Report: Digital ID tags coming to euro notes

IDG News Service - The European Central Bank (ECB) is in talks with Hitachi Ltd. about embedding radio tags in euro bank notes, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo.
The ECB is looking at the possibility of embedding the world's smallest integrated circuit, developed by Hitachi, into notes to prevent counterfeiting of euros, Kyodo reported last week.
The ECB is always researching different technologies to see what will be useful for bank notes, but it can't talk about that work, a spokesman for the ECB said on Friday. He wouldn't comment on the Kyodo report, saying that all research and development work for the bank is under nondisclosure agreements.
Hitachi is developing noncontact chips for use in bank notes and other paper documents, Kantaro Tanii, the company's corporate communications manager for Europe, said today. He wouldn't comment on specific partnerships.
Hitachi's Web site describes a 0.4-mm by 0.4-mm by 60-micron radio frequency identification chip, called the Mu Chip, that works in the 2.45-GHz frequency band and has a 128-bit ROM for storing its identity number. It was originally conceived as a bank-note-tracking device but could also be used in passports, driver's licenses and other official documents, Hitachi's Web site said.