Although not exactly crypto-related, I couldn't forego the opportunity to pass this along - From: risks@CSL.SRI.COM (RISKS Forum) Newsgroups: comp.risks Subject: RISKS DIGEST 16.14 Message-ID: <CMM.0.90.1.771548444.risks@chiron.csl.sri.com> Date: 13 Jun 94 23:00:44 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: risks@csl.sri.com Distribution: world Organization: The Internet Lines: 644 Approved: risks@csl.sri.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Jun 94 16:16 EDT From: Lynn R Grant <Grant@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL> Subject: Big brother wants the shirt off your back Here's another risk on the horizon. We may have to wait a few years, though. From the June 1994 issue of Bobbin, "The premier news and information source of the global sewn products industry": Groups such as the American Textile Partnership (AMTEX), a research consortium that links the sewn products industry with the Department of Energy's national laboratories, also are looking at RF technology as a means to improve the production process. In a research project called the Embedded Electronic Fingerprint, long-term work is underway to develop a computer-type device the size of a grain of wheat that could be attached to a garment and used through the entire product life cycle. "A manufacturer could program into the device information unique to a garment, such as the size, color, style, line, or plant of manufacture, care instructions, etc.," explains Jud Early, director of research and development for the Textile/Clothing Technology Corp, [TC]**2. "There also would be a large amount of blank memory that could be used for anti-counterfeit tracking and more." Since each tag would have a unique identity, in-process inventory could be tracked easily using RF units--without ever touching garments or having to open shipping boxes. For example, a carton could be passed through a reading system, which would verify the contents against the packing list. So, all that is needed is for the clerk at the store to capture the identity of the shirt, perhaps through a barcode on the tag (so they wouldn't have to install the special shirt readers), and they already know your identity from your credit card number (unless someone else buys your shirts for you), so they can track your movements by setting up shirt readers in various places. But that might take more collusion between government and the stores than we want to speculate. So try this: a crime is committed. A few days later, you walk past a hidden shirt reader, and are immediately approached by an officer of the law, who arrests you for the crime. "But I was nowhere near the scene of the crime," you protest. "On the contrary," the officer counters, "one of our hidden shirt readers detected you shirt in the vicinity of the crime. You must be guilty." One would hope that the manufacturers of these devices don't accidentally program duplicate serial numbers in them. And you should think twice about lending your shirt to your girlfriend. Lynn Grant Grant@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL ------------------------------