To tag or not to tag?

[Johnno]

I live near Sydney and use the tollways a lot and these have an electronic tag system.

There is one tollway the M7 which has no cash booths at all and as a result I've had to register my cars numberplate with a toll company. The car is photographed as it goes through the tollgate and photographed as it exits another. I then get a charge made out to my credit card given how many kilometers I have travelled.

There are other tollways which I use the M4, M5, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the M2 which have cash booths.

However if I was to purchase a tag I'd be able to zoom through all tollways Australia wide electronically.

http://www.roam.com.au/default.asp

Should I attach such a tag to my car? What would the disadvantages be?

 

[rs]

Should I attach such a tag to my car? What would the disadvantages be?

It really doesn't matter. By attaching a tag you can be followed by anything that can read the RFID off of the tag. But then again, you can be followed with a magnetic GPS mounted below your car or in your bumper, or just photographing your license plate as you mentioned.

I know it goes against your (justifiable) Big Brother paranoia, but the days are rapidly ending where you can easily achieve anonymity.

Visa is putting RFID chips in credit cards. My company badge that gets me into my building is RFID access. Your cell phone is always broadcasting itself to track cell to cell movement. Are you absolutely sure that there are no hidden RFID merchandising tags in your clothes?

If you don't want to be tracked, ditch the car, shred your credit cards, quit work, and don't go anywhere...

 

[Vulcan59]

In Singapore it is required by law for all cars are to be fitted with a gadget where one must insert a cash card (looks like a credit card). When you pass a gantry, the toll amount is automatically deducted. When the balance on the card reaches a certain minimum, an alarm would sound and you had to go and top the card up with more money. There are no cash booths on any of the highways. Instead the highways are all fitted with this auto deducting gantries. A lot of car parks have gone the same way, using these gantries instead of someone sitting there collecting cash. Here is an image of a typical gantry in Singapore. For cars coming into Singapore from Malaysia, you had to loan one at the immigration checkpoint. If you search for image of Singapore cars, you can see the gadget that is fitted on the dashboard on the drivers side.

Apart from the fact that it is very convenient, it would make it easy for the PTB to track your movements. The PTB in Singapore also quite often change the toll prices which results in cars using one highway instead of another.

 

[Nienna]

From what I've seen in various ads for various gadgets that will eventually eliminate privacy, they are all shown as a "oh so much better convenience". That seems to be the selling point of a lot of things these days. My sister-in-law lives by the word - convenient. And this is what will make anything a "necessity". It seems that we are being steered toward a society of convenience. All so that the PTB can take away all of our freedoms.

But that's just the way I see it. I could be wrong. :/

 

[Beau]

This is another reason why I don't mind driving a car over 10 years old and 100,000+ miles ;)

 

[Ruth]

RFID seems capable of touching every area of our lives now. From books in a book shop, to credit cards, to cars as well as electronic identification tags. There doesn't seem to be a lot of ways to escape the 'system'...
http://www.rfidjournal.com/live2006/
http://www.wavetrend.net/
I'm just waiting for some element of the global elite to accidentally on purpose 'lose' a weapon with RFID capabilities (which I'm assuming they all have) only to have it turn up in the posession of their favourite 'terrorist' patsys. Their obsession for tracking everything could well backfire on them, but of course getting the public to believe parts of their government are evildoers is quite another matter.

 

[rs]

Well, as far as whether or not you can escape RFID tags:

In this photo released by Hitachi, Ltd., new radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips are placed next to a human hair (that's running horizontally) for comparison in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007. Smart tags, or computer chips used for tracking items by relaying information wirelessly, are getting so tiny lately, the latest, billed as the world's smallest, is as invisible as a speck of dust. RFID chips looks like powder, measuring just 0.05 millimeters (0.002 inches) by 0.05 millimeters (0.002 inches), and are thin enough to be embedded in pieces of paper, company spokesman said Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007.(AP Photo/Hitachi, Ltd., HO)

Also:

I'm just waiting for some element of the global elite to accidentally on purpose 'lose' a weapon with RFID capabilities (which I'm assuming they all have) only to have it turn up in the posession of their favourite 'terrorist' patsys.

You forget, all you need to do is look for the "Made in Iran" sticker... ;)

 

[dant]

Hmm.... perhaps the best way to get rid of RFID chips on your person
is to build a powwerful EMF pulse generator and blast yourself and your
home thus frying the internal coils? The induction coils are very tiny and
a strong current will fry them? OSIT.

The only problem might be, that there is a hidden law written that says:
"Persons who do not have any identification devices on their person are subject
to incareration for 10 years.....", then we lose.

 

[rs]

Hmm.... perhaps the best way to get rid of RFID chips on your person
is to build a powerful EMF pulse generator and blast yourself and your
home thus frying the internal coils? The induction coils are very tiny and
a strong current will fry them? OSIT.

Fortunately, the military with its "Active Denial" millimeter weapon might solve the problem. All you have to do is go stand in front of it... :O

Actually the coils will be frequency selective as they will have a self resonance. More than likely you would really not want to stand in the way of an EMP that would blast the RFID chips, it would likely have "unintended side effects".

 

[dant]

Hmm... I can see how "unintended side effects" can occur. One
example might be that blasting an RFID chip can crack open and
release toxic substances within due to the many chemicals it takes
to make the chip itself. Also, I'd bet they coat the entire chip with
something to trick the body into thinking it is part of itself. Pretty
diabolical.... sigh.