The "nothing to hide" argument is not for sheeple, by swinging your arms and saying "I want to keep my worthless fingerprints secret" what you are doing is allowing criminals to keep that a secret, and for them their fingerprints are VERY valuable.

I'd rather be getting on a plane that is screening out potentially dangerous individuals rather than putting them on blindly because some people didn't want to share their precious fingerprints.

Just wondering if this card is put into circulation are there any ways to deactivate the IC chip? If I do decided to stay in Japan, I defiantly am not into being tracked 24/7. I am a law abiding citizen and don’t find it justified that we must give up our liberty just in case the police catch a few bad guys.

I have heard that by wrapping the chips in silver foil or using a large magnet on them would make them inoperable. Does anybody know if this is true?

Just to remind you, this system was in place when 9/11 happened and it didn’t stop anything. This is proof in its self that it does not work.

If you`re that worried, put it into a RFID blocking case. They sell them all over to protect credit cards from skimming... Or, just put your wallet in your bag or pocket without the card facing outward.

I understand the desire for privacy and not to be tracked, etc - but I think it`s almost funny how misunderstood this and the technology involved is. Close proximity readers are cheap. Distance readers are not. Particularly readers that have to pick up and distinguish between multiple cards that are not powered (as in an ID).

Tracking by RFID simply isn`t worth the money. It would be cheaper to do facial recognition with existing cameras rather than put in expensive distance readers all over the place. Even if they wanted to do it, quite frankly, the Japanese government doesn`t have the money.

In the end, the only thing breaking the chip will do is inconvenience you every time you need to use it as there will be more and more hoops to jump through to prove your identity and that it`s not a forged card. If that`s what you want, power to you I guess.

RFID blocking wallets have been on the market for several years and are even less obvious and easier to use than the boxes Nyororin mentioned.

But if you disable, rather than simply block the signal with an external device, you are no longer "a law abiding citizen".

Therefore, what? We should give up screening for terrorists? Even a bucket with a hole in the side still holds water.

Despite the fact that purposefully deactivating the chip is probably against the law, there is no one sitting at a computer watching your every move anyways. If you really are law abiding then you shouldn't care if you have to carry an identification card or not.

You`re right - I totally forgot about those. I`m female, so there really aren`t many options in that department for me. All the RFID blocking wallets seem to be made for men.

I am actually for the cards, but I disagree with this. Using the cards for limited identification purposes is one thing - but monitoring is another. There is always the potential for the data to be abused... Even if not deliberately, mistakes can be made. It doesn`t really matter if you are law abiding or not.
The card will make things easier, but I assume I`ll be putting it into an RFID blocking slip like my RFID credit cards.

I bought mine to block my credit cards, not an ID, but here is where I got mine. They seem to have a fair selection. DIFRwear: RFID Blocking Wallets, Passport Cases, Badge Holders.

terrorism? I laugh.

You're more likely to die of any list of things (heart attack, cancer, car accidents, etc) over terrorism. Here in the states, you're far more likely to be killed by the police than a terrorist.

Stop fooling yourself and living in fear.