AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE
Key issues
RFID and privacy: The delicate balance
E
veryone's version of privacy is a little different. Unfortunately, less privacy is almost always tied to heightened security risk, and security is the battleground upon
which this privacy reckoning is being fought. As with geo-location technology, privacy and security issues are also coming to the fore in the RFID sphere, where business-focused applications are beginning to bleed over into the consumer world.
Radio frequency identification is not a new technology, but it has only really begun to blossom over the past five years, as the science has matured and tag prices have dropped. "RFID tags can store tremendous amounts of information," commented Jorma Lalla, CEO of RFID handheld computer manufacturer Nordic ID. "You can also add data to tags as they travel, which is what makes them truly valuable. The information captured on tags during manufacturing or logistics processes is data that can be mined on an aggregate basis to see where efficiencies lie.” Some tags are the size of seeds, while others are as big as books. Some can be immersed and dropped; others can take the form of an adhesive sticker. Tag costs vary tremendously depending on specifications—from a few cents to many Euros. Another advantage of RFID technology is that read/write tags allow some levels of information to be erased and new information written in.
Clandestine interception
This is the kind of tag that several European and other nations have embedded in passports. With a read/write RFID chip in place, governments can keep precise digital records of citizens' movements. That's all well and good for record keeping, but encrypted RFID information has, in a few cases, been clandestinely intercepted from several metres away. When customs officials scan passports, data is being decrypted and read— presenting an opportunity for signal eavesdropping.
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MANUFACTURING &LOGISTICS
IT December 2011
The Internet of Things is just around the corner.
The likelihood of passport data getting stolen is low, since a rogue reader can only pick up secured information when it is being read with an official device. But the same kinds of concerns are also being raised about more pedestrian uses of RFID. A second-hand RFID reader, bought online for as little as five dollars, can be outfitted with a high-power, clandestine antenna that will allow it to pick up nearby RFID information, for example on a credit card. Open source software can enable hackers to de- encrypt that information and use it in nefarious ways.
Playing catch-up
Heikki Seppä, a professor with the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, believes that encryption and security are playing catch- up to RFID implementation. "If you look at one kind of RFID use – that of nearfield communication (NFC) in mobile phones – security, and consequently privacy, works very well," said Seppä. "That's because encryption is not only built in, but there's also a chain of IDs that work together to form protection—mobile serial number, security passcode, SIM card serial number and NFC serial number. Together, this all forms a unique chain of identity. If you lose the phone, you can deactivate the SIM
card via the Internet and it becomes unusable. Other applications don't have the same chain of IDs, and encryption is either non-existent or easily cracked." Encryption and security has not been a concern for traditional RFID processes. Many of Nordic ID's clients, for example, use RFID to track consumer items from point of production through to point of sale. "We have fashion retail clients who use RFID end-to-end throughout the supply chain," said Lalla. "They send manufacturers RFID-equipped care tags to sew in, ensuring that all items are trackable at the item level."
That's all beneficial to manufacturers, but what about consumers? Those same RFID tags are designed to become unreadable after a couple washes, so there should be no privacy problem there – but nor is there any consumer benefit. "RFID is only just starting to become useful to consumers," said Seppä. "But the Internet of Things is just around the corner. Imagine scanning a toaster with your cell phone to read receipt and warranty information. Or scanning your car to find out when maintenance is recommended. There are hundreds of possible uses." While there is no doubt that the Internet of Things is coming, we still need to work out the parts that deal with privacy and security.
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