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Germans get RFID ID cards next year

by on21 December 2009

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Precise information for hackers


Despite security concerns, the Interior Ministry of Germany will introduce radio-frequency (RFID) chip identification cards on November 1, 2010 that will contain a lot of personal information, fingerprint and a pin number.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in a statement that the new card will be smaller than the old one but can do a lot more. On November 1, 2010, German citizens will be introduced to new identification cards that contain RFID chips, which will digitally store personal information.

The move has got privacy groups a little upset because not only is there no need for an RFID chip they are also a little easy to read. The RFID chip, which can be detected two meters away without the person's knowledge, unlike passports, ID cards are expected to be carried by Germans at all times.

Head of the privacy and data security group at Technische Universitat Dresden, Dr. Andreas Pfitzmann, warned that the way the system has been set up, the cards could be used in a terrorist attack. He claimed he could use this frequency to set off a bomb where I know there are only Americans or Germans.



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