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New York Offers Drivers License with RFID
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Michael Barkoviak / DailyTech
September 18, 2008
‘Big brother coming one step closer, or viable license that citizens want?.’ -
Residents in New York now have the chance to carry a new type of drivers license that is embedded with a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip.
People wanting the new license will need to pay an additional $30 processing fee – raising the price for a new license to $80 – and bring a pile of government-issued documents with them to the DMV. An old license, Social Security card, birth certificate or other proof of U.S. citizenship and two documents to prove residency in New York are required.
Even though it will add another 10 to 20 minutes at the local DMV, the license can be used for border crossings between the United States, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Carribean. The new land and sea requirements will go into effect on June 1, 2009, but is not eligible for international air travel, which will still require a valid passport.
No personal information is stored on the RFID tag and the identifying information can only be used to verify that it has been issued to a person, the state of New York said. New York residents worried about privacy concerns will not be required to get a new drivers license.
Each license will be shipped with a protective storage sleeve designed to help stop anyone who is trying to use an RFID reader to pull a person’s name off the ID.
RFID chips have already been implemented into passports and credit cards, but New York is the first state to put them into drivers licenses. Depending on how effective the licenses are in New York, other states have shown interest in launching RFID-enabled licenses.
© 2008, DailyTech
CalistoBoss
about 1 month ago
2 comments
It’s the government, they’re watching what you do anyway. I think it’s possible that we might have RFIDs as a standard in maybe a decade or so. It would help deter people from stealing our identities and our social security numbers if they are permanently stored with us.
ladyneka
about 1 month ago
4 comments
They are one step closer to getting what they want from you, to do as they please and to watch every thing you do.
rickbeck21
2 months ago
8 comments
I am with AmDemon and Phreadd on this. There is no way you are putting one of those on, or in me or my family. Over my dead body.
BBB111387
2 months ago
8 comments
What's next? I.D. chips in our arms? A sign of the times, or the mark of something far more evil? You can decide for yourself. As for me, no thanks!
cpfix29445
2 months ago
2 comments
what a cool toy..which makes the GOV. know exactly all the time where you are....it is just a pitty excuse for the People Controll.....and its a shame and should be actually a crime to have this RFID alredy in Creditcards and Passports without Owners knowing......where is your Privacy??? Privacy dos not mean just your Personality no!! it means also to go somewhere without anybody knowing where you go, like Police and whoever is Controlling you and say's that this sleeve is working???? you dont know.....
stimach
3 months ago
2 comments
Well, here is something that could be good for some medical emergencies, but it seems others already figured out how to use it negatively and screw it up. I bet parents of missing children wish their children had a chip. Waiting for someone to secure it so it can be used only as owner decides.
obtrunco
3 months ago
34 comments
To all of you computer geeks out there, this is nothing good. It's just another way of implementing tracking of all cicitizens in the U.S. If you think this is good, YOUR NUTS! It starts out nice and easy and then in a couple of years to a decade, you will not be able to conduct business legally without it,
Virginia_Voter
3 months ago
2 comments
Excellent addition to drivers licenses. It is, however, not as intimidating as it probably should be to thwart illegal drivers licenses for false ID's or illegal ID's for persons like Illegal Aliens because they are afraid of 'insulting' somebody or discovering that somebody is wanted by the law. Give me a break!!!
AMDemon
3 months ago
16 comments
I had saw that club chip concept on a CSI: Miami episode. I figured it had a grain of truth to it. Idiots. Your not putting that in me!
Chrisdafrenchie
3 months ago
248 comments
copy and paste : http://www.insidetech.com/videos/453-rfid-enabled-credit-cards-are-secured , lol!!
Chrisdafrenchie
3 months ago
248 comments
Clubbers in Spain are choosing to receive a microchip implant instead of carrying a membership card. It is the latest and perhaps the most unlikely of uses for implantable radio frequency ID chips.
The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona offers people signing up for VIP membership a choice between an RFID chip and a normal card. VIP members can jump the entrance queues, reserve a table and use the nightclub's VIP lounge.
"The RFID chip is not compulsory," says Conrad Chase, managing director of the club. But he says there are advantages to having it. The obvious one is that you do not have to carry a membership card around with you, but also it means you can leave your wallet at home. This is because the RFID can be used as an in-house debit card, says Chase.
When drinks are ordered the RFID is scanned with a handheld device and the cost is added to your bill. The chips, called VeriChips, are produced by US company Applied Digital Solutions.
Grain of rice
The chips are 1.2 millimetres wide and 12 millimetres long and look like a long grain of rice. A medically trained person injects the chip under the skin in the upper left arm, by the triceps.
A scanner reads the chip by emitting a radio signal. This energises the chip and causes it to send out a small radio frequency signal. This can be picked up from about 10 centimetres away.
Chase would not discuss the cost of each chip but said that both card-holding and implanted VIP members would be charged the same fee of 25 Euros for joining.
So far only nine people have been implanted since the scheme started in March. Chase says this is because you cannot implant people who agree to it in the early hours when they might be drunk. They need to discuss the procedure in a sober environment first, he says.
Privacy issues
But they should also be informed of the privacy implications of having an implant, says Ian Brown, director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, a UK-based think tank.
"It's not like you can take it off when you leave the club or get home," says Brown. "At the very least it's going to be awkward to remove."
As far as Chase is concerned there are no privacy issues. The bearer has control over what services they sign up for, he says. The only information that can be gleaned without their consent is the chip's unique ID number - it is completely anonymous, he says.
But people may object even to this, says Brown, in much the same way that some are opposed to the use of internet cookies recording their browsing activity.
It would be like becoming a walking internet cookie, he says. For example, retailers equipped with RFID scanners would be capable of monitoring chipped shoppers visits and purchases.
AMDemon
3 months ago
16 comments
If with you on that Phreadd. You know the next thing coming will be to microchip people just like they do pets. I'm sure they will want to start this on all newborns and will force it on the population some way. I see this as the mark of the beast.
Phreadd
3 months ago
2654 comments
Next thing you know they'll want to implant one in our foreheads! None for me, thank you very much!