In Soviet IDF, your badge watches you

IDF 2010: RFID on the fly

Intel LogoONE SCARY THING about IDF is the RFID tracking, and how people tacitly accept it. The badges each have an RFID chip in them, and you can be tracked wherever you go, and wherever Intel wants to watch you.

 RFID in the badge

They’re in your badge

While I didn’t see any disclosure of the fact that your badge makes you VERY trackable, it was probably burried in the fine print, it is easy enough to defeat. You just need to bend it until the antenna traces break, or run it through a microwave. I will do that after the show, and post pictures if anything interesting happens. The problem is knowing it is there in the first place.

RFID reader on a stick 

RFID on a stick

Some of the readers are easy to notice, like the small ones outside of the session rooms. Those are voluntary. The ones that guard the IDF show floor are far less noticeable, several people questioned didn’t realize they were there until I pointed them out.

RFID overhead

It sucks your mind!

There is nothing technically wrong with tracking people with RFID tags, and if they are too stupid to realize what is going on, that is their problem. If you are aware, it is kind of scary though. Check your badges boys and girls.S|A

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate
Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate