The net was all abuzz yesterday about a report released by the US government claiming that radio transmitters were found embedded in Canadian coins. I get the impression that the report was not supposed to be released because the government is now backtracking. And of course the US press is playing along.
Update: Apparently the story is true. See below for more details.
“There is no story there,” the official, who asked not to be named, told The Globe and Mail.
Mmmm… so a government spokesman is refusing to give out his (or her) name over what is alleged to be nothing more than a misunderstanding?
He said that while some odd-looking Canadian coins briefly triggered suspicions in the United States, he said that the fears proved groundless: “We have no evidence to indicate anything connected with these coins poses a risk or danger.”
And check out his careful wording. He never said the transmitter coins never existed, only that they never posed a risk or danger.
But a U.S. agency that investigated the complaint found no evidence of any secret transmitters, or of any other tampering.
It’s not clear why this information failed to find its way into the released U.S. Defence Security Service report.
So, an agency investigated the problem, found no evidence, but for some reason failed to put that in the report? Mmmm….
There is a classified version of the report with more details circulating within the U.S. government, but officials are not speaking to it.
So there’s also a “secret” version of the report but no one is talking about it. If this never happened, what’s not to talk about?! And how could there be “more details” about coins that never existed?! Mmmm…
“On at least three separate occasions between October, 2005 and January, 2006, cleared defence contractors’ employees travelling through Canada have discovered radio-frequency transmitters embedded in Canadian coins on their persons,” reads the U.S. Defence Security Service report.
So the investigative report noted that “radio-frequency transmitters” were in fact “discovered” to be embedded in coins, but somehow forgot to note that they really never existed?! Mmmm….
Found by tallwookie and Eideard. Paranoid ramblings by yours truly.
Update: The story is true!
Associated Press – January 11, 2007:
“What’s in the report is true,” said Martha Deutscher, a spokeswoman for the security service. “This is indeed a sanitized version, which leaves a lot of questions.”
“Experts said such tiny transmitters would almost certainly have limited range to communicate with sensors no more than a few feet away, such as ones hidden inside a doorway. The metal in the coins also could interfere with any signals emitted.”
where’s george?
seriously, what’s the threat here? its a neat trick, maybe some day it would be a good way to validate coins… oh, except we won’t be using coins soon.
“a foreign spy could track the location of government contractors with special equipment and 4 feet proximity”
If #32 is correct, then a lot of people upstream from us are really really stupid, not able to tell the difference between a coin and a subway token.
Is an RFID really a radio transmitter? I thought it depended upon the power of the scanning device.
If somebody is spying, Occam demands that the simplest explanation is that it’s their own employers. “Schultz, here’s some local cash and coins for your trip to the Great White North.”
The twoonie, the two-dollar coin, can be dismantled, sometimes needing the help of a deep freeze. Just sub your transmitter in place of the inner part. Assuming that size and miniaturization aren’t problems, a child could do it.
36. “If #32 is correct, then a lot of people upstream from us are really really stupid”
Given the choice between people in the US federal government being “really really stupid” or the Canadian government spying on us through coins, I think I’d have to go with the former. 😉
So there’s also a “secret” version of the report but no one is talking about it. If this never happened, what’s not to talk about?!
SN, what I said two years ago is still true: You’re good ! 🙂
If this story is true, doesn’t it seem more likely to be a tool to track coin usage?
I can’t imagine how tracking a Loonie would gather any useful information on America!
But, I’m sure that tracking coin usage has some value for the Canadian mint.
does this mean they are worth more than a buck?
Back in the 90s I was involved with a serious accident and racked up over $65,000 in expenses. I found a government program to take care of it.
Yeah, we don’t have to do that… And what’s the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US again?
Can you imagine.
A “Russian” hot dog vendor outside a, let say NSA facility. The change he gives his happy customers are really secret recording devices.
That would be very ingenious means to gather info.