March 30, 2007
Can RFID Implants Be Subverted?
[editorial] In a series of proto-cyberpunk short stories and novellas that I wrote in 2002, set in an alternate, near-future Earth country called the United States of North America (Canada and the US), a roving, microchipped band of digital rebels escape from a USNA government that is essentially a dictatorship pretending to be patriotic. Paper is outlawed, thinking for yourself is highly frowned upon, and everyone is being microchipped "for their safety." (By which I mean RFID chips, though I never refer to RFID.)
These rebels have "underground" meeting places where chips are either removed or disabled, and from where their "subversive" activities are planned. These are the true patriots for freedom and justice, but they are looked upon as hackers and criminals, particularly because they disable the RFID microchips. From their perspective, they do this because they feel the chips are a threat to their privacy and general well-being, and that control of the chips can be subverted by malicious parties - counter to this fictional government's claim that the chips are safe.
Well, truth may be stranger than fiction. According to a security researcher in the UK, Adam Laurie, implanted RFID chips can be hacked by malicious parties and thus controlled. Laurie cracked codes for an RFID id card, a livestock chip, and a chip that a volunteer from the audience had previously had implanted.
You can argue that these demonstrations are not sufficient to be concerned about RFID implants, but obviously I'm going to disagree. As a "proto-cyberpunk" writer, I make it a point to write fiction that considers worst case scenarios of the use of technology. Most of my proto-cyberpunk stories are strongly influenced by the work of science fiction author Philip K. Dick, long-deceased and the author of the novels that were turned into Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, and others. They are very dystopian, and not afraid to speculate on the "what might be" aspect of world politics (see The Man In The High Castle) and the misuse of technology.
I'm not saying that my stories equal Dick's, but they are definitely written in the same spirit. That said, I see RFID as both a blessing and a curse. I am of the staunch opinion that just because something sounds like a conspiracy theory does not make it false. RFID is unfortunately an ideal technology for both very good and very evil - quite possibly more so than any technology in history has ever been. In the wrong hands, it will be misused under the guise of self-preservation. And any proof of that possibility is something that we all need to take note of.
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