1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,039 Speaker 1: Text with Technology with tex Stuff from hast works dot com. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to text Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: senior writer, Jonathan Strickland. I worked for a hell stuff 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: works dot com and we look at the entire universe 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: and break it down for you one topic at a time, 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: and today I wanted to cover something that was in 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: the news recently, at least as of the recording of 8 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: this podcast. If you're listening to this and I don't know, 9 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: then it happened a long time ago, but it's recent 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: as of the recording here. Recently, this company called three 11 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: Square Market made the news because they were moving forward 12 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: with an interesting and some would say troublesome plan involving 13 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:55,959 Speaker 1: employees getting microchip r F I D implants. Now, some 14 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: headlines made it sound like this was a compulsory decision 15 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: that you would come into work, you would clock in, 16 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: go under the knife, and get a grain of rice 17 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: sized microchip implanted under the skin between your thumb and 18 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: your forefinger, and then your tracked for the rest of 19 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: your life. Other headlines were a little less reactionary and 20 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: gave a better indication of what the story was actually about. 21 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: But to really appreciate what this means and why it's happening. 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: I thought it would be good to do a full 23 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,839 Speaker 1: episode about r f I D technology and the history 24 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: of human microchipping, because, despite what some outlets claimed, this 25 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: is not the first time a US employer offered up 26 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: this option. In fact, the first example happened more than 27 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: a decade ago, in two thousand and six. But we'll 28 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: get there first. Let's talk about the concept of r 29 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: f I D in the first place. The basic concept 30 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,559 Speaker 1: is pretty simple. R f I D stands for radio 31 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: frequency identification technology. It's a way to identify something wirelessly 32 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: through radio frequency transmissions, and some would argue that this 33 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: concept dates all the way back to World War Two, 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: although obviously not in the form of r f I 35 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: D D r f i D tags, but rather just 36 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: the concept of using radio frequencies to identify something. During 37 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: World War Two, radar was proving its value as a 38 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: detection and tracking tool for both the Axis and Allied powers. 39 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: But one thing radar could not do was actually identify 40 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: what it was tracking. So if you were a radar 41 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: operator and you picked up a signal on your apparatus 42 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: and indicated that there was a plane that was flying 43 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: toward you. You couldn't be sure that the plane was 44 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: one of yours or one belonging to the enemy. And this, 45 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: as it turns out, is a very important distinction during 46 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: times of war. You kind of want to know is 47 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: it one of ours one of theirs? And with basic 48 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: radar all you got was a blip saying, whatever it is, 49 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: it's coming this way. Now, the access powers came up 50 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: with a kind of cluege way to get around this problem. 51 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: German pilots would execute a role maneuver. As they approached 52 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: their home base. Radar operators would see that the radio 53 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: signals that were bouncing back were being reflected in a 54 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: different way over the course of the role, So the 55 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: surface of the plane that was reflecting radio waves back 56 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: to the radar operators was changing because the orientation of 57 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: the plane itself was changing. By establishing this specific maneuver 58 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: when approaching a home base, they were able to distinguish 59 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: the German planes from other planes. So the radar signals 60 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: themselves would hit different parts of the planes as they 61 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: completed their roles that would be reflected in those returning signals, 62 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: and in that way, German radar operators would know who 63 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: was coming towards them, and thus they wouldn't launch an 64 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: attack against their own planes. Over on the Allied side, 65 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: there was a very secret operation in which British pilots 66 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: had their planes outfitted with an active I f F system. 67 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: I f F in this case stands for Identify Friend 68 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: or foe. This was a transmitter, uh specifically a transponder. 69 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,359 Speaker 1: It would activate only when it came within range of 70 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: an outgoing signal from a base, and then it would 71 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: transmit a signal of its own, indicating that the plane 72 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: belonged to the Allies. So transponders are transmitters and responders. 73 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: They respond to an incoming signal with their own signal, 74 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: and that way British radar operators knew it was one 75 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: of their own boys coming back. Whenever they sent out 76 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: a signal and this one returned to them. If it 77 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: didn't return to them, they would know that chances are 78 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: it was an enemy plane on its way in. Now, 79 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: this concept of using radio waves as a means of 80 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: identification is the very heart of r F I D, 81 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: though the implementation of r F I D is a 82 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: little bit different. The first r F I D patents 83 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: were filed in nineteen seventy three. One of them was 84 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: by Mario W. Cardulo, who filed a patent for rewriteable 85 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: r F I D tags. Charles Walton also filed and 86 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: received a patent for a door lock system in which 87 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:26,919 Speaker 1: a passive transponder would respond to an active reader to 88 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,039 Speaker 1: unlock a door. The active reader would send out signals. 89 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: When the passive transponder would come in within range, it 90 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: would return a signal, and that returning signal would tell 91 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: the scanner, Hey, this guy's got a key for the door. 92 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 1: Unlocked the door. It's the essential basis for card based 93 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: security doors that we use today. But that leads us 94 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:53,919 Speaker 1: to another question. What exactly is a transponder? You know 95 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: those devices in those British planes were transponders. Essentially, the 96 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:01,239 Speaker 1: ones inside these cards were transponders. They received radio signals, 97 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: they transmit a different signal. It is a combination of 98 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,160 Speaker 1: transmitter and responder. But the ones in the British planes 99 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: were different from the ones in the cards. They were 100 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: larger for one thing, but they were also active transponders. 