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How to block/kill RFID chips

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introHow to block/kill RFID chips

In this Instructable I will describe different ways to block or kill RFID tags. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. If you do not know about this technology yet, you should definitely start familiarizing yourself with it, because the number of different devices that utilize these types of tags is growing exponentially.

RFID chips are very similar to barcodes in the sense that a certain amount of data is contained within them, and then transmitted to a reading device which then processes and utilizes the information. The major difference is that barcodes have to be physically visible to the reading device, which is usually only able to scan them at a distance of a 12 inches or less. RFID tags, on the other hand, do not have to be visible to the reading device. They can be scanned through clothes, wallets, and even cars. The distance from which they can be read is also much greater than that of a barcode. At DEFCON an RFID tag was scanned at a distance of 69 feet, and that was back in 2005, the possible reading distance now is probably much greater than that.

There are a few different categories of RFID tags, but the most common ones, and the ones we will be dealing with in this instructable, are the "passive" type. Passive RFID chips contain no internal power supply. They contain an antenna which is able to have a current induced in it when within range of the RFID reader. The tag then uses that electricity to power the internal chip, which bounces its data back out through the antenna, where it will be picked up by the reader.

For more information on RFID tags check out the wikipedia entry.
How to block/kill RFID chips
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step 1Reasons for blocking / destroying RFID chips

The main reason someone would want to block or destroy RFID chips would be to maintain privacy. In the last step I explained that RFID tags can be read from very long dist…


step 2Where can RFID chips be found

As RFID chips become cheaper, the number of devices that include them grows. Currently there are RFID tags in: - US passports: The RFID tag contains all the information …


step 3How to block a RFID tag

Luckily RFID tag signals can easily be blocked. This means that you will have the option to use the tag whenever you want, and prevent others from being able to read it.Th…


step 4How to kill your RFID chip

In this step I will describe a few ways to permanently disable or kill an RFID chip. Most products that you own that contain RFID tags belong to you, so you have the right…


186 comments
1-50 of 186
Dec 10, 2009. 8:13 PMabadfart says:
what about a powerful magnet?? 
Aug 19, 2009. 2:21 PMdigitallyinsane says:
Passive RFID is triggered at approximately 3 inches, but there are some readers that can read all the way out to around 20 feet in a sterile environment. Throw a couple RFID sources in the same area, and wham, too much interference. My Passport CARD, not my booklet, Credit card, not my ATM, and access badge for work all have RFID, all passive, and at slightly different frequency returns. My work badge for instance doesn't trigger the 'tap here' credit card swipe and my credit card doesn't make my work door light up like an unauthorized badge. My passport card has the telltale square just like the other two, but it won't scan anywhere, so I assume it's a different wavelength. I laminated a piece of tin foil with clear packing tape, cut it into credit card sized slices and put it in the pockets before and after my cards in my wallet. Cheapest, readily avaliable solution. Tried the solution on my work badge to get in the door, in the wallet without the tin foil scanned and worked, with the tin foil didn't scan and didn't let me in. I repeated the test at the gas station with my credit card, so I know it works with different wavelength RFID. I'm convinced.
Aug 19, 2009. 6:58 AMsquishoso says:
Maybe you could also use a tazer or a piezo to give some sparks and fry the RFID without leaving a trace...
Apr 27, 2008. 5:56 PM2dMaxf says:
How would you kill a rfid chip that is injected under the skin? They put these in crazies and people with Alzheimers desease. Got any idea? Magnets maybe?
May 8, 2009. 11:10 AMmsw100 says:
Put them in a large micro
Jul 11, 2009. 10:51 PMburton6054 says:
you my friend just made my day hahahaha
May 7, 2009. 3:03 PMand7barton says:
If we ever sleepwalk into a compulsory injected microchip society, the answer to this would be to cut the skin and pop the capsule back out as soon as you get home from the "Citizen's Implant Centre". Then you can tape it onto the outside of your arm, and remove it when you choose to.
May 27, 2009. 10:22 AMJawatech says:
I can't wait!
May 5, 2009. 4:58 AMwupme says:
You might want to take a look into the RFID Zipper of the CCC (Chaos Computer Club Germany)
https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/static/r/f/i/RFID-Zapper(EN)_77f3.html

