Tracking Devicce in your Money? | FerrariChat

Tracking Devicce in your Money?

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by cbstd, Mar 18, 2004.

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  1. cbstd

    cbstd Formula Junior

    Dec 24, 2003
    301
    Los Angeles
    The current rumor de jour is that the newly redesigned $20 bill has a very tiny RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chip implanted in it. According to the urban legend, this tiny device does not have enough energy in a single bill to be detected, but if you have a large stack of the new $20's (about $1,000 worth) it can be detected by the same type of device that is used in store entrances to prevent shoplifting.

    Hold one of the new multicolored $20's up to the light. The only part of the bill that does not pass light is Jackson's two eyes and it appears to me that the right eye (Jackson's right) is slightly more dense. It is rumored that the RFID chip is in Jackson's right eye.

    It is said that if you microwave a new $20 long enough, that it will burn from Jackson's right eye outward. I would guess that this is because that is the most saturated part of the bill. But others speculate that it is due to the RFID chip.

    Why would the government issue a redesigned $20 bill when they redesigned the bill just a few years ago? The official answer is to combat digital scanning and forgery. But if that redesign gave law enforcement a tool to observe large stacks of bills, it would also be a motive.

    The $100 bill is the most commonly circulated bill outside of the US, but the $20 is the bill of choice in the US, particularly for illegal transactions associated with drugs.

    Of course the government has some excellant tools to follow your actions without marked bills. Every time you use a credit, debit or ATM card you are leaving a trail of your time, place and activeties. Or even better, your cell phone is constantly sending a signal out to the cell system that allows someone to triangulate your location to within a few feet.
     
  2. DropGems

    DropGems Formula Junior

    Nov 4, 2003
    407
    Atlantic City, NJ
    Bull**** on the tracking device in Jacksons eye, LOL!
     
  3. Tennlee

    Tennlee Formula Junior

    Feb 10, 2002
    645
    Great Smoky Mountains
    Nope. No way.
     
  4. Agent Smith

    Agent Smith Formula 3

    Apr 20, 2002
    1,569
    That has to be the most interesting story I've heard this week.........
     
  5. richard_wallace

    richard_wallace Formula 3

    Feb 6, 2004
    1,956
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Full Name:
    Richard Wallace
    I decided to put a little synopsis together on the new $20 dollar bill - to help clarify some of the changes to the new note.

    See Below

    Hope that helps

    Rich "Federal Goverment" Wallace

    ______________________________________________________________

    In dozens of communities from coast to coast, U.S. government officials and local business, banking and civic leaders participated in transactions with the new $20 notes, marking the first opportunity for the public to spend the new currency. Today is the first day banks will receive the new bills from the Federal Reserve, and in turn begin distributing them to their customers. It will take several days or even weeks for the bills to make their way to all communities in the U.S. and internationally. The new designs will co-circulate with old-design $20 notes, until, gradually, the old-design notes become worn and are pulled from circulation.

    “The New Color of Money starts making its way into cash registers and wallets today,” said Tom Ferguson, director of the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). “This is a historic milestone on two fronts: for the first time in modern history, U.S. currency features background colors other than black and green, and, more importantly, this currency is the most secure U.S. currency ever, to protect against counterfeiting.”

    “While much of the public will be anxious to see and handle this newly designed $20 bill, we want to emphasize that older-design $20 notes are still in circulation, and still maintain their value,” said Marsha Reidhill, the Federal Reserve Board’s assistant director for cash and fiscal agency. A genuine U.S. $20 bill – whether it has the new background colors or the familiar green and black – is legal tender, worth $20. It is important to remember that all bills are good, for good. The stability and integrity of U.S. currency has kept worldwide trust and confidence high, and the government is committed to keeping it that way.”