101 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: That means that they relied on a power source inside 102 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: the plane and that would boost the outgoing signal. It's 103 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: kind of like an amplifier. They were actively transmitting their 104 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: signal to those radar operators, but they're also passive transponders, 105 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: like in the case of that card. These harvest energy 106 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: from incoming radio waves sent out by the signal generator, 107 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: the reader in other words, that security reader that's typically 108 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: mounted on a wall somewhere. Then they respond with their 109 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: own signal by harvesting that energy and generating the return signal. 110 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: The more on that in a minute, We'll get into 111 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: the mechanics, or or rather the technical aspects of that 112 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: a little bit later on. Early uses of r f 113 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: I D technology included not just simple locking mechanism for doors, 114 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: but for stuff that could have an impact on national security, 115 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: like nuclear materials. Los Alamos National Laboratory developed an r 116 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: f I D tracking system for such material at the 117 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: behest of the Energy Department in the United States. Trucks 118 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: shipping nuclear materials were to carry a transponder that would 119 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: respond to readers at gated facilities, So a signal sent 120 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: out from the reader at the gate would activate the 121 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: transponders aboard the trucks. Those transponders would then send a 122 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: and identifying signal back. That signal would carry information with 123 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: it like the identity of the truck, what it was carrying, 124 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: and sometimes even the person who was assigned to drive 125 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:46,679 Speaker 1: the vehicle. Eventually, this proprietary system became a commercial product 126 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: and it was put to use in the civilian world, 127 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: often as part of a toll system for bridges and 128 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: tunnels and that sort of thing. Los Alamos also created 129 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: a passive r f I D tag system to track cows. 130 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: It's one of the elighest implementations of r f I 131 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: D tags was to track cows, and it was to 132 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: make it easier to keep track of those cows as 133 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: they received various vaccinations and injections. The tax system allowed 134 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: farmers to keep track of which cows had received the 135 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: treatments and avoid double dosing or missing a cow. That 136 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: we're now talking about microchipping employees, and we were originally 137 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: talking about tracking cows seems a little poetic to me, 138 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: but maybe that's the cynical side of me showing. Now. 139 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: Over time, technologies with r f I D became smaller 140 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: and more efficient, which led us to the possibility of 141 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: microchipping things like our pets and even ourselves. The person 142 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: credited with having the first r F I D implant 143 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: is Kevin Warwick, a British scientists sometimes referred to as 144 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: a cyborg, though personally I thought that was going a 145 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: bit far now. Warwick's implant interacted with various electronic systems 146 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: in his office, including office lights and doors. It was 147 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: only a temporary arrangement. He only had the implant for 148 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: a short time I think maybe a week and a 149 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: half or so before he had it removed. He underwent 150 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,440 Speaker 1: another surgery later on with a slightly more sophisticated implant 151 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: that was a little bit more than just an r 152 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: F I D chip. But I did a full tech 153 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: stuff episode about him in the past. The important thing 154 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: to point out here is that this happened in nearly 155 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: twenty years ago, when we had the first human getting 156 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: a microchip, totally voluntary and mostly as kind of a 157 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: proof of concept to show what could be possible in 158 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: the future. This idea of having an electronic component to 159 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: your identity and it's always with you, and it allows 160 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: you to interact with your environment in interesting ways, and 161 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: you don't have to use things like passwords or other 162 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: types of authentication in order to get access to various 163 00:09:54,240 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: systems or interact with things like lighting or other technology. Now, 164 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,839 Speaker 1: the first story I saw about employees electing to get 165 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: microchips as part of their work did not happen in TV, 166 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: as some headlines have stated where they say this is 167 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: the first time ever. It happened in two thousand six. 168 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: That's when two employees of a company called city watcher 169 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: dot Com elected to do this. City watcher dot Com 170 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: is a surveillance equipment company, and these two employees elected 171 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: to have r F I D microchips implanted in their forearms. 172 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: They're a little bit bigger. They were about twice the 173 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: length of the ones that have been talked about for 174 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: three square Market. Now, the tags that the city watcher 175 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: dot com employees got gave them access to special vaults. 176 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: It was essentially a security measure, and those special vaults 177 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: contain sensitive client information like surveillance footage and other stuff 178 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: that you wouldn't want falling into the wrong hands. Now, 179 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,199 Speaker 1: it's a lot harder and honestly a lot more grim 180 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: to steal someone's arm than it is to steal, say 181 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: a security card. So story a three square market is 182 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: not unique. It has happened before, not on as large 183 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 1: as scale as what three Square Market is hoping to do, 184 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: but it certainly is not brand new. But what is 185 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: going on with three Square Market? Well, first of all, 186 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: the company is in the business of making vending services. 187 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: They make micro markets for one thing. Now, a typical 188 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: micro market kind of looks like a simple refrigerated display 189 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: that you might see in a grocery store, and it 190 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: contains stuff like sandwiches or salads and drinks that kind 191 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,719 Speaker 1: of the stuff. And as a customer, you typically pick 192 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: up an item from this display. You would go to 193 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: a kiosk that would be part of the display, and 194 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: you would enter in the item that you wanted to buy, 195 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 1: perhaps scanning it. A lot of them have optical scanners 196 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: attached to them, and then you would use the kiosk 197 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: to pay for this item. Typically you would use a 198 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 1: credit hard maybe it's a tap credit card, or maybe 199 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: it's a chip and pen, but however you would do it. 200 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: You would interact with the device in this way. Uh 201 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,199 Speaker 1: then you go on your merryway and you'd eat your snack. 