Posted on 06/10/2004 11:58:29 AM PDT by JOAT
The UK-based vehicle licence plate manufacturer, Hills Numberplates Ltd, has chosen long-range RFID tags and readers from Identec Solutions to be embedded in licence plates that will automatically and reliably identify vehicles in the UK.
The new e-Plates project uses active (battery powered) RFID tags embedded in the plates to identify vehicles in real time. The result is the ability to reliably identify any vehicle, anywhere, whether stationary or mobile, and - most importantly - in all weather conditions. (Previous visually-based licence plate identification techniques have been hampered by factors such as heavy rain, mist, fog, and even mud or dirt on the plates.)
The e-Plates project has been under development for the past three years at a cost of more than £1 million, and is currently under consideration by a number of administrations. It is hoped that e-Plate will be one of the systems trialled by the UK Government in its forthcoming study of micro-chipped licence plates.
Chipped plates
The plates are the same shape and size as conventional plates, and are permanently fitted to the vehicle in the same way. But each e-Plate contains an embedded tag with a unique, encrypted identification number that is transmitted by the tag for detection by RFID readers. Multiple tags can be read simultaneously by a single reader at speeds of up to 320km per hour (200mph), up to 100 metres (300 feet) away.
The reader network, which includes fixed location readers (for use on the roadside) and portable readers (for use in surveillance vehicles and handheld devices), sends the unique identifier in real time to a central system where it is matched with the corresponding vehicle data such as registration number, owner details, make, model, colour, and tax/insurance renewal dates.
Identities secured
A key benefit of the e-Plate is that the tag provides an encrypted and secure ID code which is registered in the UK Ministry of Transport's vehicle database. This code prevents tampering, cloning, or other forms of fraud that can currently happen with camera-based systems. Additionally, the e-Plate is designed to shatter if anyone tries to remove or otherwise tamper with it, and the tag can be programmed to transmit a warning if any attempt is made to dislodge the plate.
Surveillance applications
The system is expected to be used to identify vehicles for applications such as security, access control, electronic payment, tracking and processing, traffic management, and customer service. Commercial applications could include car dealerships, rental companies, insurance companies, fleet operators, and parking garages. In the public sector, the main applications would include enforcement (compliance with road tax, insurance, and mechanical checks), access control to restricted areas, combating vehicle theft and associated crime, and traffic flow counting and modelling.
According to Richard Taffinder, operations director for Hills Numberplates, the e-Plates were developed to provide companies and public authorities with a more reliable way to positively identify and capture information on a vehicle.
The pets should make no attempts to remove their shock collars.
The fact that people sit there and take this is staggering--how long before we're subjected to the same...and how long after will it be before we roll over and play dead?
I wonder what how a strategically placed, powerful rare earth magnet would affect the RFID tag? Hmmm.
Not too long. It seems the UK is the test bed for what comes here in 2 years.
This RFID tag can be blocked foiling the whole attempt to monitor a user.
http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-5068910.html?tag=fd_top
As a security professional, it always amazes me how governments can dream up and buy into these expensive technologies when it is very INEXPENSIVE to prevent the system from working.
Big Brother doesn't NEED stratigecally-placed cameras when it has implants.
Next "advance": If you want medical care, you WILL have an implant ID. I think I'll switch from Big Brother to Soylent Green.
911 Caller: I want to report that my car has been stolen. It's a 2004 Corvette.
Operator: What is the license number of your car?
Caller: 223BJH
Operator: One moment...We have your car passing Lexington and Seventh just now. We are dispatching an officer. You may pick up your car after 3 PM at the impound yard. Thank you for calling.
The problem with rendering yours non-functional is if your fellow citizens go along with the control scheme. You stand out like a sore thumb. The answer is if massive numbers of people simply ignore the 'leaders' and do not submit. Then they are powerless.
A fairly recent example of this was when the city of Denver, CO required all 'assault rifle' owners to register their weapons. The edict was routinely ignored by 99% of the citizens.
By contrast, many Californians foolishly complied with registration and then had their property arbitrarily confiscated a few years later. (SKS rifles specifically)
If our government ever attempted to force this sort of tracking, the appropriate response would non-compliance at a state-by-state level.
911 Caller: I want to report that my car has been stolen. It's a 2004 Corvette.
Operator: What is the license number of your car?
Caller: 223BJH
Operator: One moment...We have your car sitting at the parking garage at Lexington and Seventh just now. We are dispatching an officer. You may pick up your car after 3 PM at the impound yard. Thank you for calling.
Caller: Umm..that address is my parking garage operator.
"The flaw with your positive scenario is that theives will simply 'shatter' said RFID-enabled plates when stealing 2004 Corvette (or 1976 Pinto) and put a dummy plate on to avoid attracting attention."
