US watches UK RFID Numberplate Trial

Written by Jason Cundall

August 9, 2005 | 13:55

Tags: #rfid #us

Companies: #eff

Big Brother is already watching us on the roads, what with the plethora of cameras out there keeping an eye on us motorists. But if a new RFID enabled numberplate trial is successful, He could be watching us far more closely than before, and Uncle Sam may just follow his lead:

The British government is preparing to test new high-tech license plates containing microchips capable of transmitting unique vehicle identification numbers and other data to readers more than 300 feet away.

Officials in the United States say they'll be closely watching the British trial as they contemplate initiating their own tests of the plates, which incorporate radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags to make vehicles electronically trackable.

"We definitely have an interest in testing an RFID-tagged license plate," said Jerry Dike, chairman of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and director of the Vehicle Titles and Registration Division of the Texas Department of Transportation.


More from Wired here.

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Getting your car chipped', eh? But all jokes aside - is this just another example of our eroding civil liberties, as the EFF and other organisations espouse, or is it just the next inevitable step in car identification? Let us know your thoughts on the matter over in the news forum here.
Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04