202 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: At some point, some companies contract with three Square Market 203 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 1: to provide these sorts of vending machines in their break rooms. 204 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: How stuff works isn't one of them. But then we 205 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: also have a lot of free snacks, so I really 206 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: can't complain on that. On that front, three Square Market 207 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: is now giving employees the option to have an r 208 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: F I D microchip implanted in their hands to get 209 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: somewhere around the between the thumb and four finger area. 210 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: As I understand it now, those implants would allow employees 211 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: to do a lot of different things without ever having 212 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: to fish for various security cards or dongoles or credit cards. 213 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: For example, they could be used to purchase items in 214 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: the break room micro market. You just stroll up to it, 215 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: grab a tagged Cobs salad, and then the system would 216 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: I detect that r f I D chip in your 217 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: hand and charge it to your account, so you don't 218 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: have to fish for a credit card or put any 219 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: information in It's all automated and it's seamless. Other implementations 220 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: could include the stuff we've talked about already, things like 221 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: getting access to security doors. You know, you just hold 222 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: your hand up close to the reader and it picks 223 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: up on the transponder signal and thus unlocks the door 224 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: for you. Or you might use it to unlock computers 225 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: so that you don't have to use a password. It 226 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: just identifies that you are, in fact the person you 227 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,559 Speaker 1: say you are. Essentially, you could program the r F 228 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,479 Speaker 1: I D chip to hold information linked to the respective 229 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: employees identity. That information could then be linked to other 230 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: data on the back end, So in other words, you 231 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,079 Speaker 1: don't necessarily have to encode everything that the chip will 232 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: be able to do on the actual chip. You just 233 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: have to establish a unique identifier, and then on the 234 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,080 Speaker 1: back end you could have all the functionality so that 235 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: when it came into contact with that unique identifier, it 236 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: would spawned in the appropriate way. So for example, if 237 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: I have a microchip and I have access to every 238 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 1: door but one in this office, then when I come 239 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: to that one forbidden door, it won't activate, not because 240 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: that door wasn't programmed in my microchip, but because in 241 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: the back end computer system, when it looks for the 242 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: numbers that are associated with the access level for that door, 243 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: it does not find my number, and thus I do 244 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: not get access. So it really just means where do 245 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: you put the work? Do you put it on the 246 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: chip side or on the back end side. Now you 247 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: could just put a tag inside a piece of equipment 248 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: and have the employee carry that around like a wrist 249 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: band or something. You don't have to implant it in 250 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: an inside a person. Although if it is i'mplanted in 251 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: a person, it does decrease the possibility that you will 252 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: misplace it. It doesn't completely eliminate it. There are gruesome 253 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: accidents that can happen, but it's severely reduces that risk. 254 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: And it is also important to remember that that backside approach, 255 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: the having the back end handle most of the work. 256 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: It's pretty important when you're talking about a a method 257 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: that might involve surgery, even if it's minor surgery to 258 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: get a microchip implanted under the skin. Obviously, if it's 259 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: a type of r F I D where you would 260 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: need to switch it out in order to get more access, 261 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: that requires another surgery, something that a lot of people 262 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: probably wouldn't look forward to. Now, this process is completely voluntary. 263 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 1: They are not compelling any of their employees to undergo 264 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: the surgery, and according to The New York Times, about 265 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: fifty of the eighty employees of three Square Market have 266 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 1: already signed up for the procedure. The company also states 267 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: that the technology will not be used to track employee 268 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: movements and activities, but obviously those are things people should 269 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: be concerned about. There are potential misuses of this technology 270 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 1: that pose very real threats to privacy and security. I'll 271 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: cover more on that in just a little bit. Now, 272 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: before I get all doom and gloom, I've got a 273 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: lot of other things I want to say about how 274 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: r F i D technology actually works. But first let's 275 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: take a quick break to thank our sponsor. All Right, 276 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: I'm going to really just concentrate on what are called 277 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: passive r f i D systems here, because active and 278 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: semi passive r f i D systems tend to use batteries. 279 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: That makes those tags much larger and not practical for 280 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 1: lots of implementations, including implants. You don't want to have 281 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: to have a battery implanted underneath your skin if you 282 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: don't if you don't absolutely need it for some medical purpose. 283 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: So we're really looking at passive r f i D. 284 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: And this idea kind of goes back to radar. You 285 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: have a reader or a scanner. Typically these devices are 286 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,160 Speaker 1: just constantly sending out a radio signal of a specific frequency. 287 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: Early implantable passive r f i D systems used low 288 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: frequency radio signals that around a hundred twenty five killer hurts. 289 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: These were small enough to work as implants for cows, 290 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: but they had a limited range and low data transfer rates, 291 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: so if you wanted something that worked at a better 292 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: range and had faster throughput, you needed to use a 293 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: higher frequency. So the next generation of r F I 294 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,360 Speaker 1: D tags moved to that part of the electro magnetic 295 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: spectrum at the thirteen point five six mega Hurts range. 