RFID company 'preys on fears'

A company which sells passport covers that claim to protect travellers from identity theft has been accused by the UK Home Office of preying on ungrounded fears, reports Scotsman.

MyID is charging customers up to £20 for a cover fitted with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology it says will block criminals from stealing details from the new generation of biometric passports.

Around 20 million of the passports with the RFID chips have already been issued in the UK as a way of cutting down cross-border crime and illegal immigration. But Home Office officials believe the company is trying to take advantage of travellers' concerns about growing levels of identity theft.

1st Choice Security Solutions and Advanced Asset Tracking Solutions have partnered to provide a long-range RFID transportation temperature monitoring system, states RFID News.

The system, coined TransTemp, utilises RFID tags affixed to goods for monitoring storage temperature requirements during transportation.

The system uses a multi-communications platform to enable real-time monitoring of storage temperature in transportation vehicles in any geographical location with public mobile network coverage (GSM/CDMA).

Pennsylvania casinos have boosted security by implementing hi-tech RFID casino chips, says Crunch Casino.

Michael Cruz, director of gaming laboratory operations for the state Gaming Control Board, says: "The ultimate goal of these counter measures is to defeat counterfeiters. If you're able to counterfeit the chips and not be detected, basically you're playing for free at that point."

Casino tables will be equipped with RFID readers to verify and keep track of chips and antennas are placed under the felt for each player to read the chips and transmit information.