I do not know if anybody has ever posted this before. If not, I would like to hear your comments. If so, then flame me like most seem to do when you post something they don't like. I found this while surfing the web.

Also remember the FDA just approved "chip implants" on humans!!!
Here are some links to chip implants on humans.

http://www.4verichip.com/index.htm
http://www.hhs.gov/


Do a Google search for  "Wal-Mart RFID". You should get about 1,900 articles about this subject.

Below are parts of articles from search.

While Wal-Mart and other RFID advocates say the technology will aid consumers by helping ensure that the products they are looking for are in stock, concerns have been raised that the tags could encroach on shoppers' privacy. RFID tags left activated on merchandise could possibly allow customers to be tracked, they say. Privacy advocates also fear that tags, which store information like purchasing histories, could be "read" without consumers' knowledge.

10 billion wireless electronic tags are about to impact manufacturing, distribution and retailing now that Walmart, Tesco and Pentagon are requiring future suppliers to tag products - raising sensitive questions about privacy, civil liberties and human rights.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a wireless form of automated identification technology that allows for non-contact reading of data, which makes it  effective for manufacturing and other hostile environments where bar code labels may not perform well.

In addition to HP, the seven other manufacturers participating in the initial trial are The Gillette Co., Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft Foods Inc., Nestle Purina Pet Care Co., Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever PLC. Wal-Mart said it expects more suppliers to join the trial soon, including 37 small and medium-size manufacturers that have asked to participate.

RFID is established in a wide range of applications

Lumberjack

Wrap the item in tinfoil as soon as you leave the checkout… this shield it and will stop them tracking it…



Concerned about Wal-Marts RFD tracking capability… Billy-Bob was carrying out tests of his new tinfoil anti Wal-Mart hat…


This will be a real 'Tinfoil' thread…

Andy

If a person believes what Revelations says, at some point in the future there will be some technology implemented to monitor buying and selling based upon some sort of personal identification (the Mark).  RFID in this case is probably not it, but I believe something will be put in place in the future where something will be implanted.  People in this country, as a whole, don't mind their privacy and rights being eroded away, so over time I can see this being accepted as normal.  I don't consider myself as wearing a tinfoil hat if I believe this.  Over in Europe, they are already discussing an implanted chip to track health information, as part of the EU's new health care system.

"They" will be putting them into newborn children before you know it.

This might not effect many of us but it will effect your children or grand children, It's not paranoia when it's actually happening.

For some this might not sound like a problem, but when criminals aquire information of your's... or even worse, run the systems that control the information contained in your and everyone elses "Tag" you are fucked... period.

Here are some links to chip implants on humans.

http://www.4verichip.com/index.htm
http://www.hhs.gov/

Lumberjack

Revelation 13: 16-18

Revelation 14: 9-13

Quoted: Wrap the item in tinfoil as soon as you leave the checkout… this shield it and will stop them tracking it… img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/macandy/tinfoil-hat.jpg Concerned about Wal-Marts RFD tracking capability… Billy-Bob was carrying out tests of his new tinfoil anti Wal-Mart hat… This will be a real 'Tinfoil' thread… Andy

Naw ----

we just do not want to have the government to  control every aspect of our lives like "you chaps in the U.K."

Maybe you chaps should have been more tin foil  --- then you still would have your guns ?????

Look at it from Wal-Mart's perspective: You can take inventory of every single item in the entire store, just by "pinging" it. You know exactly what's on your shelves (as opposed to what your checkout scanner thinks is still on your shelves). This is powerful retail stuff. Wal-Mart already sets the world standard for inventory management and ordering, and this will just put them that much further ahead.

If the tags are permanantly implanted in the merchandise, it could also reduce shoplifting considerably (which means lower merchandise costs). If they're just embedded within removable tags, then 'lifters will just snip the tags off before stealing the merchandise.

On the down side, as RFID technology continues to get cheaper and smaller, look for the Schumers and Feinsteins of the world to introduce legislation requiring RFID tags to be embedded inside every handgun bullet. I could see them also calling for all firearms to have an RFID 'serial number' permanently embedded within the receiver (with a stiff felony offense for anyone who removes or alters it). This might be justified by claiming that it would make it easier to retrieve stolen firearms, and give police some advance warning of a firearm's presence when responding to calls.

Ah yes.  Like most tech it has a good side (inventory tracking) and a bad side (human tracking).

The cry is always "But it will NEVER be used for anything *bad*!".

BULLSHIT!