296 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: Number hurts is telling you how many UH waves passed 297 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 1: through a given point within a second. Every hurts represents 298 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: one wave for that second, so h hurts tells you 299 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: that a hundred twenty five thousand of those wavelengths past 300 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: a given point within a second. Thirteen point five six 301 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: tells you thirteen point five six million hurts. Because it's 302 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: mega hurts past that given point within a second. That 303 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,680 Speaker 1: means the wavelengths are significantly smaller and the frequency is 304 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 1: much higher the range, and that frequency is mostly unregulated 305 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: and unused throughout the world. There are very few places 306 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: that have that says, aside for specific reasons, so there 307 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: was little worry about interference. Using thirteen point five six 308 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: mega hurts is the range for r f I D tags, 309 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 1: and it also offered a better read range and faster 310 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: data transfer rates than the lower frequency r f I 311 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 1: D tags. This frequency is used for lots of access systems, 312 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: whether it's a door or a computer terminal. They're also 313 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:54,680 Speaker 1: used in lots of payment systems and contactless smart card systems. 314 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: So you might find a system running on this frequency, 315 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: that is, for a subway. You might have a subway 316 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: card and you tap it against a little UH sensor 317 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 1: and it ends up completing this transaction that allows you 318 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: to pass through and it deducts, however much from your account, 319 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: or if you have an account that is based on 320 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,560 Speaker 1: a certain amount of time, then as long as you're 321 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:26,439 Speaker 1: within that time limit, you're allowed to pass through. Anti 322 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: THEFTO heisis in. Some cars also use this as a 323 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: reader inside the car will scan for a returning signal 324 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:37,800 Speaker 1: from a transponder contained within a plastic key housing. UM. 325 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:39,879 Speaker 1: I have a car, it's like, well, my wife has 326 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,119 Speaker 1: a car that's like this, where it's not gonna go 327 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: anywhere if it doesn't have the actual one of the 328 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: actual keys inside the car. UM, if it doesn't detect 329 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: that key, it won't turn on. Also, if you try 330 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: to leave the car with one of the keys inside it, 331 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: it will tell you because it can detect the fact 332 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: that the key is still there while you are obviously 333 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 1: trying to walk off to get into Wally World, which 334 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: by the way, is closed. The moose outside should have 335 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: told you. In the ninety nineties, IBM began to work 336 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: on ultra high frequency or UHF r f i D systems. 337 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,359 Speaker 1: These had a read range of around twenty feet, which 338 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: is pretty strong, and it had even faster data transfer 339 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: rates than the Mega Hurts range. This technology has found 340 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: its way into various warehouses around the world and is 341 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: used as a sort of inventory management system. In Amazon 342 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: announced a partnership with the r F I D Lab 343 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,359 Speaker 1: at Auburn University to explore ways to use r F 344 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: I D tags to optimize Amazon fulfillment centers. Those tags 345 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 1: would help these centers keep an accurate count on what 346 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: was and wasn't in stock at any given time, and 347 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: thus help Amazon fulfill orders and make delivery times. Warehouse 348 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,480 Speaker 1: inventory is insanely complicated stuff because you've got new merchandise 349 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: moving in and orders moving out constantly, so keeping an 350 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: accurate inventory record is crucial if you want to meet 351 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: incoming orders. As for how it's working at all, it 352 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 1: comes down to two critical components on the tag itself 353 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: and antenna and the transponder, And it helps if we 354 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: take a quick refresher on radio here. So let's say 355 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: you want to transmit a radio signal and you've got 356 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: a scanner or a reader, or in the case of 357 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 1: traditional radio, you've got a broadcast station. You would create 358 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: an electrical signal, you would modulate it in some particular 359 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: way to create the frequency you want, and you would 360 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: send this signal into a transmission antenna. The electrical current 361 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: running through the antenna will generate electromagnetic radiation in the 362 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: form of radio waves. Radio waves will travel outward from 363 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: the source the receiving antenna you use the radio or 364 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: r F I D tag. The antenna itself has to 365 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: be the right length to pick up those frequencies. If 366 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 1: you were to take a traditional radio, it would most 367 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: likely have two antennas. You'd have one antenna that would 368 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: be the FM antenna, which an old radio has tended 369 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: to be a telescoping antenna that you would extend from 370 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: the set, and then you would have an AM antenna, 371 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: and that usually was a wire, a much much longer 372 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: wire than the FM antenna, and normally it would even 373 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,400 Speaker 1: be contained with inside the radio itself, so it would 374 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: just be a coil of wire that's wrapped up inside 375 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 1: the radio. You can't even see it. Some radios or 376 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: sets did have that wire extend out from the radio, 377 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: but that ends up becoming a tripping hazard. Now, the 378 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: reason that you would have two different lengths of antenna 379 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: is that the radio wavelengths of FM and AM are 380 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 1: very different. AM radio waves are much longer than FM 381 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 1: radio waves, so the antenna for a M has to 382 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: be longer to pick up those frequencies effectively. Generally speaking, 383 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,719 Speaker 1: the antenna's length needs to be about half a wavelength 384 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:04,200 Speaker 1: of the radio wave itself, or it could be a 385 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: quarter of the length of the wavelength itself in order 386 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,360 Speaker 1: to effectively pick up the signal. So if you've got 387 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 1: a signal that's a meter long, ideally you would have 388 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: an antenna that's half a meter long in order to 389 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: pick up that signal. That was just a random example, 390 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: by the way. So let's say that you want to 391 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: build a very simple radio. You could get an antenna, 392 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 1: which could just be some copper wire that will pick 393 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: up radio frequencies within a certain range based upon the 394 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: length of the antenna itself. Um, you would have to 395 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 1: have antenna that's long enough for it to pick up 396 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: a M frequencies. This really works with a M radio. Now, 397 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: when it encounters this electromagnetic radiation in the form of 398 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: radio waves, those will induce an electric current to flow 399 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: through the antenna. It makes electrons wiggle, essentially moving back 400 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: and forth along the length of that antenna. If you've 401 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 1: listened to my episodes about electromagnetism and electricity, this is 402 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 1: gonna sound really familiar to you, as it's essentially the 403 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,199 Speaker 1: same sort of thing that kind of happens. Uh, well, 404 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 1: it doesn't kind of happen. It's kind of like the 405 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: thing that happens when you move a conductor through a 406 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:20,160 Speaker 1: magnetic field that induces current to flow. It's not dissimilar 407 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: to that, except now we're talking about radio waves, not magnetism, 408 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: not a magnetic field, but it also can induce current 409 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: to flow through that antenna. Now, technically you don't need 410 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: any sort of power source to make a simple working 411 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: AM radio. You can make what is called a crystal radio. 