RFID tags in our livestock, in our pets, in our licenses, in passports, in food, in clothing and maybe someday in you. It is getting rather excessive. Fortunately there are a number of ways to kill RFID chips. See the Technical Documents section of the right hand sidebar for how to build your very own RFID bomb with which you can clear you home of unauthorized RFID chips. For the less technically inclined there is a simple device that most people already own which does a admirable job of frying RFID chips.
The way that passive RFID chips work is they pickup a radio signal from the wand using a large in-chip antenna. This energy is stored up over a short period to accumulate enough power to activate the chip and then send back its code number to the receiver.
If you can send out a strong enough signal, and it doesn’t take much, you will overload the RFID chip and burn it out. A microwave oven on high for just a moment does the trick in my own tests. The chip I tested was inside of a credit card and I fried it on high for about 2 seconds - On-Off! The card is still operational using the magnetic strip and the numbers embossed on it but the RFID chip is fried and the antenna was nicely crisped. The hologram (nickel) was also fried and is now unreadable.
Some clothing companies are now putting RFID tags in jeans, sneakers and other items. Many other items are being manufactured with RFID tags. Their excuse is inventory control and theft prevention. If that were really the case then they should be turning the tags off when you buy the product. For a while that was what was done but no more.
There is a new and more sinister reason for the vendors to be tagging your products - they are tagging you in the process. Scenario: you go to Wal-Mart and buy shoes with an RFID tag. When you check out you pay with a credit card. Using that information they link you to that RFID tag. When you return they are able to know that you walked in the store. They can then track where you move through the store and what you buy each time to learn about your interests and buying habits. This helps them target you with advertising so you’ll buy more from them.
Vendors are already discussing signs that change based on who the buyer is near the signs. Then there is the custom pricing model that is already being explored on the Internet by some vendors using cookies - they change the prices of products based on who the customer is to maximize their profits. Coming soon to a store near you!
Ah, but you say, what if I buy those shoes for my brother? No problem, when he comes in the store’s software recognize that the RFID tag and the person don’t match when he checks out and they correct their database. More over, if your brother already has other tags embedded in his apparel they can do a tentative correction as he walks in the door.
Warning: Putting metal into a microwave oven causes sparks and may start a fire. I am not suggesting you do this. Any do-do you do at your own risk. This is merely my observation and experience. Usual disclaimers apply: don’t walk on the grass; void where prohibited. I would also not suggest putting living organisms inside the microwave. No kidding. Have fun kiddies!
Save your kids Mylar ballons. Mylar also interrupts the RFID signal according to the GAO.
Comment Celeste — June 17, 2006 @ 9:46 am
walter you are a very devioius person spreading info about how to destroy the matrix. of cours you are just reporting your experiences. understood. if people use it to break the program that is their bizzyness. you are required reading for all survivalists.
Comment anna — June 17, 2006 @ 10:11 am
You said — “don’t put live animals in the microwave”
So what you are saying is we should fry the tags before inserting them in the animal’s ear. That makes sense as getting a whole cow or hors into the microwave oven would be kinda hard, especially if it is alive and kicking. :-)
All this may be unnecessary. I read that in australia they are having a fail rate of over 50% of the tags going bad when they go to read them such that they have to reread them three or four times and that is dramaticallly increasing the labor for processing ancimals at auctions and things like that. The tags are failing all by themselves.. All that is driving the costs up for farmers.
Comment Mark — June 17, 2006 @ 12:29 pm
Walter i love the lama picutre!
Comment PV — June 17, 2006 @ 1:53 pm
Walter, are you sure your name isn’t Bond - James Bond?
Comment Ernie — June 17, 2006 @ 2:06 pm
Walter…Can we expect an article about your conversation with Neil Hammerschmidt soon? Or have I somehow missed it?
Comment Neil W. — June 17, 2006 @ 3:01 pm
even if Naze fails we won’t have won….farmers sold out before NAZE even begun
Naze is the mark of the beast
so they tell me in the southeast
god will have his way
the bible-belters say
we won’t be tagged
because we’re saved
animals don’t have souls
and tribulation won’t get us
anyway..
the rapture better come soon
is all this sinner can say….