Nah, I don't think so. Part of any such scheme would be a method to detect vehicles that did not identify themselves. Again, a missing RFID plate would dispatch an officer. The guy who called might have heard that his vehicle had already been found.
The GM OnStar system works pretty well to find stolen vehicles, and serves a lot of other nice functions as well, like notifying OnStar if the air bag deploys. OnStar immediately dispatches emergency response when that happens, complete with an exact location. Could save your life.
I see this RFID thing being tied to a similar system eventually.
I must register my vehicle if I operate it on the public roads. I have a license plate on all my vehicles. This is no more onerous than a license plate, IMO.
I could come up with all sorts of positive scenarios, like being located in case of a family emergency, etc.
I'm having trouble coming up with any negative ones, other than the mythical "Big Brother" bogeyman. Maybe you can help me out.
Uh huh. paired with your other comment:
I'm having trouble coming up with any negative ones, other than the mythical "Big Brother" bogeyman. Maybe you can help me out.
I'd say you answered your own question. If it's 'mythical' to call 24/7 monitoring of EVERY vehicle and it's movements 'big-brother-ish' I'd hate to see what passed your test for a police-state big-bro society....
"Part of any such scheme would be a method to detect vehicles that did not identify themselves. Again, a missing RFID plate would dispatch an officer.
Uh huh. paired with your other comment:"
Sure. Try driving around without a plate on your car, as long as it isn't brand new. You'll get noticed pretty soon, and pulled over. Thing is, vehicles have to be licensed.
There's very little difference, frankly, between visual license plates and RFID plates. Both identify the vehicle as a unique vehicle and identify the owner via the DMV. One's just faster than the other.
If your car is stolen now, you report it and a BOLO goes out for your license plate, with a description of the vehicle. It's not very efficient, but that's what happens.
With the RFID, the BOLO doesn't depend on some distracted cop to find your car. Your car will show up right away.
Sorry, but I don't see the problem with using RFID along with the license plate already on your vehicle.
You are 100% correct. Notice all the cameras on the highway (I-95 in CT) as well as a camera on almost every street corner in Manhattan.
Now we hear about GATT style traffic enforcement cameras all over the place in the states.
Negative scenario: Once per month you would receive your tickets in the mail. Everything from parking violations to speeding. And since they have a computer/GPS record of the "violations" there would be NOTHING you could do about it.
You think it's okey-dokey that the government thinks it has a NEED to know everywhere you go, all the time. Okay, that's not a 'conservative' value, but maybe you actually like big government watching over you.
You evidently think that the government will NEVER use this data for less than noble reasons.
Yeah, you've convinced me. A massive database of my movements IS a GREAT idea! After all, I shouldn't complain, I have NOTHING TO HIDE!
Maybe you should let them do a rectal exam whenever they pull you over to see if you are developing prostate cancer, I mean you don't have anything to HIDE so why should you protest? After all, the nannies are only concerned with your health and safety, so be a good lad and bend over.
You don't think your bunghole is any of their business you say? Why is that any different than watching your every move? It's done with the same justification. Just looking out for the safety of the cattle.
The concept of having to EXPLAIN why growing the government, giving it even more power and submitting to persistent monitoring is not okay is astounding on a supposed conservative forum. Wear your chains lightly MineralSerf.
"Negative scenario: Once per month you would receive your tickets in the mail. Everything from parking violations to speeding. And since they have a computer/GPS record of the "violations" there would be NOTHING you could do about it."
You mean you broke the law? And now you're complaining about getting tickets? Sorry, Charlie, but there's a simple answer to that one. You simply don't do the things that get you tickets.
I'm 58 years old and have never had a ticket of any kind in my life. Not even a parking ticket. So, I wouldn't be getting those tickets in the mail, you see.
But, I guess I get it, now. The negative thing is that you can't get away with breaking the law if this RFID license plate happens. From that, I take it that you think you should be able to speed and park illegally. Otherwise, why would you worry about it.
Never mind.
Nobody owns and operates a vehicle without being in technical 'violation' at least once a day. The effect of this, if fully enforced, would be to make vehicle ownership so onerous that many people just wouldn't bother.
Which is what SOMEBODY could be intending all along.
"You are 100% correct. Notice all the cameras on the highway (I-95 in CT) as well as a camera on almost every street corner in Manhattan.
"
We have those intersection cameras all over the place in my small community, too. Guess what? I'm not seeing nearly as many people running red lights any more. I kind of like that, since it makes it safer for me to enter an intersection when the light turns green. And, since I never run red lights, I haven't seen any tickets in the mail, either.
Do you run red lights? Is that why you're opposed to the cameras?
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