412 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: You need an antenna, a tuner, and a crystal earpiece 413 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: and a diode as well. The tuner allows you to 414 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,919 Speaker 1: select a specific frequency. Otherwise you would get all available 415 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: A M signals simultaneously and you wouldn't really be able 416 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: to make anything out unless you only had one signal 417 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: nearby that you could pick up. So the tuner helps 418 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 1: you tune in on a specific frequency. The earpiece has 419 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: the crystal in it. It's a piece of electric crystal. 420 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: These are crystals that vibrate when electric current is applied 421 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: to them, so by applying a varying electric current, you 422 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 1: can make them vibrate at different frequencies, which in turn 423 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,920 Speaker 1: makes sound. Now, someday I may do a video to 424 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: actually show how to build a crystal radio and explain 425 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: how each of these little parts work, because it's pretty 426 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: fascinating stuff to really see how a very simple radio works. 427 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,720 Speaker 1: But for now we're just going to use it as 428 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: a general example, largely because without the benefit of visual aids, 429 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: it gets really tricky to explain this stuff without it 430 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: getting too confusing, at least for me. Anyway, that simple 431 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: crystal radio is lacking something that your typical radios and 432 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: stereos have which is a power source, or at least 433 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,879 Speaker 1: a power source that you plug into, either as a 434 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 1: battery or plugging into an outlet us because all the 435 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,479 Speaker 1: energy you need to hear what the radio is playing 436 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 1: is coming from that electromagnetic radiation, inducing a current to 437 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: flow through your simple radio. Depending upon the transmitting stations, 438 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,919 Speaker 1: broadcast power, and your distance from that broadcast station, the 439 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: volume could be pretty low. It might even be difficult 440 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: for you to detect. But if you're close enough and 441 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: the radio station is powerful enough, you'll be able to 442 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,119 Speaker 1: hear what it's transmitting. Even without any other power source. 443 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: You're effectively harvesting energy from the radio waves themselves. This process, 444 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: by the way, has led some people to propose energy 445 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:43,400 Speaker 1: systems that would harvest electricity from radio waves in general, 446 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: the thought being radio waves are all around us all 447 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 1: the time, why don't we have special antenna to capture 448 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,840 Speaker 1: that energy and convert it into electricity. But those systems 449 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 1: have some really big limitations. For one thing, the amount 450 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: of electricity you harvest depends heavily on that transmission power 451 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,640 Speaker 1: from the transmission station and how far away from it 452 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: you happen to be, so as you double your distance 453 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: from a radio source, the power of the radio signal 454 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: reaching you is one quarter of what it was before. 455 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 1: It's the inverse square law. Now. Based on that alone, 456 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 1: it would mean you'd have to be very close to 457 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,159 Speaker 1: several powerful transmitting stations if you wanted to harvest a 458 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 1: significant amount of energy, And that also means you have 459 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 1: to pump a huge amount of energy into the actual 460 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: transmission part of the system. So it's not an efficient 461 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: means of transmitting energy. It is possible, but it's not practical, 462 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: not as a means of actually transmitting energy itself. It's 463 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: pretty cool, but again, if you're trying to pump that 464 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: much energy into a transmitter, you're on the losing side 465 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: because you you lose so much energy over distance that 466 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: it's just not worth it. But back to r f 467 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:05,200 Speaker 1: I D tags. They contain an antenna. Uh, it might 468 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,320 Speaker 1: be wire, it might be conductive ink. It all depends 469 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: upon the implementation of the tag itself. But that antenna 470 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: will pick up the frequencies given off by whatever the 471 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: respective scanner or reader is, whatever it was designed for, 472 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,880 Speaker 1: when that frequency hits the antenna, so it's it's being 473 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,679 Speaker 1: omitted by a reader. The frequency comes out, it hits 474 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: the r f I D tag, hits that antenna. That 475 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: induces a current in the antenna which powers the transponder. 476 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: The transponder has been programmed with information. It may just 477 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: modulate the UH, the frequency that's receiving, and then send 478 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: back that modulated signal. The scanner detects that because it 479 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: has its own antenna that's looking for those echoes, and 480 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: thus you are able to transmit information from what is 481 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 1: a passive system to the active reader. Early are F 482 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 1: I D tags could only contain nineties six bits of information. 483 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 1: Remember a bit is a zero or a one, and 484 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: early r f I D tags could only hold nine 485 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 1: six bits zeros and ones in a row, and that's it. 486 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 1: It's not very much, but since you can use those 487 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: ninety six bits to assign a unique identify R and 488 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: then you could do all the heavy lifting on the 489 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: back end of the system, it's enough. Later r f 490 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: I D tax could hold up to a couple of 491 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: kilobytes of data, so they were able to expand on 492 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 1: that dramatically. There are three general types of r f 493 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: I D data storage strategies. There's read only, which means 494 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: that the data that's on the tag is unalterable. You 495 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: can read it, but you can't write to it. It's 496 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: hard coded on the R F I D tag itself 497 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: and will remain the same forever and ever, assuming the 498 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: tag remains viable. Then there's read write tags. That means 499 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: you can overwrite and alter the information that's on the tag, 500 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: and you can do that to your heart's content. You 501 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,480 Speaker 1: can wipe it, change it, tweak it, you can put 502 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: a brand new thing on there. And finally you have 503 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: worm tags. That's w O r M. It's an acronym 504 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: that stands for right once read many. That means you 505 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: have a tag that you can change precisely. One time 506 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: you write to the tag, you can alter it once, 507 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: and after you change it that one time, it behaves 508 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: as a read only tag. These tags could end up 509 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: being the future of shopping. It requires getting the price 510 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: down low enough so that it's an economical solution, but 511 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: it's got a lot of uses, like what we alluded 512 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: to earlier with inventory management. Let's take a hypothetical situation, 513 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: one that has some practical implementations in the real world already. 