Recently, there has been discussion across the ‘net about Chiappa Firearms‘s decision to use RFID (radio frequency identification) chips in the manufacture of its Rhino revolvers. While the use of such technology is nothing revolutionary, quite a few people have pointed out that fairly common technology can be used to locate (“ping”) an RFID chip. Heck, you can even buy a scanner from Amazon that goes in the Compact Flash slot of many mobile device. And hackers have proven that they can easily detect the small chips from hundreds of feet away.
What makes this a story, though, is how Chiappa — or rather it’s US wholesaler, MKS Distributing of Dayton, OH — is responding to criticism. Their press release includes the following suggestion for those who are concered:
Others may prefer to wrap the revolver and their head in aluminum foil, curl in a ball and watch reruns of Mel Gibson’s 1997 film, Conspiracy Theory. Well, that’s a plan too!
It also attacked what is obviously a dominant force in the firearms community today, gun-related internet sites. The very first sentence of the press release begins:
Recently there has been some blogger activity (credibility always guaranteed) …
… then goes on to say things like …
RUMOR: (known as blogosphere food) …
As Tam points out at View From The Porch, it’s not the technology. It’s the attitude that Chiappa/MKS excretes. No one would even know the Rhino existed if not for blogs and forums. Don’t go blaming “teh internetz” just because there are folks out there who understand a heck of a lot more about RFID technology and detection than the marketing guy at your import/export business. By the way, when I worked at SIG-Sauer we offered this same RFID capability to some federal agencies. Their reaction was abject horror. Why? Because they knew that an RFID-equipped pistol could be detected easily at a distance by anyone with a little technological know-how. I don’t know how you say “clue” in Italian but…
Given that some early reports of the Rhino have been less than exuberant already, you’d think perhaps Chiappa/MKS would be smart enough to engage the bloggers and forums rather than attack them. But they may prefer to bury their revolvers and their heads in the sand, curl up in a ball and watch … wait, I had something for this … um, some movie about a company that ticks off its customer base and then goes out of business. Because that’s a plan, too!
By the way, any guess on how Chiappa/MKS distributed that press release? If you guessed “What is the internet, Alex?” you win…
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
I was looking at a review of the new Walther PPQ someone did at the sigforum and apparently Walther is installing RFID chips in the European PPQs for police to keep inventory better so the backstraps have a note about having a transponder in them and when they came to the US despite not having an RFID chip the backstrap still has the “transponder inside” logo.
Well in the manual Walther apparently explained what was going on and offered that if you don’t want those backstraps they will ship you new ones free.
That is how you handle something.
Re: RFID.
Check out computer security whiz Borepatch’s post on the mess: http://borepatch.blogspot.com/2011/07/gunsmithing-chiappa-revolver.html
I don’t necessarily see a problem with adding them, although I probably wouldn’t prefer to buy a gun that had a chip. I could see it being useful for police departments or military to help track their inventory (which is probably what Chiappa gets out of it).
But this is a PR nightmare… what idiot let this response get out to the public?
Did they remove the press release from their website? I’m not seeing it anywhere.
I followed a few links and didn’t see technical details of exactly what sort of chip was used by the gun company. If it was a passive tag, reading it from any significant distance would be pretty difficult as that hacker found. Active tags somewhat less so but not a slam dunk. But from working with companies very much interested in using this tech for inventory control – my sense it long range reading is very difficult.
OK, I take most of that back. The distance problem is caused by the inv control challenge of lighting up too many tags of surrounding items to discern which is which. Not necessarily a problem in the Big Brother scenario.
Brilliant – I am always amazed at people that believe they know what is best for others. I think they will realize the impact of their actions during their Q3 Accounting wrap up.
F-trooper,
“Did they remove the press release from their website? I’m not seeing it anywhere.”
The press release was not from Chiappa and was never posted on the intertubes by the originator. It was from MKS Supply (actually from their PR company, Shults Media Relations) and was sent via email to several dead-tree and electronic media outlets.
My HK45 has some sort of chip in the frame under the backstrap. Is this the same thing?
That is horrible PR by the way! I wonder if there will be some sort of retraction…
bart_p
Insulting one’s potential customer pool is never a good idea.
bart_p: yes, same thing. Mine have them, too. Actually, the one on my endurance test gun eventually loosened and fell out on its own. I’m not worried about it one way or the other. It was simply the company’s reaction, the backlash against customers and the online community, that got my attention.
I have a chip implanted in my head by space aliens following an anal probe. is that bad?
The anal probe is fine. Its the chip we have a problem with
Horrible handling of the whole thing by Chiappa.
Beyond that, RFID chips in guns is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Having worked in manufacturing, I can see the benefits of having an RFID chip in a gun right up to the point of sale to the final customer.
If the gun came with clear, simple instructions for removing the chip, I’d have no objections.
I feel the same way about RFID tags in any consumer product. I don’t mind manufacturers using them as long as I know they’re there and can easily remove them.