Comment sid sargent — June 17, 2006 @ 4:12 pm
Neil, Mr. Hammerschmidt, the Animal ID Coordinator for the USDA’s NAIS program, promised to answer my interview questions but it has been a long time since I sent them. His assistant Dore Mobley promised I would have the answers but that was back in May. I have left phone messages and emails. I call, I write, what’s a farmer to do? :)
Perhaps other people would be interested in emailing them and politely asking them to please promptly answer the interview questions sent to them by Walter Jeffries of SugarMtnFarm and NoNAIS.org. Mr. Hammerschmidt’s email address is Neil.E.Hammerschmidt@usda.gov and his phone number is (301) 734-5571. Dore Mobley’s email address is Dore.M.Mobley@aphis.usda.gov and her phone number is (301) 734-7255. I had hoped to have the interview to publish in June. The comment period for NAIS reopens in July.
Comment walterj — June 17, 2006 @ 4:29 pm
Walter…Please see this worldnetdaily article written by Henry Lamb and published on Sat. June 17, 2006. What does this mean? Has the USDA adopted some new tactic? Or is the beginning of the end of a mandatory NAIS?
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50577">link
I still maintain that Lamb’s statement that “international guidelines call for an electronic animal tracking system as a requirement to participate in global markets” does NOT translate to a national animal id system.
Our meat exporting companies have ALREADY MET THIS REQUIREMENT WITHOUT NAIS…
I honestly must question whether even Henry Lamb understands the difference between “an electronic animal tracking system” for beef producers who want to sell overseas, and a national animal id system!
The requirement for electronic animal tracking within the industry does NOT mean a national animal id system! These two terms have somehow become interchangeable and it’s driving me NUTS trying to point out the difference!
But please see that worldnetdaily.com article and tell me what it means!
link
Comment Neil W. — June 17, 2006 @ 4:37 pm
Walter…my email is on the way to both Hammerschmidt and Mobley. I promise it will be polite. :)
Comment Neil W. — June 17, 2006 @ 4:41 pm
Walter…Here is the email that I sent to Neil Hammerschmidt and to his assistant. Please note my reference to a recent letter sent by Congressman Holden to Sec. Johanns.
Hope this helps.
To Neil Hammerschmidt;
I am asking you to please answer the questions that were posed to you by Walter Jeffries of Sugar Mountain Farms VT. and www.nonais.org. I understand that Mr. Jeffries submitted questions in May 2006 that have still gone unanswered by either you or your assistant Dore Mobley.
Many people are anxiously awaiting your answers to those questions. In fact, I presented your name to my US Congressman Tim Holden (PA) in a recent informal meeting with that Congressman. I informed Congressman Holden that your name has been associated with the NAIS since at least 1998, and that you, of all people, should be able to answer his questions about the NAIS.
It is my understanding that Congressman Holden has sent his own list of questions and constituent concerns to Secretary Johanns. I hope that you can understand our unrelenting desire to have our questions answered by persons at the highest level of the USDA and APHIS and whatever other alphabet soup agencies are responsible for the NAIS.
Please remember that we are American citizens asking questions of our government officials. We expect straightforward and honest answers, and we have the right to ask these questions as taxpayers and as citizens of the greatest nation on the planet.
Anxiously awaiting your reply;
Comment Neil W. — June 17, 2006 @ 5:15 pm
Walter…I just noticed something noteworthy about the abovementioned Henry Lamb article. Within the body of his article, he links the “national coalition dedicated to blocking a federally mandated animal id system” to libertyark.net
Mr.Lamb should be advised that www.nonais.org is a major forum for the anti-nais coalition…and his link to libertyark. net is all well and good, but he needs to also recognize your site as well.
I am quite sure that you will agree that any site dedicated to the elimination of the NAIS is a friend…but Mr. Lamb needs to know that there are more than one sites dedicated to the same cause.