514 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 1: So let's say you walk into the supermarket of the future. 515 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: It's probably owned by Amazon. At that point, you head 516 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: over to the dairy section and you pick up a 517 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 1: dozen eggs. You pause for a moment to wonder why 518 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: eggs are with dairy because they come from a chicken, 519 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: and you can't milk a chicken, at least not in 520 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: the state of Georgia, because I have been expressly told 521 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: to stop trying whenever I visit my hometown of Gainesville. 522 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: It's poultry capital of the world. But that's a tangent 523 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: for another day. You pick up a carton of eggs. 524 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: The eggs have an r f I D tag on 525 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: the package itself. The tag maybe it's a shiny sticker 526 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: which houses both the antenna and the transponder. You bring 527 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: your smartphone up near this tag. Now, your smartphone happens 528 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: to be equipped with near field communication or NFC technology, 529 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: which can interact with passive r F I D chips, 530 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: and so your phone can act like a scanner. Your 531 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: phone ends up interacting, gets the signal back from the carton, 532 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: and it shows you lots of information about the eggs. 533 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: It might show you how fresh the eggs are, how 534 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: much they cost, how much that breaks down per egg. 535 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: Maybe you even get other information like where did those 536 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,239 Speaker 1: eggs come from? What farm did they come from? And 537 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:04,479 Speaker 1: this is true for all the stuff you can shop for. 538 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 1: Every item has its own r F I D tag 539 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,239 Speaker 1: that gives its own unique information, and therefore you are 540 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: able to learn more about those products. Uh. Then you 541 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: load up your cart with eggs and I don't know, 542 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: motor oil or something, and you walk right out of 543 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: the supermarket to your car. You don't go to the 544 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,719 Speaker 1: cash register. There is no cash register. It's because there 545 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,880 Speaker 1: are scanners at the entrance to the supermarket and as 546 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 1: you walk by them, they pick up on the r 547 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,440 Speaker 1: F I D tags of all the products that are 548 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,720 Speaker 1: in your cart, and they also pick up information on 549 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: your smartphone or maybe a dongle that you carry as 550 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:44,120 Speaker 1: a customer of this particular Amazon owned grocery store chain. 551 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: And as you leave the store, the system counts this 552 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: as a purchase. It says, these items have left the store, 553 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 1: this person has purchased those and it will run the 554 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: purchase against your account, so you are charged the appropriate 555 00:32:57,640 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 1: amount based upon the products that are in your cart. 556 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: It's seamless to you, and it's all happening through radio 557 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 1: frequency transmissions behind the scenes. Now that's how it might 558 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: work in the future. The current concept stores, which are 559 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 1: called Amazon Go, reportedly do not rely on r f 560 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 1: i D technology at this time. Now that's according to Amazon, 561 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: but the company has not gone so far as to 562 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: explain what actually is happening on the technology side of 563 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: their Amazon Go stores. But they are talking about being 564 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 1: interested in using r f i D chip technology in 565 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,480 Speaker 1: the future. So an r f i D enabled store 566 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: would essentially do the same thing that Amazon Go is doing. 567 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: But what about you know, other items, like what what 568 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: are the other considerations with r f I D technology. 569 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: That's how it would affect the consumer, But how's it 570 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: effect in other realms of the world. Well, we'll explore 571 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: that in just a minute, but first let's take a 572 00:33:51,960 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 1: quick break to thank our sponsor. All Right, we just 573 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: described what it's like from the customer side of things 574 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,400 Speaker 1: to walk into that shopping center of the future, but 575 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,600 Speaker 1: on the store side, there's a lot more going on. 576 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:13,800 Speaker 1: So while you are walking out with your eggsit motor oil, 577 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 1: the store can track with recision how many units of 578 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,799 Speaker 1: any given product are available in the store at any 579 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: given time. It knows the full inventory of the store. UH. 580 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:27,279 Speaker 1: It can also track trends, such as if there's an 581 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: increase in demand for one product versus another. Let's say 582 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:35,239 Speaker 1: everyone's getting motor oil this week. It can track that 583 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: and perhaps even respond dynamically by placing orders for new 584 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,480 Speaker 1: shipments of those products to be delivered to the store 585 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 1: in order to replenish depleted stocks. Maybe it is able 586 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,279 Speaker 1: to run specials so that it can entice even more 587 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: people in. It could keep track of freshness dates on 588 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,520 Speaker 1: various produce so that way items that are getting close 589 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,319 Speaker 1: to expiring can be cleared away and replaced with new 590 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,800 Speaker 1: items and you don't have spoil edge sitting on your shelves. 