Computer chip's signals allow data to be read from a distance IA controversial technology already planned for tracking consumer products could be used to create "smart" driver's licenses that emit signals readable from a distance, according to federal and state government officials contemplating ways to fight identity fraud.

Radio frequency identification, or RFID, could help thwart terrorists who use falsified documents to get around, say Virginia lawmakers who will hear testimony on the technology's uses, reports Wired.com. As WorldNetDaily reported, a Johnson & Johnson executive recently told industry leaders that in the future, the RFID chips will be "on everything from diapers to surgical instruments." On the driver's licenses, the computer chips would emit a radio signal bearing the holder's unique, personal information. Virginia is considering adding biometric data such as fingerprints and retinal scans to the RFID tags. But privacy advocates fear government could use the technology to spy on citizens and believe it could make identity theft even more complicated.

Government agents could, for example, easily identify large numbers of protesters in a march, and crooks could mine personal information from the wallets of passersby on a street corner, Wired.com said.

http://www.infowars.net/Pages/Oct_04/071004_smart_drivers_licenses.html


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - October 8th, 2004