A German department store is trying a new RFID system in its men's department, where it's tagged 30,000 pieces with Smart Chip labels. When shoppers take garments into the dressing room, Credit card companies are putting magical radio chips inside your credit cards to allow for "touch n go" "contact-less" payments, but if for some reason the idea of a miniature beacon transmitting your credit card information, albeit however encrypted the companies feel like making them, there is something you can do about, Credit card companies are embedding radio frequency tags (RFID) in credit cards. Since these are transmitters, there's the possibility of a thief using an RFID sniffer to snag your credit card digits.

Independent researches Despite the fact that RFID chips are not secure and can be read by hackers, any U.S. Passport issued after Jan 1 will contain an RFID chip. If you'd like to risk 25 years in prison for tampering with it, Wired has a primer on how to disable the chip and protect yourself from ID theft.

The basic idea? Don't try washing it or microwaving it. Hit the chip with a hammer. —MEGHANN