Almost every idea and law man has created has been twisted and extended beyond the wildest nightmares of those that created it.

www.itweb.co.za/sections/hardware/2004/0410140852.asp?S=Reuters&A=REU&O=FRGN

FDA: Chip implant can be used to get health records

BY REUTERS
[Washington | Reuters News Service, 14 October 2004] -

A computer chip that is implanted under the skin won US approval yesterday for use in helping doctors quickly access a patient's medical history.

The VeriChip, sold by Applied Digital Solutions, is placed in the upper arm in a painless procedure that takes minutes, the company said.

Shares of Applied Digital jumped 68% to $3.57 on the Nasdaq.

About the size of a grain of rice, the chip contains a patient's identification number that corresponds to health information in a computer database.

A handheld scanner can retrieve the patient's number from the chip, which emits radio waves when activated.

Proponents hope doctors will use the technology to find vital information about someone who is unconscious or having trouble communicating. The database could include details such as medication use, allergies and major health problems.

The chip implants have been used for years for various purposes such as identifying lost pets. But Applied Digital was not allowed to market the chips for medical use in the US until the company received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday.

The FDA ruled in 2002 that it would not regulate financial, security or other uses of the chips.

Privacy advocates have voiced worry about the speedy transfer of sensitive medical information via computer. Applied Digital said the data would be kept secure.

Shares of Digital Angel, which licenses the VeriChip technology to Applied Digital, rose nearly 29% to $3.49 on the American Stock Exchange.



www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,65243,00.html?tw=wn_story_top5

RFID Driver's Licenses Debated
By Mark Baard

09:50 AM Oct. 06, 2004 PT

Some federal and state government officials want to make state driver's licenses harder to counterfeit or steal, by adding computer chips that emit a radio signal bearing a license holder's unique, personal information.

In Virginia, where several of the 9/11 hijackers obtained driver's licenses, state legislators Wednesday will hear testimony about how radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags may prevent identity fraud and help thwart terrorists using falsified documents to move about the country.

Privacy advocates will argue that the radio tags will also make it easy for the government to spy on its citizens and exacerbate identity theft, one of the problems the technology is meant to relieve.

Virginia is among the first states to explore the idea of creating a smart driver's license, which may eventually use any combination of RFID tags and biometric data, such as fingerprints or retinal scans.

"Nine of the 19 9/11 terrorists obtained their licenses illegally in Virginia, and that was quite an embarrassment," said Virginia General Assembly delegate Kathy Byron, chairwoman of a subcommittee looking into the use of so-called smart driver's licenses, which may include RFID technology.

The biometric data would make it harder for an individual to use a stolen or forged driver's license for identification. The RFID tags would make the licenses a "contact-less" technology, verifying IDs more efficiently, and making lines at security checkpoints move quicker.

Because information on RFID tags can be picked up from many feet away, licenses would not have to be put directly into a reader device. If there was any suspicion that a person was not who he claimed to be, ID checkers could take him aside for fingerprinting or a retinal scan.

States need to adopt technologies that can ensure a driver's license holder is who he says he is, said Byron.

Federal legislators may also require states to comply with uniform "smart card" standards, making state driver's licenses into national identification cards that could be read at any location throughout the country. The RFID chips on driver's licenses would at a minimum transmit all of the information on the front of a driver's license. They may also eventually transmit fingerprint and other uniquely identifiable information to reader devices.

But federal mandates for adding RFID chips to driver's licenses would create an impossible burden for states, which will have to shoulder the costs of generating new licenses, and installing reader devices in their motor vehicle offices, said a states' rights advocate.

"It could easily become yet another unfunded federal mandate, of which we already have $60 billion worth," said Cheye Calvo, director of the transportation committee at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Drivers with E-ZPass tags on their windshields can already cruise through many highway toll booths without stopping, thanks to RFID technology.

RFID tags, which respond to signals sent out by special reader devices, have in some tests demonstrated broadcast ranges up to 30 feet. Reader devices have proven to possess similar "sensing" ranges. This is what has some privacy advocaters worried, including one testifying tomorrow before the Virginia legislators.

"The biggest problem is that these tags are remotely readable," said Christopher Calabrese, council for the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Program.

RFID tags inside driver's licenses will make it easy for government agents with readers to sweep large areas and identify protestors participating in a march, for example. Privacy advocates also fear that crooks sitting on street corners could remotely gather personal information from individual's wallets, such as their birth dates and home addresses -- the same information many bank employees use to verify account holders' identities.

Information from card readers could also be coupled with global positioning system data and relayed to satellites, helping the government form a comprehensive picture of the comings and goings of its citizens.

Driver's licenses with RFID tags may also become a tool that stalkers use to follow their victims, said Calabrese. "We're talking about a potential security nightmare."

But opponents of the use of RFID and other technologies in driver's licenses and state issued ID cards are conflating RFID's technological potential with its potential for abuse by government authorities, said Robert D. Atkinson, vice president at the Progressive Policy Institute.

"Putting a chip or biometric data on a driver's license doesn't change one iota the rules under which that information can be used," said Atkinson.

The Virginia legislators may balk at the use of RFID in driver's licenses, however, unless they can be proven to be immune from use by spies and identity thieves.

"I can't see us using RFID until we're comfortable we can without encroaching on individual privacy, and ensure it won't be used as a Big Brother technology by the government," said Joe May, chairman of the Virginia General Assembly's House Science and Technology Committee.

Quoted: Revelation 13: 16-18 Revelation 14: 9-13

If you can connect the Wal-Mart RFID's to Revelation, you sir, have a much more active imagination than I do.

Personally I am waiting for the dragons and the mounted horseman.

Quoted: Quoted: Revelation 13: 16-18 Revelation 14: 9-13 If you can connect the Wal-Mart RFID's to Revelation, you sir, have a much more active imagination than I do. Personally I am waiting for the dragons and the mounted horseman.

Ha ha ha...

I work for one of the leading manufacturers of RFID technology, Microchip Technology out of Arizona. These suckers are tiny, are cheap to buy and keep getting smaller every year. They range from .50 to 1.50 a piece and the application for these are limitless. They can easily be molded into the plastic frame of your Glock or implanted underneith your skin. They are already being put into childrens toys, implanted in creditcards, ID badges, used in automotive applications, and pet tracking. ASU also has this system set up to track their books entering and leaving their library. This is no tin foil hat joke. They are for real. Here is an example of a practical application for this technology. RFID is aleady being used in cars. In the very near future once every product you buy contains a RF chip, your car will be able to keep an active inventory of all the items you contain in your car. This will also hold true for your house or appartment. Just a little something to think about.

Interesting topic.  The library system that I work in is currently doing two building projects and RFID technology is becoming increasingly popular with libraries for automated check-in and ease in finding books on the shelf.   I spoke with my director about this and she felt that while the cost is going down, it is still expensive and she is uneasy about the possiblities for privacy violations.  I think that unfortunately this trend will continue to grow in all areas and that we may have a real reason to worry in the future.

Quoted: Quoted: Wrap the item in tinfoil as soon as you leave the checkout… this shield it and will stop them tracking it… img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/macandy/tinfoil-hat.jpg Concerned about Wal-Marts RFD tracking capability… Billy-Bob was carrying out tests of his new tinfoil anti Wal-Mart hat… This will be a real 'Tinfoil' thread… Andy Naw ---- we just do not want to have the government to  control every aspect of our lives like "you chaps in the U.K." Maybe you chaps should have been more tin foil  --- then you still would have your guns ?????

We have guns… lots of them… My favorite toy, my AR15…



We also have a Wal-Mart about 2 miles from my home… I avoid it like the plauge.


ANdy

And this is different from the computer codes being scanned and then associated with either your credit card or atm card in what way???

Quoted: And this is different from the computer codes being scanned and then associated with either your credit card or atm card in what way???

People would shit if they knew all about that ---
cards being read and tracked --

even more so if a  "tag" is placed on them by any government enity --
what you buy
when you buy it
where your at when you buy it
How much you buy .............................

They own us.

It is not so much a fear of technology as an erosion of privacy.  Think about how Onstar could be used against law-abiding citizens should an evil government gain access to the system -

"We have tracked the location of John Doe's car, who owns unregistered firearms.  We are disabling his car, and forwarding his location to the authorities so he can be picked up for re-education"

Quoted: Like most technology, there will be those that fear it. Remember when you ran away And I got on my knees And begged you not to leave Because I'd go berserk? Well. . . You left me anyhow And then the days got worse and worse And now you see I've gone Completely out of my mind And. . . They're coming to take me away, HA HA They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA To the funny farm Where life is beautiful all the time And I'll be happy to see Those nice, young men In their clean, white coats And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa! You thought it was a joke And so you laughed You laughed when I had said That losing you would make me flip my lid Right. . . You know you laughed, I heard you laugh You laughed, you laughed and laughed And then you left But now you know I'm utterly mad! And. . . They're coming to take me away, HA HA They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA To the happy home With trees and flowers and chirping birds And basket weavers who sit and smile And twiddle their thumbs and toes And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa! I cooked your food I cleaned your house And this is how you pay me back For all my kind, unselfish loving deeds?!! Hah. . . Well you just wait They'll find you yet And when they do they'll Put you in the ASPCA, you mangy mutt! And. . . They're coming to take me away, HA HA They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA To the funny farm Where life is beautiful all the time And I'll be happy to see Those nice, young men In their clean, white coats And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa! To the happy home With trees and flowers and chirping birds And basket weavers who sit and smile And twiddle their thumbs and toes And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa! To the funny farm Where life is beautiful all the time And I'll be happy to see Those nice, young men In their clean, white coats And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Wrap the item in tinfoil as soon as you leave the checkout… this shield it and will stop them tracking it… img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/macandy/tinfoil-hat.jpg Concerned about Wal-Marts RFD tracking capability… Billy-Bob was carrying out tests of his new tinfoil anti Wal-Mart hat… This will be a real 'Tinfoil' thread… Andy Naw ---- we just do not want to have the government to  control every aspect of our lives like "you chaps in the U.K." Maybe you chaps should have been more tin foil  --- then you still would have your guns ????? We have guns… lots of them… My favorite toy, my AR15… img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/macandy/DSC02127a.jpg We also have a Wal-Mart about 2 miles from my home… I avoid it like the plauge. ANdy

Too bad it has to be .22 LR...............

Quoted: RFID module vs. a medium pair of Channellocks. Privacy issue solved. But the problem is to find that little module, first. CJ

You wouldnt be able to take it out without first destroying the product.

I took a tour  of a Wal-mart distribution facility not long ago, and man what a system. RFID will make what is the most effecient logistics sytem in the world even more efficient.

When a truck from a manufacturer pulls up, 75% of what is on it is already designated for a store. It only get touched by human hands twice. The person who unloads it unloads it, enters what it is in to a computer, the computer prints a bar code label that is put on the box, and then the box goes onto a conveyer belt. This facility had 23 MILES of conveyer under its roof, and from this point on the system is automated. Camera take pitcures of ech package and read the bar codes, and the case gets shuffled by the system untill it comes down to the back of the truck that is heading to the store it is headed for, and human hands touch it again to load.

RFID will let them skip the whole bar code label part of the system and eliminate one more potential for error. And FWIW most all RFID will be on the packaging, not inside the actual product, because they will eventually be tied into the anti-theft system and if it was imbedded in clothing, handbags, or such it would cause false alarms.

If you ever get a chance to tour one of these facilities DO IT! It is amazing the system they have developed.

Quoted: I took a tour  of a Wal-mart ditribution facility not long ago, and man what a system. RFID will make what is the most effecient logistics sytem in the world even more efficient. When a truck from a manufacturer pulls up, 75% of what is on it is already designated for a store. It only get touched by human hands twice. The person who unloads it unloads it, enters what it is in to a computer, the computer prints a bar code label that is put on the box, and then the box goes onto a conveyer belt. This facility had 23 MILES of conveyer under its roof, and from this point on the system is automated. Camera take pitcures of ech package and read the bar codes, and the case gets shuffled by the system untill it comes down to the back of the truck that is heading to the store it is headed for, and human hands touch it again to load. RFID will let them skip the whole bar code label part of the system and eliminate one more potential for error. And FWIW most all RFID will be on the packaging, not inside the actual product, because they will eventually be tied into the anti-theft system and if it was imbedded in clothing, handbags, or such it would cause false alarms. If you ever get a chance to tour one of these facilities DO IT! It is amazing the system they have developed.

Inventory of products is a GOOD application of RFID and I have no problem with it at all.

Will a roll of tin foil on the shelf at WalMart have one?  

Quoted: And this is different from the computer codes being scanned and then associated with either your credit card or atm card in what way???

Because in the case of a mag stripe or bar code you have to present the item to a scanner in order to be read.  You KNOW it's happening.

With RFID all you have to do is walk by a scanner that may be a few feet (or more) away.  Think "shoplifiting alarms" at the store.  Zap.  Whatever RFID tags the scanner is set up for that you're carrying, it's read.

The thing about putting them in DL's is the next best thing (or the prelude) to putting them IN YOU.  What don't you EVER leave the house without?

All that is required next is to make it a crime to disable RFID's for personal identification and we are screwed.  I envision that law also including willful blocking (ie: placing the RFID in foil).

Give it a generation (2 at most) and people will be ASKING to have them inserted for "the convenience of not having to worry about that pesky ID card thing."

www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/rfid.asp

SNOPES gentlemen, please check your facts!

