RFID Toys: 11 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) chips are small computer chips that can broadcast information from them, often without the need for a battery.  Now used in U.S. passports and many consumer goods, there are some scary Youtube videos of hackers proving how much and how insecure the information on an RFID chip is.

Luckily, there is a way to reclaim your privacy. 

The RFID Toys:  11 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment is a hobby kit that includes chips, a manual/experiment book and some software, all designed to help you understand how RFID chips work and how to use them for your own nefarious purposes:  Anything from an RFID activated doggie door to implantable(!) tracking chips.

The American author of the kit, Amal Graafstra, knows his stuff.  He voluntarily "chipped" himself (one in each hand) to make his own RFID-tricked out home respond to his commands, bringing him one step closer to cyborg. 

The picture you see below is an actual x-ray of Amal's hands with RFID chips implanted, straight from Amal's website!  You can read more about Amal and his experiments here. 

And yes, you too can experiment on implantable chips provided in the kit...although I really wouldn't advise actually putting these things in anything living.

This kit is generally for the more experienced hacker, but just think of the possibilities, not only in how to use and access these chips, but also how to shut them down to maintain your privacy.

Hack away!

[buy now from Amazon.com]

[buy now from Amazon Canada]