[yeshuas]

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 8:32 AM PT Posted by Scott Nichols

New York Issues RFID-Encoded Drivers Licenses


Anyone who lives in fear of an Orwellian future had better put on their tinfoil hats and stock up on bunker supplies, because with the new drivers licenses introduced in New York we are one step closer to that reality. What makes these licenses so special is the inclusion of radio frequency identification chips. RFID chips are already found in credit cards and passports, but New York is the first state in the U.S. to put these chips into its drivers licenses.

RFID Benefits

There are some benefits to having an RFID chip in your drivers license--primarily, RFID-encoded licenses can replace your passport. The RFID chip will not transmit personal information such as your name, birth date, and Social Security number, but it will contain an ID number that will identify you as a US citizen to Customs agents. At the moment, however, using an RFID license as a passport will work when only when entering the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, or the Caribbean, and only when traveling by land or sea, but there is a level of convenience if you visit those places often.

Drawbacks

Unfortunately, the cons far outweigh the pros for using RFID-encoded drivers licenses. A quick search on Amazon.com showed me that an RFID reader can be easily purchased for as cheap as $43. The New York DMV's RFID FAQ states that no personal information will be recorded on the RFID chip, but as long as the chip would contain some number that is connected to my name I know I wouldn't feel safe carrying it around in my wallet. Of course, I could always make myself a nifty RFID-blocking duct-tape wallet, but the overall investment in the new license just doesn't seem worth the risk to me.

Thankfully, it is not mandatory to get a new RFID license. It's just an option for New Yorkers who want to put themselves at risk unnecessarily, or those who frequently drive to Canada.

[imnuts]

If the RFID licenses would completely replace passports, I'd be for it, but the fact that it only lets you travel in North America and the Carribbean without one is dumb IMO. I did see that the State Department is working on a similar passport card though, which I'd be interested in.

[_Taz_]

passport cards are a reality, my kids have them for when we go on cruise. valid for 5 yrs

[mnemonicj]

RFIDs are easily readable and emulated. Check out this article from Engadget that has a video of Adam Savage from Mythbusters explaining why the RFID hacking episode was canned.

Credit card companies have never cared about the security of your data, why would they start now unless they were publicly exposed?

[_Taz_]

yeah, get an rfid scanner, see a hot chick at a club, get close enough to scan her (license) whoo hoo instant stalker...

oooh how about, all highways are equipped with a mega scanners along the roadway, you go by too fast and it scans your DL and sends you a ticket.
just think of the money we'll save not paying for highway patrol....

no me personally would hack my car, instead of having a key with a chip that senses the driver, put a reader in the door, it senses you approaching pops the door, adjusts the seat, the radio and the air conditioning.. wheeee

[yeshuas]

oooh how about, all highways are equipped with a mega scanners along the roadway, you go by too fast and it scans your DL and sends you a ticket.
just think of the money we'll save not paying for highway patrol....

We already have this here in Chicago downtown has camera's at a lot of intersections, run a red light, roll through a stop sign, or on the tollway blow thru without paying it takes your cars picture and you get a greeting from either Mayor Daley or Gov Blagoavich, saying you owe me some money.

[_Taz_]

oooh how about, all highways are equipped with a mega scanners along the roadway, you go by too fast and it scans your DL and sends you a ticket.
just think of the money we'll save not paying for highway patrol....

We already have this here in Chicago downtown has camera's at a lot of intersections, run a red light, roll through a stop sign, or on the tollway blow thru without paying it takes your cars picture and you get a greeting from either Mayor Daley or Gov Blagoavich, saying you owe me some money.

but you can put a fake license plate on your car.. everyone know you can't compromise an RFID

[imnuts]

They also have reflective paint that helps mask your license plate from the pictures, though I don't know if it works. As for hacking the chips, you could do it, but I have an RFID ID card for work as well as a credit card with on and I usually have to put it right up to the scanner and hold it there for a little bit to get it to actually scan the card. Now I'm sure that if you got a more powerful scanner you could use a larger distance, but passive RFID tags don't seem like they could currently be easily read by just anyone. The amount of power it would take to do it from any significant distance through a wallet or purse would make it somewhat obvious, at least I would think so.

[mnemonicj]

It depends on the power of the scanner, because it is what activates the RFID tag. A good example of a powerful RFID scanner is Chicago's I-Pass system. Put the RFID tag on the windshield of your car and the scanner up above reads your account number and charges your credit card attached to the account the appropriate rate for the tolls. The scanner is tall enough to allows 18 wheelers to go through and powerful enough to grab the ID from a car going 65+ miles per hour.

The big concern is that these RFID tags will be able to be read by someone with a hand held scanner wandering a parking lot, then copied and the account numbers used illegally to make new I-Pass tags.

[imnuts]

They could technically do the same thing with EZPass in this region as it is everywhere in this area, and you can even get discounts from some toll stations for using it. Really, no matter what they do, if someone wanted to copy it illegally, they are going to do so. Granted, an encryption system could be thought up, but that would eventually be broken as well.