2008 Woodie Awards
RFID tags to substitute all IDs in fall
By Brandon Fox
Rocket Sports Editor
Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: News
"We realize that, as with any new technology, there are security concerns," said Dean Lindey, SRU's director of information technology. "The risk, however, is minimal, because there is a limit to the number of vending machine transactions that can be done in a day. There is also a 1-800 number and a Web site that students can access in case of a lost or stolen card."
Both Lindey and Smith assured that the pin verification numbers required for all off-campus transactions and any on-campus transactions over $3 cannot be stolen by hackers who may have scanners.
"The cards do not carry the pin number that is used by the card holder, therefore making it nearly impossible to be accessed by anyone other than the card holder himself," Lindey said.
The change does leave some people with a level of uncertainty.
"I have no idea what an RFID card is, and that scares me a little bit," said Brett Lelko, a sophomore physical education major. "I am all for new technology, but this is such a drastic change, I just hope it works out."
Another concern about the RFID card is the range of the card readers. Currently, readers can sense data from microchips at up to 350 feet. This could pose a problem for people walking by a vending machine who, from 25 feet away, may have their ID read, allowing people to use money on other users' accounts.
"The readers we will use will not be able to receive signals from that far," said Smith. "Our card readers will most likely only have a maximum range of two to three feet."
The university has put itself and the forefront of the technological wave.
Both Lindey and Smith assured that the pin verification numbers required for all off-campus transactions and any on-campus transactions over $3 cannot be stolen by hackers who may have scanners.
"The cards do not carry the pin number that is used by the card holder, therefore making it nearly impossible to be accessed by anyone other than the card holder himself," Lindey said.
The change does leave some people with a level of uncertainty.
"I have no idea what an RFID card is, and that scares me a little bit," said Brett Lelko, a sophomore physical education major. "I am all for new technology, but this is such a drastic change, I just hope it works out."
Another concern about the RFID card is the range of the card readers. Currently, readers can sense data from microchips at up to 350 feet. This could pose a problem for people walking by a vending machine who, from 25 feet away, may have their ID read, allowing people to use money on other users' accounts.
"The readers we will use will not be able to receive signals from that far," said Smith. "Our card readers will most likely only have a maximum range of two to three feet."
The university has put itself and the forefront of the technological wave.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 8
TC
posted 4/13/07 @ 2:04 PM EST
What's next? Radio controlled collars that detect when a student leaves campus? George Orwell is rolling over in his grave!
mjt9400@sru.edu
Matt Taggart
posted 4/16/07 @ 11:52 PM EST
The RFID tags intended to replace the current SRU IDs are an interesting idea, but it should be assured that the benefits of the radio frequency ID cards would outweigh the cost of implementing a system that has not been proven reliable for the said use. (Continued…)
Steve Winslow
posted 4/17/07 @ 5:44 PM EST
I think the University Administration should have setup an information page about RFIDs on the SRU webpage in order to inform students about the new Student IDs. (Continued…)
Brando
posted 4/17/07 @ 7:11 PM EST
OMG WTF are we serious here? I'm a huge advocate of technology and a lot of the concerns raised by this a little paranoid, but no one here has really considered the most scary thing about this: this can be used as a tracking system on campus. (Continued…)
Tim
posted 4/20/07 @ 8:33 AM EST
RFID tags, yet another infringement on our rights by the gov't. Add it to the ever-growing list of violations:
They violate the 1st Amendment by opening mail, caging demonstrators and banning books like "America Deceived" from Amazon. (Continued…)
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