RFID And Why You Need To Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

What is RFID? And why is my post title written in this manner? I absolutely had no idea what RFID is until today and I realized that it has been around for more than fifty years, a technology which was once limited to tracking cattle and is now tracking consumer products all over the world. RFID or Radio Frequency IDentification is a technology that uses communication via radio waves (also known as electromagnetic waves) to exchange data between a reader (a device which interprets the radio waves sent by the RFID tag) and an electronic tag (The RFID tag) attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking. Quite technical huh? Although this technology is very promising and is foreseen to eliminate long lines in grocery stores and airports, there are also some entities who would take advantage of such a technology like the electronic pickpockets.

We all know that the new credit cards and e-passports today contain tiny two way radios called RFID chips. Because of this, millions of us are prone to electronic pickpocketing, because these thieves can just scan our credit card numbers and other personal information without making physical contact. It would be such a horror to find out that you have maxed out on your credit card limit without you even purchasing a thing right?

To stop these electronic pickpockets, we need to arm ourselves. We need to protect our credit cards, electronic passports and other ID cards by blocking the data/information contained in them. How? You would need an rfid wallet for that.With RFID or contactless technology, identity theft and electronic pickpocketing has become like a stroll in the park. And everyone who holds a credit/debit card is at risk! Would you risk it too?

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