There's Hardly a Device That Isn't Being Upgraded with a GPS Chip; New RFID Technology Allows You to be Tracked WITHOUT Your Knowledge; Video Surveillance Outfit Chips Workers; Brit Police to be Microchipped

Arizona Tracking Prescription Drug Users

January 30, 2009

AP - Arizona has launched a new computer database that tracks prescription drug usage.

The information is stored in a state-managed, centralized database that can be accessed by doctors and pharmacists around the state.

The program, which was launched in December and is overseen by the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy, is designed to cut down on the persistent problem of prescription-drug abuse.

At the same time, it is raising concerns among privacy-rights groups that fear computer hackers or nosey health workers will access patients' personal information.

"There is a noble goal there, to stop the abuse of narcotic drugs," said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for the San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. "But obviously, any database is subject to breach."

For the most part, there has been little public outcry over the programs, Stephens said.

"They really haven't gotten much publicity," he said.

State health officials said that so far they know of no breach of any similar database in another state.

With the Arizona system, pharmacy board officials said, access to the database is recorded and limited to pharmacists and doctors.

More than 30 states have authorized or created such databases after deciding that the potential benefits outweigh privacy concerns.

"I am so excited that we are finally getting this for our state," said Dr. Stephen Borowsky, an anesthesiologist and pain-management specialist. "It's absolutely necessary. These medicines have such great potential for addiction."

The data collected includes the patient's name, date of birth, prescribing doctor, medication, the date the prescription was filled and the mailing addresses of the pharmacy and patient.

The drugs that raise the most concern include potentially addictive painkillers, sleep aids, medications that contain morphine or certain forms of codeine, and hormone drugs, including steroids.

The GPS Revolution: There's Hardly a Device That Isn't Being Upgraded with a GPS Chip

Mobile phones, cameras and wristwatches are all being equipped with GPS technology. In this brave new world, data will not only tell us where we are, but also where we can shop, eat and sleep.

Originally Published on March 3, 2007

Spiegel Online - He holds the world in his hand. The world rotates smoothly around its axis, then the breakneck nosedive begins: towards Europe, Germany, Berlin and finally Berlin's city center.

The first streets of houses become visible, and eventually the building in front of which he stands: a renovated factory from the Wilhelminian age on Invalidenstrasse. Pleased, Michael Halbherr glances down on the mobile phone that has just verified his exact position.

"That's only the beginning," Halbherr says.

His Swiss German sing-song accent and his woollen sweater make him seem almost chummy and homely. But looks can be deceptive. The 42-year-old chats with jovial serenity about how groundbreaking his system could become -- not just for users but for the entire industry.

Halbherr is the director of the Berlin-based software company Gate5, which was acquired by Nokia -- still the world's largest producer of mobile phones, with a 30 percent market share -- last autumn. The engineer is responsible for working with his team of 70 employees to make the cartographic altitude flights, that were until now mainly the domain of Internet services like Google Earth, available to mobile phone users.

The system, recently introduced at the 3GSM wireless technology conference in Barcelona, is called Nokia Maps. It is the first time a mobile phone producer is has simultaneously gone head to head with a navigation system against providers like Tom-Tom and the search engine company Google.

The results are remarkable. Even hard-boiled Google earthlings are surprised by the computer-game-like quality of the mobile phone graphics. And many people are startled upon picking up a mobile phone and seeing it automatically determine its own location -- without having been provided the name of a single street ...

New RFID Technology Allows You to be Tracked WITHOUT Your Knowledge

January 18, 2009

Industry Wizard - By invitation, I recently visited a remote facility in northern Virginia to see a demonstration of NOX - a new Intelligent Perimeter Defense system deployed by the FBI that uses covert Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track people and assets without their knowledge.

That's right, using RFID to track people without their knowledge. This system is exactly what the privacy advocates have long feared: Big Brother tracking us with spy chips. As Orwellian as this sounds, the undisputed fact is that this system catches thieves and does so at a fraction of the cost of traditional security solutions.

NOX combines high-resolution video pictures and RFID for identification, tracking and tracing, overlaid in real time on a facility map to show the movement of people and assets. The system allows security officers to see theft as it happens, even if the stolen object is inside a briefcase, under a jacket, or stuffed inside a sock.

What makes the NOX system I saw different from traditional security systems is that it uses RFID for clandestine surveillance: RFID readers are hidden inside walls, floors, and ceilings; RFID tags are discretely placed; and only the security personnel know that the system is in place - until the thief gets caught. Then, all the thief knows is that he or she was caught in the act, on video.

"It takes a criminal twelve seconds to defeat a lock or fence. Yet, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to create fences that only provide an illusion of security. NOX creates a virtual perimeter that tells us who is penetrating the perimeter, when they are doing it and, where it's happening. With this information, we can respond with the appropriate level of force and prevent further penetration."

A commander with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), who asked to remain anonymous for this article.

