After reading about the guy who now got chips small enough to implant under your skin in your hand...
wave your hand to open the front door, car door, garage door, swipe to access your atm, bank machine.. while swimming you could swipe your hand over a sensor and get given bar drinks while in the pool (no need to carry cash or ever forget your wallet or keys...)
while envisioning the future i was in a bar room and a woman was at the front of the bar and until she swiped for age identification was she allowed in... vending machines, your info your identity inside the rfid inside your hand, at the super market wipe your hand and off you go..
in order to shop you need to be scanned or you simply don't get in... if the records show you to be a criminal, it's at their discretion to let them in... taxi, all public transport, all automatically linked to your bank account.
I could think up more uses, but who's AGAINST this ?
Pretty much everyone, actually. The privacy and security implications are huge. Identity theft would be trivial. Scan the RFID, duplicate the contents, you're now authenticated as Joe Smith.
Want to embed an RFID capsule in your hand to start your car/motorcycle, or let you into your house? Go for it. Storing your CC info, SSN, birthdate, maiden name, etc..? (Or rather, a key to that info in a DB somewhere.) You go first.
Do you remember when the CC companies put out that campaign for touchless card scanning? How many of those do you still see in service on a daily basis?
Not to mention the tinfoil-hat crowd going nuts that The Man is watching their every move. Which reminds me, I need to find a copy of The Catcher in the Rye.
Description: This is a glass, cylindrical RFID tag; it's very similar to those implanted into pets for identification purposes. But really guys, it's not for use inside your body. Please don't implant this thing into yourselves
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Features:
Tiny, implantable RFID tag
Interesting topic, having just attend the Implanon (re)training session a couple of evenings ago (complete with the usual deep-fried and largely unhealthy canapés).
Precisely whether doctors would concede to implant one of these, resembling Testosterone and Oestradiol implants, may vary. If it is indeed, able to be autoclaved. it should not be a problem as far as sterility is concerned; for insertion it is an awful lot easier to do with the cannula (there are disposables and re-usables).
You would be expected to sign a disclaimer.
I am however quite sure that your local tattoo parlour would be more than happy to do it as a matter of entirely familiar routine (and I doubt they would require the disclaimer).
No. It's not. (good) Encryption is HARD.
And the implications of breaking it are pretty huge. I mean, when 128bit WEP encryption was found to be easily breakable, most people just upgraded their wireless routers for < $100, because the new routers and wireless protocols were a lot faster anyway.
If the security on an implantable ID were broken, and 30million people had that version surgically implanted...
cjdelphi:
The pin/authentication is server side (since you have to remember the pin)... there's no difference between bank cards or rfid except it's implanted.
I can think of one:
With a card, thieves can take it from my wallet and bet me up until I tell them my PIN.
With RFID, thieves can dig it out of my hand with a rusty knife then beat me up until I tell them my PIN.
cjdelphi:
The pin/authentication is server side (since you have to remember the pin)... there's no difference between bank cards or rfid except it's implanted.
I can think of one:
With a card, thieves can take it from my wallet and bet me up until I tell them my PIN.
With RFID, thieves can dig it out of my hand with a rusty knife then beat me up until I tell them my PIN.
Criminals are lazy. They'll just punch you in the face, steal your $1000 smartphone, and sell it on ebay. Much simpler than trying to find and dig an RFID chip out of someone. Or they just follow you to the ATM, wait for you to take the cash out, then punch you in the face and steal your money.
With a card, thieves can take it from my wallet and bet me up until I tell them my PIN.
With RFID, thieves can dig it out of my hand with a rusty knife then beat me up until I tell them my PIN.
Reminds of a conversation I had with my bank once... "Hi, this is (your bank). We've detected some suspicious activity on your account, so we've disabled your RFID tag. You'll need to visit your local Shank Hut to have a new one implanted." "But I'm in Mexico!" "Oh.... hm... well, then you might want to soak the wound in a few ounces of tequila afterwards, and your liver in a few ounces of tequila beforehand."
Well, you'd not need to replace it, just re-activate it (by adding it back to the active database) most of the work is done server side, like a bank card really. (only in your hand) why would there suddenly be an increase in muggings, they'd wait until the money was out and then beat you, having the device is useless as it would be deactivated server side quickly.
Because the device itself is a key to the server DB. If you can duplicate the key, there's no difference between legit and illicit. Unless the RFID device is active. And then you have higher expense and complexity, increased size, and exploits will still be found. As we saw when the RFID credit cards came and went....
That isn't even to mention the privacy concerns.
In most cases, I've found that if something obvious isn't being done, it's probably because it's not that good of an idea. This particular concept is hardly new, and the technology has existed long enough that if it were potentially useful and profitable, it would be ubiquitous by now. Afterall, this is how lost pets are reunited with owners. If they're willing to shoot one into a rescued feral cat, it's cheap and easy enough that Visa could have been all over it by now.
Its already been done.
Some nightclub in Holland I think used implanted pooch type transponders for drinks payment.
Personally its taking party animal too far for me.