Are the chipped credit cards we’ve been compelled to use secure? Yes.
Is the article “FAKE NEWS” linked below a crock of shit? Yes. The article falsely states the chips in our credit cards –EMIT– data. The article is a con job attempting to mislead people into buying RFID “blockers.” The article’s “warning” is a specious lie of omission.
A specious statement is one that uses the truth to tell a lie of omission. Can the data stored on the chip of our credit cards be read? Yes. There is data stored in the chip. Does the readable data stored on the chip identify us personally? No.
Does the chip itself –emit– the data as the article falsely claims? No that is the lie of omission.
The chip in our credit cards is a “passive” RFID chip. It has no power of its own. It does not –emit– anything. A powered reader like a point of sale card reader or a cellphone powers the passive chip set by means of a magnetic field eminated by the powered device which can then read the data that is more appropriately explained as “pull.”
If you are standing around and somebody holds a cellphone within 1″ of your buttocks where so many keep their cellphone in their back pocket a cellphone or large bulky portable card reader can be used to (((tap)))® on your heinie and any data stored in the chip set’s memory can be read.
Just as an aside I must ask “What would –you– do if somebody tapped you on your ass with a cellphone?
The contactless cards and anything being manufactured that a cellphone can (((tap)))® can only be powered and read from a distance of ~1″. They use a wireless network protocol called Near Field Communication (NFC) and “near” means “near.”
Furthermore, “What data can actually be read anyway?”
In the context of financial payment cards all that can be read from the chip in our credit cards is a token. Think of a token as a unique arbitrary alphanumeric nickname for your actual account. Who is a67c445x89?
Nobody knows who a67c445x89 is except your bank which receives that token (nickname) sent over the cellular network and uses it to look up the real you. Furthermore, each time the token is accessed for use it is changed.
Anything that uses NFC for financial transactions is very secure. Only an idiot would believe the global mobile financial payment cartel would implement an insecure means of transacting contactless financial payments.
Your credit card account cannot be hijacked by surfers standing near you and reading your account data as these fake articles claim or otherwise infer or imply.
You do not need to buy “blockers” unless of course you have no problem wasting money to buy false peace of mind.