2003/12/30

This Car Can Talk. What It Says May Cause Concern - NYT (sub)
OnStar is one of a growing number of automated eyes and ears that enhance driving safety and convenience but that also increase the potential for surveillance.
New Energy-Efficient RFID Tag - RFID Journal
Trolley Scan, an RFID design and development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, has developed a UHF RFID passive transponder that uses...
RFID tags key to some cattle ID programs - ComputerWorld
... in Australia have the inside track on providing radio frequency identification(RFID) tags and readers to major beef-producing nations that have instituted...

2003/12/28

Going West? Be ready for biometric tests- Economic Times, India
... against illegal immigrants – to guard against terrorists, curtail asylum seekers or plug identity theft – the one technology they all turn to is biometric ...

2003/12/19

Tiny transmitters give retailers, privacy advocates goosebumps
USA Today reports, "Say hello to RFID: radio-frequency identification. If you don't know about it already, you're going to. Because, depending on who you ask, RFID technology is either a giant can of WD-40 on the wheels of commerce and inventory, or a spawn of the evil military-industrial complex that (still) plans to enslave us all."

2003/12/18

Firms overcharge retailers for debit-card convenience - USA Today
Holiday shoppers who don't want to build up more credit-card debt are taking another little plastic card out of their wallets these days: Visa and MasterCard debit cards. By deducting funds immediately from a bank account, the cards provide consumers a convenient alternative to carrying wads of cash or writing checks.

2003/12/17

The Danger of Letting IT Run RFID Projects - Ziff Davis
I thought his take on RFID implementation was particularly interesting, so invited him to summarize it here. Enjoy! Radio frequency ...

2003/12/16

RFID scare stories ignore basic physics , says analyst - Out-Law.com, UK
Privacy advocates warn that radio frequency identification (RFID) technology could be used to track our movements and there have been calls for a boycott.
RFID: A Key to Automating Everything - Scientific American
Thirteen years ago, in an article for Scientific American, the late Mark Weiser, then my colleague at Xerox PARC, outlined...

2003/12/14

Companies Test 'Contactless' Credit Cards - AP
The familiar process of buying something with a credit card - handing the plastic to the clerk or swiping it yourself, then waiting for approval and signing the receipt - could be headed the way of the mechanical brass cash register. For more than a year, MasterCard and American Express have been testing 'contactless' versions of their credit cards. The cards need only be held near a special reader for a sale to go through - though the consumer can still get a receipt.

2003/12/11

Jan 2005 radio ID supply tag deadline remains - Forbes
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to stick to a January 2005 start date for suppliers to attach to their shipments tiny electronic tracking tags, an official said on Wednesday. The tags work in similar fashion to the UPC code that keeps tabs on goods but they can gather more information about a product's movement, making it easier to monitor its location. A tiny microchip embedded in them stores data which can be read by a nearby radio frequency reader that transmits the information to a computer for monitoring or analysis. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. the world's largest retailer, has imposed the same deadline for its top suppliers.
SUN Microsystems to open RFID test center in Scotland - EE Times Online
Sun Microsystems Inc. said it plans to open a 12,000-sq.-ft. European radio frequency identification (RFID) test center in Scotland by February 2004.
Questions remain unanswered over government's ID project - VNUNet, UK
This week the all-party Commons Home Affairs Committee announced an inquiry into the government's proposals for a biometric identity card and a biometric...
Israel to install biometric ID system at Gaza checkpoint - North County Times, CA
The system, developed by On Track Innovations Ltd., OTI, will use two biometric sensors to scan features of Palestinian workers crossing through the Erez checkpoint.

2003/12/10

EU plan for biometric documents must not be rubber-stamped- Sinn Politics, Ireland
... TD has reacted angrily to the Government's plan to squash Dáil debate on EU Regulations requiring all visas and residence permits to contain "biometric" data...

2003/12/09

Credit-Card implant provokes criticism - New Scientist
... But ADS claims its Veripay system, which is based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, would end the problems of identity theft and make it...

2003/12/06

Privacy, Civil Liberties Groups Sign RFID Position Paper - TechWeb
... Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags contain computer chips that store information that can be fed into the computer systems of manufacturers...
Is RFID Technology Easy to Foil? - Wired News
... Makers of RFID (or radio frequency identification) tags, along with the retailers and suppliers who plan to use them, are saying the technology they spent...
Tag...Gotcha! The advent of RFID - Axcess Business News
Privacy and dinosaurs may be studied in some future classrooms but only as interesting cultish history. So what IS an RFID?
Biometric cards will not stop identity fraud - New Scientist
A plan to introduce biometric ID cards in the UK will fail to achieve one of its main aims, New Scientist has learned. The proposed...

2003/12/04

Prepare to be scanned - Economist (subscription), UK
... The second reason is cost: biometric systems are expensive compared with other security measures, such as passwords and personal identification numbers.
Subdermal RFID chip provokes furore - The Register, UK
Well, it's already been widely reported, but we reckon it's Vulture Central's turn to chip in its two cents' worth to the subdermal RFID chip debate.

2003/12/03

Sweden tests bio-ID cards - CNN International
Frequent flyers on Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) are taking part in one of the first biometric identification trials that is using...

2003/12/02

Chip implant gets cash under your skin - CNET News.com
Applied Digital Solutions (ADS) of Palm Beach, Fla., is hoping that Americans can be persuaded to implant RFID chips under their skin to identify themselves.

2003/12/01

Report faults biometric ID card plan - International Herald Tribune
Plans by Britain and other countries to introduce sophisticated identity cards using biometric technology will fail to achieve one of their main aims...