Brazil Mandates RFID For Cars Starting in 2014
Psst! Hey, buddy! Do you want to have a complete travel/movement database for your automobile-using populace but don’t have the scratch for a a bunch of high-tech, privacy-destroying surveillance copcars? Brazil has an idea for you!
An article published last week in ZeroHora notes the details of the implementation: a five-dollar chip to be installed on the windshield will contain details of the vehicle which are otherwise observable — registration, vehicle make, model, fuel used, and other identifying factors. No owner data may be stored on the chip and the chip can only be used for EZ-Pass-style toll collection “with consent of the owner”.
It’s difficult to conceive of any legitimate use of these tags other than to plant RFID receivers in public areas and obtain personal trip information. Note that I didn’t say “for the government to plant RFID receivers in public areas and obtain personal trip information.” The nature of RFID tagging is such that it can be read by anyone with the correct equipment. The whole project seems less appropriate to Brazil the country and more to Brazil the film.
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Brazil doesn't have the same position regarding civil liberties that we have. Brazil has had in the last seven decades dictatorship and military juntas, neither of which was a New England town meeting. Second, in Brazil government, whether federal, state, or local, more or less works, but mostly less. Incompetence and corruption are the hallmarks.
So how come I can't get RFID tags in my key fob, my cell phone, my tv remote control etc along with a reader so I can find my stuff? I can think of a lot of ways that private individuals could benefit from access to this technology. Instead it seems to be more about gathering information.
For every need there is a solution. Just like Radar detectors....I can see companies making RFID jammers or even better, devices which will transmit bogus data. As other posters have already mentioned, RFID is EASILY defeated.
I already have an RFID chip on my car. It's called a toll tag. I originally got a toll tag because I was tired of the left arm of my shirt getting wet when I used cash to pay tolls in the rain. Over time using a toll tag became the lower price option for paying tolls and now all toll collection on North Texas toll roads is automated using either RFID toll tags or optical scan of license plates. The equipment to read toll tags, the computer networks, and customer databases are not cheap to install and maintain. In addition, you have to build toll roads so drivers are funneled through the toll collection point. If the goal is collecting money for road use, this system doesn't scale well for collecting smaller amounts of money from more drivers for shorter road segments. Fuel taxes are easier to implement.