Quoted: Quoted: Revelation 13: 16-18 Revelation 14: 9-13 If you can connect the Wal-Mart RFID's to Revelation, you sir, have a much more active imagination than I do. Personally I am waiting for the dragons and the mounted horseman.

If you're still here when that happens, it might be too late for you.

Do I have an AMEN!!
AMEN!!

Quoted: Quoted: And this is different from the computer codes being scanned and then associated with either your credit card or atm card in what way??? Because in the case of a mag stripe or bar code you have to present the item to a scanner in order to be read.  You KNOW it's happening. With RFID all you have to do is walk by a scanner that may be a few feet (or more) away.  Think "shoplifiting alarms" at the store.  Zap.  Whatever RFID tags the scanner is set up for that you're carrying, it's read. The thing about putting them in DL's is the next best thing (or the prelude) to putting them IN YOU.  What don't you EVER leave the house with? All that is required next is to make it a crime to disable RFID's for personal identification and we are screwed.  I envision that law also including willful blocking (ie: placing the RFID in foil). Give it a generation (2 at most) and people will be ASKING to have them inserted for "the convenience of not having to worry about that pesky ID card thing."

How long do I nuke the new driver's license in the microwave to screw up the RFID?  I already have erased the magnetic strip on mine.

Quoted: And FWIW most all RFID will be on the packaging, not inside the actual product, because they will eventually be tied into the anti-theft system and if it was imbedded in clothing, handbags, or such it would cause false alarms.

Depends on how deep they want to serialize the products. If it's like a UPC (one number per product), then you're right. However, if each and every can of Good Value Mixed Nuts is assigned its own unique serial number, then any item that walks out the front door the first time could be automatically put on the ALREADY SOLD list. From that point on, it wouldn't trigger any alarms whenever it re-enters the store.

There are advantages to doing this:

1. It allows the RFID tags to be embedded within the product itself, which makes it virtually impossible for a shoplifter to remove.

2. It allows Wal-Mart to keep track of lot numbers, date codes, delivery methods, etc. This makes it much easier to track down customers the next time there's a salmonella scare in the Armor hot dogs, a tampered case of Tylenol, or someone in the Pharmacy makes a major mistake in filling your prescription.

Quoted: And this is different from the computer codes being scanned and then associated with either your credit card or atm card in what way???

Obviously, you are not an alert reader. Here is the salient part again.

The biggest problem is that these tags are remotely readable," said Christopher Calabrese, council for the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Program. RFID tags inside driver's licenses will make it easy for government agents with readers to sweep large areas and identify protestors participating in a march, for example. Privacy advocates also fear that crooks sitting on street corners could remotely gather personal information from individual's wallets, such as their birth dates and home addresses -- the same information many bank employees use to verify account holders' identities. Information from card readers could also be coupled with global positioning system data and relayed to satellites, helping the government form a comprehensive picture of the comings and goings of its citizens. Driver's licenses with RFID tags may also become a tool that stalkers use to follow their victims, said Calabrese. "We're talking about a potential security nightmare."

Hmmm. What do RFID readers cost? Can you go "war-driving" with one? Is there a way to disable the chips, aside from physical destruction? say, hack into the chip to reset it?

should i use regular or heavy duty tinfoil?

fraud is easy - and a fake transponder with codes cloned read from cheap merchandise can substitute/jam (maybe with the aid of shielding) the original rfid transponder and....you get the idea


also - the transponders (such as the mobil gas station keychain fob) can be read remotely by ANYONE...and if an encryption scheme is used, it is easy to sniff for it at the gas station, etc...basically you are carrying around a keyfob linked to your credit card that can be read remotely and cloned - think of how many people walk by in a mall or other public place with these things!

Smart company...

WalMart, as allways, is allways looking to save a buck

Considering how much money is wasted by retailers paying employees to take inventory, and how much is lost to shoplifting, when it becomes practical these things WILL replace UPCs...

Can the paranoia, this isn't some people-tracking scheme, just  a way to avoid paying employees to count product...

http://www.ti.com/tiris/

http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T043/0593.pdf

http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T043/0592.pdf

http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T043/0591.pdf

Sigh. People always think about security last.

Quoted: Can the paranoia, this isn't some people-tracking scheme, just  a way to avoid paying employees to count product...

That's probably a reasonable assessment of Wal-Mart's motivation.

However, the sheer size of Wal-Mart's operations (along with the tremendous pressure they can exert on their suppliers) will drive down the cost of RFIDs significantly – which in turn will pave the way for the use of RFIDs in other applications.