There is serious motivation behind the development of NOX in both the government and private sectors. The reality is that traditional security systems are simply not proving to be effective against criminals. Beyond the obvious homeland security concerns, the NOX team places strong emphasis on the impact to our national economy. According to the American Management Association, 95 percent of all businesses are victimized by employee theft. Employees steal over a billion dollars a week from their employers and it takes $20 billion dollars in sales every week just to cover the losses. That's a yearly economic impact of one trillion dollars. Yet, most companies are embarrassed to talk publicly about how serious this issue really is. They try to deal with it quietly by spending money on traditional security systems. The most shocking statistic is that even with all the money companies spend on security, 80 percent of all employees will be tempted to steal if given the opportunity, according to the FBI.

This is also placing a huge burden on our judicial system. Public order crime is rising faster than any other type of case, as shown in the graphic at right.

Privacy advocates will have an extremely difficult argument when facing numbers that motivate government and big business like these do. The NOX Team Director commented:

"Our mission is not to invade privacy, simply protect the innocent. RFID is just a tool in our system. If RFID wasn't available, we would tag by other means such as scent, chemicals, or dyes -- and, in actuality we do. The right to privacy is important but privacy and anonymity are different. All RFID does is help prove what you did."

The NOX team has perfected dozens of methods of tagging people without their knowledge.
 
One of the more covert technologies they employ is ID-Dust, serialized dust particles that can be interrogated like a RFID tag. The NOX team can coat a person or object with it to track movement. ID-Dust can show if an item was handled or it can even be sprinkled on the floor. People unknowingly pick up the ID-Dust on their shoes as they travel through a dusted area. The software combines the video surveillance and RFID information to create an association between the ID-Dust and a person. The ID-Dust allows the person's movement to be tracked around a facility without the person ever knowing he or she is being tracked. While a criminal can easily defeat the motion sensors, the ID-Dust provides covert security with instant alerts when someone enters an area, plus a complete history of exactly where each person traveled and when.

Combining RFID and High Resolution Video Surveillance Cameras
 
The system uses video surveillance cameras mounted in obvious locations and others that are hidden. I was surprised to learn that security personnel no longer need to sit and watch the video monitors; the RFID tags provide a far superior means of triggering alerts. A tag read in a particular location automatically triggers video recording and sends an instant alert to the security personnel?s mobile devices. In my demonstration an iPhone received a high definition picture of a theft in progress.

The areas being monitored include perimeter doors, staircases, cargo bays, storage areas, and even bathrooms. These locations were identified as prime locations for The areas being monitored include perimeter doors, staircases, cargo bays, storage areas, and even bathrooms. These locations were identified as prime locations for employee theft. NOX generates a security alert when an asset enters or leaves any of these areas. Of course, not all areas use video. The bathroom is a perfect example. The NOX system sweeps the bathroom with RF to determine what went in and came out. Video is used to capture when people leave the bathroom.

The RFID tags are custom to the NOX system. All I am authorized to print is that the asset tags are small, silent until activated (either via motion or external inputs), and secure ? meaning they use encrypted RF conversations and cannot be duplicated. Certain facilities are not limited by FCC regulations, which allows NOX to overcome some of the limitations facing traditional RFID tags and equipment.

Understandably, the NOX team preferred not to answer the majority of my technical questions. They simply stated that they don't want people to know how this is being done, only that it?s being done and the motivation behind it.

NOX is currently being offered to Government agencies and select commercial companies.

Video Surveillance Outfit Chips Workers

Originally published in February 2006

The Register - A Cincinnati video surveillance company CityWatcher.com now requires employees to use Verichip human implantable microchips to enter a secure data centre. Until now, the employees entered the data centre with a VeriChip housed in a heart-shaped plastic casing that hangs from their keychain.

The VeriChip is a glass encapsulated RFID tag that is injected into the triceps area of the arm to uniquely identify individuals. The tag can be read by radio waves from a few inches away.

The news was reported by CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering), a US organisation that opposes the use of surveillance RFID cards.

Although CityWatcher does not require its employees to take an implant to keep their jobs, they won't get in the data centre without it. CASPIAN’s Katherine Albrecht says chipping sets an unsettling precedent. "It's wrong to link a person's paycheck with getting an implant,” she says.

CityWatcher argues that chipping employees is a move to increase the layer of security, as present systems can be compromised. However, CASPIAN warns that this can happen to implantable chips too. Security researcher Jonathan Westhues - author of a chapter in a book titled Hacking the Prox Card - recently demonstrated how the VeriChip can be skimmed and cloned by a hacker. A cloned chip theoretically could duplicate an individual's VeriChip implant to access a secure area.

Robocops: Brit Police to be Microchipped

April 10, 2008

Daily Mail - Every single Metropolitan police officer will be ‘microchipped’ so top brass can monitor their movements on a Big Brother style tracking scheme, it can be revealed today.

According to respected industry magazine Police Review, the plan - which affects all 31,000 serving officers in the Met, including Sir Ian Blair - is set to replace the unreliable Airwave radio system currently used to help monitor officer’s movements.

The new electronic tracking device - called the Automated Personal Location System (APLS) - means that officers will never be out of range of supervising officers...

Britons Risk “Hardwiring Surveillance” into the British Way of Life
Brit Police to Use “Mobile Urban Jails” on Street