CharlieCard distribution

[xxv.livejournal.com]

Has anyone gotten a CharlieCard yet? I hear they were supposed to be handing them out to commuters today, but I didn't see anyone at Davis.

MBTA jargon note: CharlieCards are the RFID cards that you wave over the dark grey rectangles on the new turnstiles. CharlieTickets are the paper cards that jam the turnstiles. CharliePasses are the thin plastic cards (cleverly mislabeled "CharlieTicket") that they're deprecating.

Update: I think I made up the name "CharliePass", although I swear I saw it somewhere in the MBTA literature.
Update #2: Davis gets them starting tomorrow. Other stations get them at other times.

Comments

[xxv.livejournal.com]

RFID != magical ability to track movements of an individual.

I'm skeptical about how RFID may be abused, but knowing the technologies (there's plenty to learn on wikipedia and other sources) helps me understand the limits of what can be done.

(Also, keep in mind the incompetency of the MBTA as one limiting factor. They have enough trouble making the system work at all, let alone stalk people).

If you're paranoid about the technology being used to track people based on account numbers, don't use the system or pay with cash.

If you're paranoid about RFID magically making it so that people can track you, just by having it - read up on the technology to understand the limits. Also keep in mind that you can easily shield RFIDs from prying eyes (or in my case, other, conflicting RFIDs) with as little as bit of screen patches (for screen windows) that you can get at a hardware store.

[glowroper.livejournal.com]

I can also nuke them in the microwave, as I plan to do with my passport. But I think that would erase the data, too.

It isn't being "paranoid" - it is defending my right to travel in my own country without govt. oversight. Nothing magical about it.

[xxv.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree: passports shouldn't have RFIDs in them without built-in defaultly-on shielding. And I wouldn't exactly trust that to be the best.

All I suggest is that you fight the technology by understanding it, not by nuking anything that you may suspect to contain an RFID. By understanding it, you move from the realm of "paranoid" to "RFID expert" and can better protect yourself from potential microwave-proof RFIDs. Knowledge is power, etc. ;-)