I think it's important to consider the security of NFC when thinking about potential applications.. While the ring has been designed to thwart attempted reading from distances, there is little that can be done to prevent someone from reading the tag if it gets within proximity of their reader. So what does this mean for users? It means we should be very thoughtful about what type of data we store on our ring. I would really like to see this kind of technology take off, I think it's super cool and oh so slick. For me, being able to unlock my phone just by picking it up is awesome! It solves some problems for me. But lots of people talk about using it for doors or to store a master password of some sort.. But I'm just not sure that's a great idea, yet.. or is it? maybe I'm just paranoid and I should take my tin foil hat off.
Admittedly, at this point, one would probably have to be targeted for an attack rather than just randomly selected.. As when/if the popularity of wearable nfc tags (or whatever comes next) increases, these could be extended to be general "fishing" expeditions... Anyway..consider the ability for someone to sneak an NFC reader (or at least just the antenna) into something you come into contact with.. something you would pick up without giving it a second thought.. A computer mouse, a camera, a stuffed toy, their gloved hand.. all sorts of things.. Or perhaps they pass you their phone (loaded with a silent NFC logging app) under the guise of showing you a photo or asking for help with some problem they just can't figure out.. The reader activates your private tag and your data is copied leaving you none the wiser.
I think the analogy being used that the ring is like a key and the security of the data it contains lies in the physical security of the ring is solid.. To copy someone's house key all you really need is a good photo of it and to know which door it fits.. Similarly, to copy someone's ring all you need to do is get your reader close to it and to know what the data is used for. What concerns me is that these rings are on our hands.. We go through our days touching countless objects, not thinking about the possibility of there being an NFC skimming antenna in it.. It's only a matter of time until someone exploits this weakness.. it's been done with traditional RFID tags for a long time.
I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, it's just an open discussion I'd like to hear other people's opinions on.. Knowing that it is possible (even if it is unlikely) for someone to copy your private information.. how willing are you to put your data on the chip? what kind of data are you willing to put there?