I will also write to him and point out this oversite.
Comment Neil W. — June 17, 2006 @ 6:02 pm
walter how do you do that cool logo that overlaps the white to green areas across different sections of your webpage header??? I understand how you did the graphic, probgly in photoshop, but it is the overlapping of the web objects that I don’t understand. It looks really cool. Great new logos recently of the working horse pig and something else. was it an aplaca???
Comment anna — June 18, 2006 @ 10:06 am
Anna, I used Cascading Style Sheets (CSS/HTML). Look at the source code for this web page to get an idea of how it is done. The essencial code is:
< img alt="Logo" src="/imagesmisc/NoNAIShorsedraft200.png"
title="I'd like to draft those deskjockies at the USDA to do a real days work."
style="float:left; margin-top:-10px;
margin-left:-8px;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;" / >
The inline style info there is the key. Play with it on your local machine with an HTML editor or text editor and your web browser.
Comment walterj — June 18, 2006 @ 10:16 am
I thought there was a set of plans floating around on the net fur turning a camera into a simple RFID tag zapper? I can’t find it. Do you know where it is? Could be handy. You should have mentioned that in this article.
Comment Mark — June 18, 2006 @ 10:41 am
Mark,
The link is in technical Documents section “RFID Zapper Plans” “How to Destroy….”
Comment Carolyn Sowden — June 18, 2006 @ 11:02 am
My hubby (who is an all-knowing computer geek and does computers for 9 counties in the NE TEXAS area for TXDOT )said to be very careful trying to fry rfid chips because the same signal could fry your computer or any electronics in your home since they have computer and memory chips in them.
Comment SUSAN — June 18, 2006 @ 8:20 pm
OMG! Just discovered your site and this hair-raising issue. My head is still spinning. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for putting everything people need together in one place. If the letter writing doesn’t work , the microwave will!
Phil
http://horsetrainingsuccess.blogspot.com/
Comment Phil Tragear — June 19, 2006 @ 1:20 am
Susan, RFID tags have gain-up antennas in them that are far more sensitive to EMP signals than normal electronics. Thus a EMP power range that destroys RFID is far lower than that required to damage computers. Additionally, computers have shielding, grounding and more importantly something like a RFID bomb or zapper works on a frequency specific to the tag chip. Cheers, -WJ
Comment walterj — June 19, 2006 @ 6:05 am
Walter, I hate to look better goin than commin, but these RFID chips are more than a marketing scheme. Corporations and government have been married in an unholy incestuous alliance to trace your every move. Spychips.com, which is featured on your site, is the best location I know of for info on this subject.
My fellow Americans, please continue to tell everyone you see of nais because a single aspect of the existing “police state” will open the whole can of worms; AND THE WORM IS TURNING
Comment Dan Frantz — June 19, 2006 @ 10:21 am
If it takes only a short 2 second electrical burst of an microwave to fry an rfid tag what will all the electrical bursts of lightning and all that power they put off in a thunderstorm do to the rfid tags in the livestock who spend their lives outside and certainly weather many storms?Our septic system motor has gone out 3 times in as many years due to the closeness of lighning hits (at major costs of $300 to $1200 to replace each time!!!! IT makes me want to do what bears do, except we have too many neighbors)
Comment SUSAN — June 20, 2006 @ 6:02 am
Ah, this is all good info. We’ll need it when the NAIS Stormtroopers start appearing on our farms. You know they’ll all be RFID’d themselves. We can ask them to stop and have their *picture* taken. Where they go after that, no one will know. . . .
Comment Podchef — June 20, 2006 @ 9:27 am
CSS? HTML? XYZ? Logos? So….. Walter…. You are a farmer, a writer, a graphics artist, web designer, programer, national activist….. what else? Are you willing to run for president???? The country needs some one good!
Comment Mark — June 20, 2006 @ 4:40 pm
link
These are already being used to monitor cropland out here on the lone prairie. Hard to play the game when most of the rules are undisclosed.