591 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: It can also provide data that might change what items 592 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 1: are ordered entirely because let's say a long time has 593 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:13,360 Speaker 1: gone by since someone has bought a Guatemalan insanity pepper, 594 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: for example, the storm might stop ordering Guatemalan and sandy 595 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,440 Speaker 1: peppers entirely to free up space for something else and 596 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: avoid wasting food. Now, one thing that would make this 597 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: easier is a standardized language for shopping, and that's kind 598 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 1: of the motivation behind something called the Electronic Product Code 599 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 1: or EPC. This is a universal standard for identifying every 600 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: physical object. It's not tied to any specific technology, so 601 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,319 Speaker 1: it's not unique to r f i D technology, but 602 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: it is often talked about in concert with r f 603 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 1: I D tags. A universal standard would mean you wouldn't 604 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,759 Speaker 1: need dozens of different apps to interpret the r f 605 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: I D identify IRS on products at all different stores 606 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:03,880 Speaker 1: you go to, for example, because the r f i 607 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: D tags used by those stores would rely upon a 608 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: common coding system. And this wouldn't just be for the 609 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,760 Speaker 1: stuff you encounter in stores, but all sorts of stuff 610 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: to end up inside things we buy. For example, computers 611 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 1: are made up of lots of parts like a motherboard, CPU, 612 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:23,080 Speaker 1: graphics card, power source. All these sorts of things those components. 613 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: Each of those would have its own unique designation with EPC, 614 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,880 Speaker 1: which makes it much easier to track supply chains. The 615 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,839 Speaker 1: same thing is true with say cars, You would have 616 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: specific identifiers for every single component. That way you know 617 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 1: at any given moment within your warehouse what you need, 618 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 1: what you don't need, what you might have too much 619 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,360 Speaker 1: of UH, and be able to pull together all the 620 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 1: parts you need for any given job. This code would 621 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: be a designation, but the language it would be written 622 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,440 Speaker 1: in is something else. It would be a product markup 623 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:59,600 Speaker 1: language or PML, which is based on the extensible mark 624 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:02,080 Speaker 1: up which or x AML that you find on the web. 625 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: This would allow different computer systems running different implementations of 626 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:10,239 Speaker 1: different software packages to understand one another when referring to 627 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,440 Speaker 1: specific r f i D tags, very much the way 628 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:18,320 Speaker 1: that HTML can be read by browsers on different operating 629 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:23,399 Speaker 1: systems Unix, Windows, Mac, same sort of concept. You want 630 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: something that is agnostic when it comes to operating systems. 631 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:31,120 Speaker 1: All right back to people and whether or not we 632 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 1: should be terrified about getting microchips implanted in US. There 633 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:38,719 Speaker 1: obviously are some big concerns about privacy and security here, 634 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,320 Speaker 1: so let's talk about privacy first. Now, it doesn't take 635 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 1: a lot to imagine a world in which r f 636 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,360 Speaker 1: i D scanners are placed at regular intervals around the 637 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:52,560 Speaker 1: workplace tracking chipped employees, even if we're not talking about 638 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: an implant here, but a security card or some sort 639 00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 1: of bracelet or something along those lines. Assuming that every 640 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:05,239 Speaker 1: card contains a unique identifier that is associated with a 641 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:09,279 Speaker 1: specific employee, the results are the same. As employees move 642 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 1: around the workspace, the system could track those movements you 643 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:17,280 Speaker 1: come within range of a scanner, it ends up marking 644 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,040 Speaker 1: down the time when you moved within range of that 645 00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:24,560 Speaker 1: particular scanner. It can actually effectively track your movements from 646 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:28,560 Speaker 1: one part of an environment to another, not in real time, 647 00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:32,439 Speaker 1: but as in, you know, within this span of time 648 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:34,560 Speaker 1: it was in range of this one scanner and then 649 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:36,880 Speaker 1: moved on to the southern scanner, and so on and 650 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 1: so forth. So you can kind of piece together and 651 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:44,719 Speaker 1: employees movements over the span of say a day. So 652 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: now imagine that you have a busy body boss of 653 00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:51,239 Speaker 1: the future. Heck, let's say it's a robot and this 654 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:54,719 Speaker 1: robo boss is looking over the data and sees that Johnson, 655 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:58,719 Speaker 1: head of sales, is frequently away from her desk. So 656 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,600 Speaker 1: it robot boss analyzes Johnson's behavior over the course of 657 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: several weeks and identifies patterns and looks at how much 658 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,080 Speaker 1: time she is spending away from where she usually sits. 659 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 1: This has nothing to do with her job performance, of course, 660 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,479 Speaker 1: but it has to do with the expectation that she's 661 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 1: going to be in her office more often than not 662 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:20,440 Speaker 1: during working hours. And robo boss has really strict standards 663 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:24,280 Speaker 1: about these sort of things, or imagine a workplace where 664 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,080 Speaker 1: you're every trip to the break room or bathroom, or 665 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 1: or just a quick jaunt outside to stretch your legs 666 00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 1: is logged and later used during your employee evaluation. It's 667 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:38,560 Speaker 1: not a very pleasant thought. And of course, there are 668 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 1: some workplaces where you have to clock in every time 669 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,120 Speaker 1: you come back to your desk and clock out every 670 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: time you want to leave. This would be a system 671 00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:48,680 Speaker 1: that would just track you whether you were actively doing 672 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,040 Speaker 1: that or not. It is completely possible to implement this 673 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:54,840 Speaker 1: sort of thing, and it could lead to some pretty 674 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,120 Speaker 1: unpleasant work conditions and the belief that it would lead 675 00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:01,439 Speaker 1: to greater productivity. I, for one, submit that it does 676 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:04,400 Speaker 1: not lead to creator productivity to chain your employees to 677 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:09,600 Speaker 1: your desk, because it just decreases employee morale. Then there 678 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,440 Speaker 1: are security issues. It's not just the privacy issues of 679 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: the people who are carrying around these chips, but also 680 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:21,040 Speaker 1: security for the systems and for the people themselves. R 681 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 1: have I D is by its nature, tied to the 682 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:27,080 Speaker 1: identity of something. It might be a person, could be 683 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,080 Speaker 1: an animal in the case of a pet, could be 684 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:33,800 Speaker 1: a product, and there are security concerns including identity, theft, 685 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:37,400 Speaker 1: tag readers can be a vulnerable point something that hackers 686 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:41,080 Speaker 1: could potentially exploit. Tag readers are collecting data through that 687 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:45,840 Speaker 1: radio frequency communication. You might have someone spoof a tag reader, 688 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:48,920 Speaker 1: so in other words, they're using their own scanner to 689 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,279 Speaker 1: get hits back from r f I D chips and 690 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:56,759 Speaker 1: use that to attempt to steal identification information or pick 691 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,600 Speaker 1: up other valuable