Recent dramatic drops in the cost of radio Frequency Identification (RFID) equipment, along with corresponding increases in performance and attention from the popular media, have ignited wide-spread government and corporate interest in massive RFID deployments. Meanwhile, privacy and security concerns began to dominate the public's views. Ubiquitous RFID tagging has enormous potential economic benefits: it will enable new discoveries, business models, and economic activity, as well as improve health care, national security, and the overall quality of life. Opposite these RFID-based capabilities and benefits is the fundamental right to privacy. Interestingly, it is possible to simultaneously realize both of these diametrically opposed goals (information transparency vs. individual privacy), but viable solutions are mathematically subtle and technologically complicated.
This project will address the fundamental question of how to resolve the inherent tension between the conflicting goals of information ubiquity and privacy, in the context of reliable RFID technology. By drawing upon a rich set of techniques that lie at the confluence of algorithms, mathematics, randomization, cryptography, and VLSI design, this research will develop methodologies that will enable RFID technology to realize its full potential, while still preserving privacy and security. This project will investigate and test new approaches to RFID security, privacy, and reliability, under reasonably general and realistic conditions. The broader impact of this research lies in increasing the trustworthiness and utility of future RFID systems, and exploring their benefits to society, the economy, and national security.
