Paranoia

Don't microwave newer money. Due to the new tags in the 20's, it isn't going to go well. I got a kick out of hearing how they set off theft detectors at various stores, which isn't far fetched but I really didn't think many places were using RFID for products yet... thought this was all in the trial stages.

More disturbing is the idea of tracking cash purchases. This wouldn't have the best accuracy for people at the moment, but drawing lines between people wouldn't be that hard via software, and tracking the cash itself wouldn't be that hard... tracking it between people would be harder, but doable, you'd just have to use interviewing when it was worth it to you.

IE, person A is issued a $20 bill from bank of america with RFID serial #1024768. That person pays for their gas and a candy bar the next week in a different state. If you want to know if it was that person and the money hadn't changed hands- check the surveillance tapes of the gas station to see how made the purchase as that exact moment.

Or, say the money was used in conjunction with a crime. Start tracking back every single place it was used throughout its issued life, looking for patterns in locale and holding (ie, how long someone held onto it before they used it, if it just "appeared" or if it had been issued via an establishment, like say change at a gas station). Start back tracking until you get a knock on your door saying "We need to know every place & person you have had fiscal dealings with over the last 20 days because bills you had in your possession were either traced to a criminal or received from a criminal or terrorist. If you can't account for your dealings, you'll be accused of obstructing an investigation, etc, etc".

The idea of having to know what I'd spent, when, from whom, etc would be a nightmare to most people, so they'd prolly be for any sort of way to take that responsibility off of themselves, which could lead to more insidious things: passive RFID monitoring devices picking up RFID tags everywhere. Want to know what someone was up to? Track their money, looking for patterns in usage.

More disturbing would be walking down the street with a couple thousand bucks in your wallet of tagged money, and evil doers™ using a small device essentially allowing them to know who has the most cash in their pocket to rob as they go down the street or exit a club. Or bank. Or grocery store. Etc.

Egh, I'm gonna stop now and go find some puppies to play with or something to brighten my world, as I hate sounding like a conspiracy nut. People just shouldn't forward this kinda stuff to me, it wigs me out for days due to my natural paranoia.

----- Update -----

No offense people, but sending me links like this is not gonna help my paranoia.