The patron asked about threats to privacy from RFID chips in passports and what real people are saying online. The librarian performed a search on Kartoo, a metasearch engine, restricting results to blogs and forums. The top 10 results included discussions on disabling RFID chips, security risks, petitions to remove chips, consumer advocacy information, and reactions to news articles on e-passports. While the sources were older, they provided a variety of perspectives from the public to adequately address the patron's question.

1. Search Strategy Analysis
Toni Liberty
LIS205

2. Question: From an adult patron at the public library
• “I‟ve read some magazine articles about threats to privacy from these RFID chips and
putting them into passports. But I‟m not sure I trust the media to give it to us
straight. I want to know what real people are saying on the web…any idea where I
should start?”
▫ Key terms/concepts in question:
 Threats to our privacy
 RFID chips
 Passports
 What „real people‟ are saying

3. Concept Block
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Identity
Identification
Media Distrust
Hacking
Technology
Blogs
Threat
RFID chips
Public forums
Privacy
Security
„real people‟
discussions
Passport

4. Search Strategy
• Fielded search:
▫ Search within only blogs and public forums
 Searching for non-article/news media related information
• Boolean logic:
▫ Public forum (RFID chips AND privacy AND passports)
▫ Blog (RFID chips AND privacy AND passports)

5. Search Engine: KartOO
Brief History
• KartOO was created by French cousins
Laurent and Nicholas Baleydier in
2001.
• The site‟s original design delivered
search results in a visual map.
• This version of the site closed in 2010.
KartOO Today
• It is a metasearch engine that strives
to produce the most accurate search
results.
• KartOO sorts search results based on
proprietary algorithms
• Editors check the quality of each
website in KartOO‟s index.
• A semi-automated validation process
provides the highest quality and most
relevant results.
*note: in other country version descriptions, it is noted that KartOO does not install
cookies to save search terms, but does not state this policy on US version description.

6. Search Result 1/10
•
www.survivalistboards.com
▫ General Discussion: “RFID Chips in Passports?!?!?”
 Public forum
 Discussed ways to disable RFID chips so they cannot be hacked
 Users posted links they found to websites detailing ways to disable the chips, how RFID
tracking works
 Comical commenting: YouTube video of flamethrowers as way to destroy tracking device
Search Result 2/10
•
•
www.securityfocus.com
Community source for information about security
▫ Brief summary of including RFID chips in passports
▫ Linked words in summary to research done by a security researcher about why chips are a
security risk
Search Result 3/10
•
www.petitiononline.com
▫ Chance to sign an anonymous petition to take RFID chips out of passports
▫ Author writes about not giving consent to release personal information via the chip

7. Search Result 4/10
•
www.rfidjournal.com/blogs/privacy
▫ RFID Privacy Forum – Consumer Group offers new materials for understanding RFID
 Linked to consumer advocacy group, National Consumers League, that created an
area on its webpage dedicated solely to information about RFID chips
 Post explains credibility/reliability of information used by advocacy group
 Forum part of RFID Journal – website totally dedicated to information on RFID
technology
Search Result 5/10
•
www.nowpublic.com
▫ “Crowd powered media”; contributions first published mostly in Creative Commons
 Initial link to a photograph of how a hacker may view information obtained from an
RFID chip using computer software that enables the hacker to edit passport
information
 Link on right side of page will send viewer to the article of the author‟s reaction to a
Wired News article on e-passports
 Within this post are links to other blogs that have posted reactions to RFID chips
and e-passports

8. Search Result 6/10
•
www.pcworld.com
▫ Article: US Require RFID Chips in Passports
 One comment below the article reflects on the question to whether RFID chips are legal or
in fact a violation of the 4th Amendment
Search Result 7/10
•
www.wikipedia.com
▫ Radio-frequency Identification Wiki
 Multitude of publicly generated content explaining the
history, design, uses, mandates, regulations, problems, controversies
 Links to other websites, reference
Search Result 8/10
•
www.wired.com
▫ Article: Feds Rethinking RFID Passport
 Links to Basic Access Control
 What is BAC?
▫ Way to improve RFID security

9. Search Result 9/10
•
www.epic.org
▫ Electronic Privacy Information Center
 Nonprofit public interest research center, focused on civil liberties, protection, privacy, 1st
Amendment rights
 Top recent news summaries about RFID
 Intro, history, future, privacy risks
 EPIC resources
 Links to RFID news articles
 Previous top news about RFID
 External resources
Search Result 10/10
•
travel.state.gov
▫ US Dept. of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs website
▫ Article: The US Electronic Passport
 Relevant to search: FAQs

10. Analyzing the Results
• KartOO returned just the 10 cited webpages in response to my query.
• All resources were at least 5 years old at this point, it is unclear how often the KartOO
index is updated, if at all.
• Provided mostly publicly generated materials, little news articles and only one
government website on the issue.
• Multitude of sources would adequately answer the patron‟s question on personal
security regarding RFID chips in passports.
▫
Overall satisfaction with the scope and range of search results.
Reference:
Kartoo. (n.d.) Accessed October 30, 2013.<www.kartoo.com>
Kartoo. (n.d.) Retrieved October 30, 2013 from the Kartoo Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartoo