We Know Everything About You: Credit Card Risks and Solutions
written by Credit-HQ ExpertThe use of RFID chips in credit cards introduces a whole new area of risk to consumers. There is no question that in the worlds of manufacturing, distribution, warehousing and retail sales, RFID tagging of product has been a huge help in controlling waste and lost merchandise. People who like to find a worst case scenario in the spread of RFID technology envision it being used by terrorists to trigger bombs to kill our citizens. There has to be a middle road we can find where we tap the good RFID technology can bring while avoiding the abuses.
Thomas Heydt-Benjamin was the researcher that discovered that RFID chips could be read using a simple type of reader that can read your credit card while it is still in your wallet and give all of your private credit details to a thief easily. But even Heydt-Benjamin acknowledged that the spread of RFID technology has potential to do a lot of good. There could be abuses where just buying a product at a store could result in your movements being. But if some security is added to the good technology, we can have the best of both worlds.
Knowing About RFID Abuse: Knowledge is Power
If you are just learning about the potential abuses of RFID technology, this is a good time to get involved in the fight. The standards and protocols for how RFID chips should be implemented are being written by GS1 US and an international partner, EPC Global. Many big companies like Wal-Mart are poised to make huge investments in RFID technology. But the opinions of their customers means a lot even to big companies like Wal-Mart. So if consumers get informed and take action, it can make a big difference.
The profit margins for retailers like Wal-Mart are very thin so if they fear that implementing a new technology like RFID might run off a percentage of their customers, that is a risk they don’t want to take. If a small number of vocal customers of these big retailers speak up, even if your numbers are less than 1% of their total customer base, they will sit up and take notice. There are things we, as consumers, can do.
What to do About the Use of RFID by Retailers
- A letter writing campaign is one of the most effective measures you can take to get the attention of a big retailer. Be polite but blunt that you do not want any further with the implementation of RFID technology in the products you buy from that retailer. Send copies going to influential decision makers. So send a copy to the agency that is deciding how RFID will be used. That address is…
GS1 US
1009 Lenox Drive
Suite 202
Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648
- You can see if your credit card uses RFID technology by holding it up to a bright light. If you see a dark dot in the card and a thin line that connects to the card edges, that is an RFID chip. If you find it, you can send that card back and ask for a credit card that does not carry RFID technology. Follow that action up with a strong letter to the president of the credit card company stating that you insist that RFID chips be implemented only when better security is available. You can even forward your congressmen to keep the heat on at the governmental level.
- You can also be careful about the products you buy to discourage the spread of RFID technology at the product level. If you discover an RFID chip on a product you buy, you can take it back. Just make sure you tell the retailer why you are bringing it back to you send a message to their management that using RFID chips is not acceptable to their customers.
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