What is RFID Blocking?

RFID chip next to a grain of rice

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification, or Radio Frequency ID. This means that identification information and data can be transferred through radio frequency. 

RFID technology has a wide range of uses in to today's society. RFID can be used to pay for groceries by scanning your credit card instead of sliding it. Another great use for this is micro chipping your dog or cat. The micro chip is about the size of a grain of rice and can contain all sorts of important data about your pet including their name, address, owner's phone number, and vaccinations. The chip can be scanned through the skin if your pet is ever lost and hopefully your pet can be returned to you quickly.

RFID chips are used in all US passports created after 2006 and in over 35 million credit cards. The technology was designed to let us bypass the standard requirements of scanning or checking in. However, electronic identity thieves have undermined the security of RFID products by devising scanners that read your personal information without you even realizing it.

The possibility of thieves being able to read personal information has become a concern because of the ease of data transfer.  Someone could transfer personal information without your consent. 

It's very important to choose products with RFID blocking features because RFID chips are in personal identification items such as passports (all passports issued since 2006), credit cards, and debit cards. Thieves will use handheld RFID Readers or Scanners to intercept personal information.