Its the only way (besides the hammer method) that leaves no trace that you destroyed the chip.
The Microwave is bad idea, it can happen that the place where the chip looks slightly burned.
Mar 31, 2009. 1:13 PMNobodyInParticular says:
Waving a magnet around would not induce much current at all, much less enough to destroy it. Some RFID tags (especially ones used as anti-theft devices in stores) have a magnetically-activated reset switch. I don't think one used for tagging pets would have a reset switch, though.
May 2, 2008. 8:10 PMG MAN says:
I too would like that info. I don't think magnets will? I have a dog with one. I really don't want to cut it out. there must be some way.
Dec 18, 2008. 6:05 AManubreed says:
if i were yo i would get the chip removed. it has been proven in lab studys that canceruos tumor a very common sideefect of these chips
Jun 13, 2009. 9:06 PMmerseyless says:
oh god, cancerous tumors a very common sideefect! there's evil spirits on that chip... another conspiracy if you knew ANYTHING about the chips, then you would know you just had a major comment fail. just curious but did you make that stuff up, if you diddnt then i would LOVE to get the scientific paper you are reffering to... btw g man, having a chipped dog is a good thing, as das_wookie said, its like a I.D tag that never gets lost or worn.
May 16, 2009. 5:13 PMDas_Wookie says:
If your dog ever was picked up by animal control, that chip is likely the ONLY way you would have of ever getting it back. Collars and tags come off all the time. That chip only contains an ID number. That number can then be looked up by registered owners of scanners, but it doesn't contain any information than what you freely shared to start with. The ability for your dog to be able to be returned to you, solely because of that chip, saves millions of animal lives a year!
Apr 9, 2009. 8:07 PMdombeef says:
Really?
Oct 27, 2008. 3:33 AMandysuth says:
Is it your dog? Do you know the location of the chip? I could tell you how to find it, but would fear for the dog! Why not take the dog to your local vets and ask the ID chip be removed? Personally, I'd keep it in there, just in case the dog runs off (quite common around 5th november), it's easier to find, people like RSPCA will scan the dog to see if they know it's owner/vet and return via that information. -AS
May 5, 2009. 10:02 PMBMWalsh says:
November the 5th... lol
Nov 11, 2008. 11:33 PMmerseyless says:
dont you get it! whack the dog with a hammer! (apparently the most covert way to do it) or if that doesn't suit you then just stab, slice or microwave it. joking! I'd just keep it there unless pedophiles are following your dog
May 7, 2009. 3:15 PMitsm3again says:
XD ahahahaha that is the funniest thing i have read all week
Apr 20, 2009. 2:11 AMfrikkie says:
hahahahahah yeah!
Jan 27, 2009. 5:55 PMPKTraceur says:
That made my day. LoL, (PS, I have a dog, that just made me lol... really...) ~~RoAr
Nov 14, 2008. 11:51 AMmilo0is0hot0 says:
LOL
Nov 12, 2008. 1:02 PMandysuth says:
thanks. I'm not sure that whacking the whole dog with the hammer would help with this guy's attempt to remove the chip from the dog. Show some sympathy, if you read on, you can see aliens are remote controlling his dog and spying on him for the CIA. I do wonder how one got in his dog, or how he obtained his dog as he clearly doens't agree with the RFID technology, so he wouldn't have planted it himself. -AS
Dec 4, 2008. 2:32 AMmerseyless says:
it's a conspiracy get this (insert hippy voice here) its a conspiracy man, the government is planting dogs to spy on the people of the world... man. I've already fixed some dogs with tinfoil man... ya wanna donate?
Jul 8, 2009. 8:05 AMpunkatsub says:
are they the same as the ones that the put in as dvd and stuff, at kmart and stuff, if so, could you just foil up the said dvd
May 5, 2009. 2:34 PMplastiqmanb says:
WAIT! Tampering with your passport or any government issued document by means of breaking the RFID tag will get you into more hell than just leaving it alone and obtaining a rfid blocking wallet / sleve.
May 6, 2009. 11:18 AMRetroTechno says:
If I were you, I wouldn't zap a passport if you don't want to get delayed in customs. The new passports have a mark and they'll be expecting it to be there. The foil-shielding method seems much safer to me for use on your important document. Who walks around with their passport all the time anyway?!? Mine's in the safe deposit box, well shielded by a nice metal safe. :-)
May 4, 2009. 10:44 PMscoochmaroo says:
Where do I hammer the passport! (I mean what part of the passport, not where in my house. . .)
May 5, 2009. 4:19 PMaimin archer says:
It's best to do it in a closet, away from cameras. Oh, I don't know, the entire thing?
May 5, 2009. 1:24 PMlash058 says:
I wonder, if a product of a store with a rfid tag was covered with tin foil completely, would that prevent the reader at the entrance from reading the tag?
May 5, 2009. 11:22 AMReCreate says:
Maybe inducting too much electricity to the tag,to fry its chip might work someway.
Apr 7, 2009. 11:31 AMfguna says:
