Saturday, March 22, 2008

RFID chips, Farraday Cages and Wallets

Like all technology, RFID (Radio Frequency IDentity) chips have their good and bad points. They add greater convenience, but the less than ideal security precautions also make it easier for dishonest people to get your info and rip you off. In order to keep your info private, you need to keep your passport/credit card/whatever stuck inside a Farraday cage and only remove the card for the time frame you intend to use it.

There are directions in various places on the World Wide Web for making your own RFID blocking wallet, but let's be honest-- some of us aren't that artsy-crafty, or we want something that looks "real" and not "home made."

It turns out you can purchase professionally made RFID blocking wallets, passport holders, etc. for about $20.

1 comment:

Jonah Chanticleer said...

I stand corrected -- the proper spelling is Faraday (with one "r"). Interestingly enough, if you search wikipedia with Farraday (with two "r's"), it redirects to the page with the correct spelling. I gather that means it must be a pretty common error then.