Comment Donna — June 20, 2006 @ 10:00 pm
Donna, Chips aren’t needed. Google-remote sensing. link 5 pages long, but very informative.
Comment Celeste — June 21, 2006 @ 7:24 am
Thank you, Celeste.
You have to wonder why US farmers aren’t better informed by their reps and the USDA. Just an oversight, I guess. No pun intended.
Comment Donna — June 21, 2006 @ 4:19 pm
I doubt it’s oversight. I know NH published informational hearings twice and when people showed up and complained they stopped publishing the dates and times.
It’s intentional. No doubt in my mind.
Comment Sue F — June 22, 2006 @ 5:48 am
Link
Gosh! Maybe all these government entities with high tech dreams will end up like tigers chasing one another’s tails. One can hope.
Comment donna — June 22, 2006 @ 6:14 pm
I’ve read stuff on RFID tags like this before, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that you touched on a provocative and controversial issue of what is commonly referred to as “dynamic pricing”- a form of a “dicriminatory” pricing tactic. In its most simple form, you see discriminatory pricing at department stores that offer “senior citizen” discounts. Its a legal way of tailoring the price of products to induce customer purchases by customers that would normally not be inclined to make such a purchase.
While in graduate business school I learned quite a bit about the issue and wrote one of my major works on the subject. In fact, Amazon.com was assailed for pricing DVDs through “dynamic pricing”, using its vast database of consumer click history and purchasing habits (ever notice how they suggest products to buy within your “store”?). I pondered then, as I do now, the effects that RFID tags may have on this sort of marketing and pricing. Currently, e-commerce sites use “clickstream” technology to learn consumer purchase habits (while RFID will enable bricks-and-mortar companies, e.g. WalMart, to do the same).
By the way, if you all want to experience first-hand how this works, just try to purchase airline tickets using expedia, travelocity, or some other travel site. Usually by the 3rd or 4th site, you will have just about been shown the lowest prices available (actually, the lowest price the site is willing to sell you a ticket).
While technology has indeed delivered many useful tools to the consumer public, one needs to stop and think at which point does the technology begin to deliver us to the
tools.
Many regards-
G. Martin, MBA
Comment G. Martin — June 27, 2006 @ 1:48 pm
Aye, this very thought has worried me. Interesting to know that this was something you have spend time thinking about. I’m not against technology, I’m a chemical engineer, programmer and have done computer hardware too as well as mechanical engineering. But I don’t like systems that take us over leaving us with less choice or control in our own lives. There are a lot of good uses for RFID and like with atomic power, some nasty applications as well.
Comment walterj — June 27, 2006 @ 2:29 pm
Hello All:)
The following link:
linK
…is the first chapter of a book called SpyChips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID. I can only imagine how chilling the remainder of the book must be.
respects, Wm
Comment Mr Dirty Nails — July 3, 2006 @ 9:39 pm
Does anyone know where we can obtain a thorough list of manufacturers/products that are currently using RFID. I have been all over Caspian and SpyChips webpages, and I can find bits and pieces, but not a list. Word searches are not helping, either. I would like to adjust my purchasing power to avoid rewarding any of these companies with our money. Thanks in advance.
Comment Texas Goat Gal — July 14, 2006 @ 12:05 pm
idont think the goverment should try to keep track of my animals i dont want tags in or on my animals im not paying for permits becouse its hard a noufe for a farmer to make a living with out having to bye permits for every animal they have well i geuse wat im saying is this is just about the stupidest stuf iv ever herd of oh yea watss up with the 666 the mark of the beast number on the chicken on the top of this page
[Aye, it is a stupid idea. Be sure to write your congressional and state level legislators to let them know what you think of NAIS. The 666 on the logo is a reference to the biblical mark of the beast. Whether that is real or myth, one would have thought that the government would have been smart enough to avoid playing into it. Or perhaps they did it all intentionally. Either way it is poor foresight on their part. -WJ]
Comment j and c farms — January 14, 2007 @ 7:29 pm