A quick and simple way to destroy an RFID chip is to shock it with a stun gun. These can put out 10,000 volts easily and can way overload and fry any electronics in the chip. No visible alterations either.
May 4, 2009. 10:44 PMscoochmaroo says:
No so "easy" for those of us without stun guns.
Apr 12, 2009. 8:23 PMbenz_z says:
some newer shop use RFID tags for security purposes like in cloths or boxes (even the old shop sucurty systems get fooled by a bag lined with tin foil they go off when a certian sized peice of metal goes thru tinfoil fools them) umm stealing is bad so dont do it im sry to say my friend is banned from almost every store in our city it becomes a habit he got addicted to the rush and started to steal pointlessly. its almost like drugs in a way.
Apr 30, 2009. 4:32 PMDaddio_UK says:
If you go through the till/checkout, these stop working. There is a magnet in the barcode reader or embeded in the checkout that 'kills' it when it's passed over it, so when you leave the store, it doesn't set the alarm off. These are meant to be destroyed this way, it wont work on other types.
Jan 10, 2009. 11:25 PMXxcarbonxX says:
Would an electromagnetic pulse(emp) disable a RFID chip?
Mar 31, 2009. 12:04 PMwqualls says:
I wonder if an old hand held cassette tape eraser would end the little beasties life? You remeber the type? Little square box, plugs into the wall with on off switch, just a strong electromagnet. It will kill a computer hard-drive spinning or not through its case.
Mar 31, 2009. 1:07 PMNobodyInParticular says:
I suspect it wouldn't induce enough current.
Feb 2, 2009. 12:34 PMourari says:
I believe a few German guys developed a DIY RFID-zapper out of a single use film camera. For details: https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/static/r/f/i/RFID-Zapper(EN)_77f3.html
Mar 3, 2009. 12:13 PM3ricj says:
If you know those guys, I'd love to get in touch with them - - we've tried to reproduce their findings here at hackerbotlabs, and have found that most tags are highly resistant to these sorts of energy levels.
Mar 31, 2009. 12:33 PMhellstudios says:
huh.........I remember one of these things being on the back of my original Sims computer game case..... can they be used for anti theft?
May 13, 2008. 10:27 AMWhatnot says:
There's another method to destroy them, with a 'mini-EMP', basically it's making an antenna of the right dimension and connecting it to a camera flash capacitor and sending a strong pulse near the RFID, instructions are on the internet. As for the list of items containing RFID's, it's not just the US passport, any 'friendly favorite nation' of the US were asked to include them, meaning all EU countries started to insert them into passports even before the plan to do it to US passports went through the first run of bureaucracy.
Feb 24, 2009. 1:33 PMLithops says:
Sorry, in the EU (at least in Finland) we started to insert those chips after USA insisted upon it in order to get in the country.
Feb 25, 2009. 2:11 AMWhatnot says:
That's what I said, and ironically now the US started asking even their friends to apply for a visa before entering the country, and meanwhile the pentagon has decided to hire people for the army who weren't even approved yet for a green card or applied for citizenship and have no clue about US/western views or values or habits or goals or philosophies, and can't even speak english, yet they get hired to kill people for america, that's the 'change' and 'regaining moral stature and leadership' obama must have been talking about huh.
Nov 14, 2008. 11:58 AMmilo0is0hot0 says:
In the uk we have Oyster cards that we touch on to a reader to pay for the bus and train. does this have a rfid chip in it??? (my guess is it does) thanks
Dec 18, 2008. 6:03 AManubreed says:
you should know that in the u.k. these devices along with many other servallince equipment are widely used. more so then any other place on earth. it seems to me that the u.k. is a testing ground for hightech bigbrother activity
Dec 18, 2008. 10:43 AMmilo0is0hot0 says:
tell me about it...i pass way more than 300 cctv cameras every day!!! lets not even start on conspirecies and citizen control...you can tell someone all the places they have ever used there oyster....crazy!!!
Jan 5, 2009. 8:12 AMFasteners says:
CCTV helps to capture rapists and discourage criminal activity. Big Brother Big Smother... who cares.
Jan 7, 2009. 4:56 AMomnibot says:
Also I refer to this link :
CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police
Jan 7, 2009. 4:49 AMomnibot says:
I just have to state my opinion in this .. Most rapes does not occur outdoors but in peoples homes, often the victims home. As for preventing criminal activity .. why is it that I never hear of crimes solved by cctv except for in bank-robbery's and store-burglary's? Here in Sweden we've gotten cctv survailance for a few years. It doesn't do anything. Lot's of crimes happen in front of the camera but few ever get caught, mostly because the police lack resources or the pictures don't help. I believe it's just a bad excuse for not dealing with the real social issues that cause criminal behaviour in citizens. The one thing that does help is tracking the cellphones around the crimescene.
1-50 of 186

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