data. Or hackers might be able to 692 00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:03,360 Speaker 1: clone own tags and thus get unauthorized access to buildings 693 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,640 Speaker 1: or systems. So you might have an r f I 694 00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:09,560 Speaker 1: D reader that is able to pull information off of, 695 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:13,279 Speaker 1: say a a security card that gives you access to 696 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:17,200 Speaker 1: a building, and then hackers could perhaps replicate that card 697 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:19,840 Speaker 1: with one of their own and get access to that 698 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:23,560 Speaker 1: building despite not being authorized to do so. Now, one 699 00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:26,840 Speaker 1: way to mitigate that problem is through the use of encryption, 700 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:29,640 Speaker 1: in which the data retrieved by any spoof scanner is 701 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:34,359 Speaker 1: on its own, largely useless or difficult to decrypt. This 702 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:38,319 Speaker 1: is the effect of finding a seemingly garbled message. It 703 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,120 Speaker 1: has no real meaning to you, and so intercepting the 704 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 1: message provides you no value because you don't know what 705 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:48,879 Speaker 1: the message means. But there's also the back end communication 706 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 1: within the system itself. You have to consider that's another 707 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:56,439 Speaker 1: attractive target for hackers, not just the people carrying around 708 00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:59,799 Speaker 1: these r f i D tags, but the system that 709 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:04,000 Speaker 1: ALEXA information itself. It's another vulnerable point and an attractive 710 00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:06,960 Speaker 1: target because the back end captures all r f i 711 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,080 Speaker 1: D transmissions that move through the system, as opposed to 712 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:13,239 Speaker 1: seeking out a specific target one at a time. So, 713 00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:15,040 Speaker 1: in other words, instead of having to walk up to 714 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:18,080 Speaker 1: somebody and try and scan their card without them noticing, 715 00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:21,920 Speaker 1: if I'm able to compromise the actual system, the scanning 716 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:25,120 Speaker 1: system itself, I'm getting all the information that comes into 717 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:28,440 Speaker 1: contact with that system, not just one instance of it. 718 00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 1: R f I D security is an evolving field, and 719 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,279 Speaker 1: like all types of security, it's a constant game of 720 00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,880 Speaker 1: trying to stay ahead of those who would compromise the system. 721 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:42,360 Speaker 1: And it involves lots of different strategies used in varying 722 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:47,520 Speaker 1: degrees and different combinations. So among some there's a healthy 723 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:50,640 Speaker 1: distrust of r f i D technology, and I would 724 00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:54,600 Speaker 1: say that distrust is at least partly reasonable. R f 725 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:58,239 Speaker 1: i D is a technology that can be easily abused 726 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,480 Speaker 1: if you're not careful with it. Even if you assume 727 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:06,239 Speaker 1: a company is implementing the technology ethically. Errors can lead 728 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:11,040 Speaker 1: to big problems, ranging from identity theft to unauthorized access. Now, 729 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:13,560 Speaker 1: this does not mean r F I D technology is 730 00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:18,040 Speaker 1: bad or inherently flawed. It just means that any implementation 731 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:21,040 Speaker 1: needs to be done carefully and with transparency so that 732 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:26,279 Speaker 1: you avoid instances of abuse. As for the employees at 733 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,680 Speaker 1: three Square Market, I'll really be interested to follow their 734 00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:34,640 Speaker 1: experiences with these implants. I personally would probably not jump 735 00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:37,160 Speaker 1: on this wagon if I were one of those employees, 736 00:43:37,600 --> 00:43:41,080 Speaker 1: not because I would have a fear of abuse necessarily, 737 00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:43,719 Speaker 1: but more because of not certain we won't have an 738 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,960 Speaker 1: alternative and possibly superior approach in the near future. It's 739 00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,760 Speaker 1: kind of like going out and buying a brand new computer. 740 00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:53,759 Speaker 1: You might feel some reluctance because you know, by the 741 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:57,080 Speaker 1: time you get at home, a newer, more awesome computer 742 00:43:57,239 --> 00:43:59,600 Speaker 1: is going to hit the store shelves and make your 743 00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:04,680 Speaker 1: purchase obsolete. Well, anything that would make an implant obsolete 744 00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:07,040 Speaker 1: would be a huge slap in the face. If I'm 745 00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:10,440 Speaker 1: gonna undergo any kind of surgical procedure, I want to 746 00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:13,000 Speaker 1: make sure that that decision is a good one. For 747 00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:17,640 Speaker 1: a good long while. Ah. Now I'm curious about you, guys. 748 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:21,640 Speaker 1: If you would end up taking on this approach, would 749 00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:24,440 Speaker 1: you get an r f I d implant if it 750 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:27,560 Speaker 1: would mean that certain aspects of your lives would be 751 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 1: more convenient and seamless, if you could get through security doors, 752 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,839 Speaker 1: you know, the appropriate ones, without having to carry an 753 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:39,440 Speaker 1: extra card or dongle of some sort, or if you 754 00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:42,239 Speaker 1: were able to finally get that salad out of the 755 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,600 Speaker 1: micro vending machine and just walk away and everything would 756 00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:47,600 Speaker 1: be taken care of. You wouldn't have to fiddle with 757 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,719 Speaker 1: any cards or anything like that. Is that worth it? 758 00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:54,200 Speaker 1: Do you? Or do you think that this technology is 759 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:59,239 Speaker 1: largely it should just remain the realm of products and 760 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:04,040 Speaker 1: maybe pet but not people. I go back and forth. 761 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:06,640 Speaker 1: I think a lot of this technology can be solved 762 00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:11,200 Speaker 1: with something you carry, something you own, but obviously that 763 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,360 Speaker 1: raises security questions too, because if someone else gets hold 764 00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:18,600 Speaker 1: of that something, they might also get access to all 765 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:21,239 Speaker 1: of those other systems. So what do you guys think? 766 00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:24,040 Speaker 1: Let me know? Send me a message my email addresses 767 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:27,120 Speaker 1: tech stuff at how stuff works dot com, or you 768 00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:29,719 Speaker 1: can always let me know on Twitter or Facebook the 769 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:32,839 Speaker 1: handle at both of those is tech Stuff HSW. That 770 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:35,719 Speaker 1: wraps it up for this episode. You guys have any 771 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:38,799 Speaker 1: suggestions for future episodes, contact me and why those ways 772 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:41,480 Speaker 1: I just mentioned, let me know what you think, And 773 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,280 Speaker 1: of course, you can always tune in at twitch dot 774 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:48,240 Speaker 1: tv slash tech stuff to watch me record these shows live. 775 00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:51,760 Speaker 1: I record on Wednesdays and Friday's. Just go to twitch 776 00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:55,000 Speaker 1: dot tv slash tech stuff. The schedule is right there. 777 00:45:55,200 --> 00:45:57,960 Speaker 1: You can watch as I fumble my way through these 778 00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:01,680 Speaker 1: episodes and chat with the p won the chat room, 779 00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:10,080 Speaker 1: and I will talk to you again really soon. For 780 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, is a 781 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:23,160 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com