This is not exactly RFID in the conventional sense this is Near Field Communication, NFC.
It works at the same 13.56 Mhz frequency as EPC Global RFID but is much shorter in range. In addition, it uses only the Magnetic field component NOT an electromagnetic field like conventional RF communications so a non-ferromagnetic material like Aluminum will not shield it.
Interesting comment. Not completely doubting you ;-) but how in physics are you transmitting data using only magnetism?
NFC and RFID indeed are not quite the same. BUT. If you can ‘excite’ the chip, you induce voltage and info is transmitted, right?
open to education here.
OK ...
here’s some good gouge: http://apcmag.com/inside-nfc-how-near-field-communication-works.htm
“NFC works using magnetic induction: a reader emits a small electric current which creates a magnetic field that in turn bridges the physical space between the devices. That field is received by a similar coil in the client device where it is turned back into electrical impulses to communicate data such as identification number status information or any other information. So-called ‘passive’ NFC tags use the energy from the reader to encode their response while ‘active’ or ‘peer-to-peer’ tags have their own power source and respond to the reader using their own electromagnetic fields.
Like RFID NFC works in the 13.56MHz radiofrequency spectrum using less than 15mA of power to communicate data over distances that are usually far less than 20cm. Tags typically store between 96 and 512 bytes of data and transfer data using at speeds of 106Kb/s 212Kb/s 424Kb/s or 848Kb/s – enough to move small pieces of information virtually instantaneously as is essential in high-volume transport applications.”
My understanding as well. The thing that brought this issue to the forefront again for me is that the newer smartphones have NFC chips in them. The NFC feature is what enables Google Wallet and ApplePay. Unfortunately, this also puts an NFC reader in nearly everyone's pocket. I personally know 2 people who have been "scanned" in the past 6 weeks. Until the card companies implement the "pin" half of the chip and pin technology, we are all vulnerable to this theft. This is what lead me to disabling my chips.