    The BEP and the Federal Reserve have been educating the public worldwide about the new bills in professional and community settings, in preparation for a smooth transition this fall. Over 37 million items of training materials such as brochures, posters, training videos and CD-ROMS, have been ordered by businesses large and small to train their cash-handling employees on the bill’s new look and updated security features. Additionally, there have been more than 2 million visits to the new money Web site (www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney) for information. The public education program continues globally with broadcast, print, Internet and other public education advertising; and integration of the new money’s look and security features will be featured in the story lines of television programs that reach millions of viewers.

    Ferguson and Reidhill marked today’s historic issue of the new $20 bill in New York City’s Times Square, where they will spend the new twenties in Times Square area businesses. In Washington, D.C., Michael Lambert, the Federal Reserve Financial Services Manager who is responsible for cash, and the BEP’s Chief of the Office of Currency Production, James Brent, demonstrated the effectiveness of the government’s advance preparation for the new money by using a new $20 note to buy stamps from a vending machine at a U.S. Postal Service facility. The government began working with the vending machine industry and transit authorities more than a year ago to ensure there was ample time for adjustments so machines will accept the new bills.

    Events marking the first purchases with the new $20 notes were held today in more than 30 U.S. cities. Later this month, the issue of the new $20 bill will be marked by international events in dollarized economies and in countries where U.S. currency is widely held, such as Russia and countries throughout Latin America.

    The New Color of Money: Safer. Smarter. More Secure.

    The most noticeable difference in the new $20 notes is the subtle green, peach and blue colors featured in the background. New designs for the $50 and $100 notes are scheduled for introduction in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Different colors will be used for different denominations, which will help everyone – particularly those who are visually impaired – to tell denominations apart. Redesign of the $5 and $10 notes is under consideration, but the $1 and $2 notes will not be redesigned.

    While consumers should not use color to check the authenticity of their currency (relying instead on user-friendly security features – see below), color does add complexity to the note, making counterfeiting more difficult.

    The new $20 bills maintain the traditional U.S. currency appearance, are the same size, and use the same, but enhanced portraits and historical images of Andrew Jackson on the face of the note and the White House on the back. The redesign also features new symbols of freedom – a blue eagle in the background, and a metallic green eagle and shield to the right of Jackson’s portrait.

    Security Features
    The new $20 note design retains three important security features that were first introduced in the late 1990s and are easy for consumers and merchants alike to check:

    The watermark – the faint image similar to the large portrait, which is part of the paper itself and is visible from both sides when held up to the light.
    The security thread – also visible from both sides when held up to the light, this vertical strip of plastic is embedded in the paper. “USA TWENTY” and a small flag are visible along the thread.
    The color-shifting ink – the numeral “20” in the lower-right corner on the face of the note changes from copper to green when the note is tilted. The color shift is more dramatic and easier to see on the new-design notes.
    Because these features are difficult for counterfeiters to reproduce well, they often do not try. Counterfeiters are hoping that cash-handlers and the public will not check their money closely.

    Counterfeiting: Increasingly Digital
    Currency counterfeiters are increasingly turning to digital methods, as advances in technology make digital counterfeiting of currency easier and cheaper. In 1995, for example, less than 1 percent of counterfeit notes detected in the U.S. were digitally produced. By 2002, that number had grown to nearly 40 percent, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

    Yet despite the efforts of counterfeiters, U.S. currency counterfeiting has been kept at low levels, with current estimates putting the level of counterfeit notes in circulation worldwide at between 0.01 and 0.02 percent, or about 1-2 notes in every 10,000 genuine notes.
     
  6. Artherd

    Artherd F1 Veteran

    Jun 19, 2002
    6,588
    Bay Area, CA
    Full Name:
    Ben Cannon
    From what I know of RFID technology, it does not work very well unless you are very close to the wavelegenth in use. This would be several orders of magnitude outside the current technology I am familiar with in miniturization.


    Just to prove a friend wrong, I microwaved a single new $20 on HIGH with a 1.2KW micorwave for one minuite.

    That's a lot of juice.

    (drumroll please!)

    Nothing happened.

    (crash!)
     

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