Mythbusters Weren't Allowed to Air RFID Segment

Rob Williams · Sep 3, 2008

From our front-page news:

One video that seems to be spreading around the web like wildfire is of Adam Savage, who in a talk tells all about the Mythbusters' inability to show their findings with RFID's hackable on the show. The talk happened at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference that occurred this past July, which I covered here. In this video (embedded below), Adam is asked by an audience member why they haven't tackled RFID, and it becomes obvious quick that there's a big problem surrounding why.

As he points out, quite simply, the credit card companies stepped in, because after all, they are the leaders in RFID usage, so who can blame them? Well, if only all of us thought like that, and I'm sure by now many of us already know just how hackable RFID really is. It's just too bad the general masses do not.

During the same talk, Adam goes on about the shows' inability to do a segment on teeth whiteners, as they were stopped by the toothpaste companies. Since Discovery Channel is funded by commercials, to show such a segment would jeopardize their revenue. Adam stated that they found the 'whitening strips' to do absolutely nothing, although I have other people who tell me they do work, and they're living proof. That one might have to be proven in your own house. Regardless, it's not surprising that the show is shaped in such a way, but it's still too bad.

"Oh dude, the RFID thing. I'm sorry, it's just not going to happen. Here's what happened, and I'm not sure how much of the story I'm allowed to tell, but I'll tell you what I know. We were going to do RFID, on several levels, how hackable, how reliable, how trackable, et cetera, and one of our researchers contacted Texas Instruments..."

Source: YouTube

Merlin · Sep 3, 2008

Whoaaaa Great article
I havent heard much about this lately, since the 80's
Everyone got all up in arms about it.....I guess they wanted it to die down into a little known secret

Merlin

Kougar · Sep 3, 2008

Oh, wow. Thanks for the news article! I knew RFID tags were easily scammable and despite what they say, they are easily reprogrammed. But more than anything else I think this says all ya need to know about RFID tags...

although I have other people who tell me they do work, and they're living proof.

If I may hypothesize, I think it has more to do with brushing your teeth regularly... Even skipping one day you can see a difference in color if you had images to compare by. The closer to white, the more noticeable the change. After a bit the missed days really add up, since it's easiler to stain than to whiten the enamel.

Rob Williams · Sep 4, 2008

Heh, the plot thickens: (from our front-page news)

Yesterday, I posted about Adam Savage and his talk given at the The Last HOPE conference back in July, where he talked about the Mythbusters show's inability to broadcast a segment on RFID... and well, it seems there are a few inaccuracies there. All it took was an explosion of this talk all over the web to find out!

According to a new C|Net post, an RFID segment actually did air, although I don't recall ever seeing it. By how it seems, it only aired once, but chances are it wasn't, given how often the Discovery Channel plays old episodes. Adam also is now backtracking:

"If I went into the detail of exactly why this story didn't get filmed, it's so bizarre and convoluted that no one would believe me, but suffice to say...the decision not to continue on with the RFID story was made by our production company, Beyond Productions, and had nothing to do with Discovery, or their ad sales department."

While the episode did air, it apparently didn't talk about any insecurities, so I'm really not sure what 'myth' was being covered. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something still doesn't seem to add up. If they are indeed able to cover RFID, maybe they should do it again, this time covering the fact that it's an insecure technology. Who out there thinks that'll happen?

From his statement, it's also logical to conclude that when he told the Last HOPE audience that co-host Belleci was on the conference call, he had meant Grant Imahara, another MythBuster co-host. Further, a Discovery Channel representative told me that MythBusters did end up running an episode, last January, on RFID, but that the issue of the technology's security holes was not addressed.

Source: C|Net

Mythbusters Weren't Allowed to Air RFID Segment

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief

Merlin

The Tech Wizard

Kougar

Techgage Staff

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief