From: *Travis* Date: Wed, Nov 12, 2008 Subject: Beware of personal data on RFID credit cards
http://www.wsls.com/sls/business/consumer/article/beware_of_personal_data_on_rfid_credit_cards/20264/ Iris Taylor Media General News Service Published: October 29, 2008 It can happen undetected in an instant. A criminal can pass you on the street, in a crowd, in a store, while you sit on a park bench, even as you're riding a people mover in the airport. Without even bumping into you, someone with a compatible reader device can skim information about you that's stored on the chip-embedded credit cards, debit cards, gas or building entry cards, even passports, that you're carrying. Sound Orwellian? The future is here and the threat to consumers is so real that two states — California and Washington — have made it unlawful to secretly skim personal information from Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, tags. Virginia has no such law. What is this technology and its legitimate uses? Why may crooks like it and how can consumers protect the data about them stored on RFID cards? About 30 million credit cards use RFID chips globally, with roughly 5 million in the U.S., Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Shyam Krishnan said. By 2010, those numbers may swell to 90 million, with 12.9 million in the U.S. The magnetic strip on the back of credit cards is not a chip. American Express' expresspay, JPMorganChase's blink and ExxonMobil's Speedpass are examples of cards with RFID chips. RFID is a brilliantly helpful technology used increasingly, and often controversially, by businesses and governments around the world. The chip tracks products, inventory, livestock, pets and people. It debits toll fares without people stopping; lets shoppers quickly pay and go using a swipeless credit card; opens up vehicle doors remotely; and gives workers access to buildings. It even lets preferred clients into nightclubs and keeps tabs of their drinks. RFID technology uses a tiny computer chip encoded with information. The chip emits data to an electronic reader via radio waves as the person or product carrying it comes near. The information encoded in the chip can be mundane, maybe just an identification number that links to a computer database, or highly personal — and attractive to identity thieves. RFID industry representatives say chip technology is convenient and safe. Companies that market chip cards even offer zero-liability protection to cardholders. But privacy groups and public interest organizations say hackers and researchers can quickly and easily crack the technology. They fret about consumers' privacy, financial security and personal and public safety. RFID chips can be cloned, counterfeited and used criminally, they say. An American Civil Liberties Union report, for example, cited several incidents where hackers and computer experts easily intercepted, read or cloned data transmitted by RFID entry cards, credit cards, a gas card, keyless car entry system, even a human-implantable chip used to identify a patient. Anyone can buy RFID kits available cheaply on the Internet. "All it takes is someone with the time and inclination who can find out how to build an RFID reader," said Craig Buttersworth, spokesman for the National White Collar Crime Center in Henrico County. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist." Jay Foley, spokesman for the ID Theft Resource Center, said, "We've heard numerous complaints in regards to the technology and concept. But we've not heard any complaints regarding ID theft." How can you protect the data stored on your RFID card? Find out if your card has a chip and ask what information about you is on it. 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