By Mary Catherine O'Connor

Apr. 1, 2007—As radio frequency identification tags wend their way into more consumer applications—from access cards to payment devices, library cards, passports and clothing—privacy advocates, politicians and, increasingly, consumers are crying "foul." But as concerns grow that RFID tags are susceptible to skimming—being read surreptitiously—or being used for surveillance, so do efforts to safeguard RFID tags in order to prevent data from falling into the wrong hands. Some of these efforts—such as encryption techniques that ensure tags can be read only by authenticated readers—are still in the preliminary research stage. But other technology tools are available today, as are some low-tech tag protectors (see box).

The security firm Privaris makes a device called plusID that uses a biometric lock to prevent someone from using your access card or reading your ID and cloning the data onto another device. To gain entry with plusID, you have to press your finger on the device's integrated fingerprint reader. A processor inside the device compares your fingerprint scan with one saved in its onboard memory. If it matches, it enables the tag inside to be read. PlusID, which is small enough to add to a keychain, works with most access control systems that operate in the 125 KHz or 13.56 MHz frequency range. It is being used by a number of companies and by military personnel at high-security facilities.

The plusID from Privaris, which is small enough to fit on a keychain, can prevent someone from using your access card.

Raytheon, a government defense, aviation and technology company, has recently unveiled a prototype of a device called the PAD (personal authentication device), which is very similar to plusID, except that it has a UHF EPC Gen 2-compliant tag. Raytheon is proposing that the PAD be issued to U.S. citizens as a biometrically verifiable identity card for various Department of Homeland Security initiatives.