wasiwasi kuhusu RFID? Wakala wa usalama wa data wana wasiwasi kwamba vitambulisho vya RFID kwenye bidhaa za mtu binafsi, badala ya pallets za ghala, vinaweza kufuatilia watumiaji ndani na nje ya maduka. Kampuni zinaweza kukusanya habari kuhusu maslahi ya wateja kulingana na mahali wanapoenda, haswa ikiwa nambari za mfululizo kwenye vitambulisho vimeunganishwa na mtu binafsi kupitia ununuzi. "Wanasayansi wanasema kwamba ikiwa tags zinatumiwa sana katika bidhaa za watumiaji, polisi au mawakala wa FBI wanaofuatilia mkutano wa kisiasa au ibada ya kidini wanaweza kuchunguza chumba kwa msomaji wa RFID ili kuamua haraka ni nani aliyepo au ni nani mtu anayebeba tags anaoshirikiana naye. """ Je, ni kweli kwamba RFID inaweza kutumika katika hati za utambulisho? Wanaharakati wanaogopa kuwa mwizi wa utambulisho au kigaidi anaweza kusoma kwa siri data kwenye lebo ya RFID kwenye leseni ya kuendesha gari au pasipoti na kuitumia kuunda hati ya mara mbili. Au intruder inaweza kuchukua data juu ya chip kupitia <unk>eavesdropping,<unk> ambayo hutokea wakati msomaji mmoja huchukua data kama ni kupitishwa kutoka tag kwa msomaji mwingine. Je, mtu yeyote anaweza kuharibu chip ya RFID ili kubadilisha habari zilizohifadhiwa ndani yake? Inawezekana inaweza kama tag ni kusoma-kuandika tag kinyume na kusoma tu tag na data kuhifadhiwa juu yake si encrypted. (Kusoma-kuandika ina maana unaweza kusoma data juu ya tag kama vile kuandika juu au kuongeza kwa data zilizopo.) Watetezi wa RFID wanasema nini? Kampuni zinazotumia RFID tags zinasema hazipendezwi na kukusanya habari juu ya watumiaji na zinataka tu kutumia vifaa hivyo kuongeza ufanisi na kupunguza uingizaji wa data. Pia, kuna uwezekano wa kutengeneza RFIDs ili kuua watu wanaotoka madukani. "Hata hivyo, ni vigumu kwa maafisa wa sheria kupata habari za kibinafsi kuhusu watu kulingana na vitambulisho vya RFID vilivyowekwa katika bidhaa za watumiaji bila kuwa na upatikanaji wa hifadhidata ya duka ambayo inaunganisha data kwa mtu.""" Takwimu zilizohifadhiwa kwenye vitambulisho vya utambulisho zingeweza kufichwa ili kuhifadhiwa kutokana na kupimwa kisiri. Je, kuna sheria yoyote inayosimamia matumizi ya vitambulisho vya RFID na habari zilizohifadhiwa juu yao? Sheria ya shirikisho haijumuishi RFID, lakini sheria nyingine zinazohusu faragha ya data na upatikanaji wa utekelezaji wa sheria kwa hiyo inatumika kwa vitambulisho vya RFID. Sheria ya California inakataza matumizi ya RFID katika hati za serikali, isipokuwa kwa baadhi ya mambo.