Method of securely reading data from a transponder

A transceiver for controlling the communication of two transponders, wherein a first of the two transponders is adapted to verify if a second of the two transponders is present and access is granted to data stored on the first transponder only if the presence of the second transponder can be verified, the transceiver comprising:

• means for requesting access to the stored data on the first transponder, and for directing the first transponder to generate exchange information in response to the requested access;
• means for receiving first exchange information and encrypted second exchange information from the first transponder generated in response to the requested access, and for receiving encrypted first information and second exchange information from the second transponder;
• and
• means for transmitting to the second transponder said first exchange information and encrypted second exchange information received from the first transponder, and for transmitting to the first transponder said encrypted first information from the second transponder.

A method comprising:

• communicating, from an RFID transceiver, a data request for data to a first passive RFID transponder;
• receiving, from the first passive RFID transponder, a get request for exchange information;
• communicating, from the RFID transceiver, the get request to a second passive RFID transponder;
• generating a first exchange information;
• storing the first exchange information;
• receiving, at the RFID transceiver, the first exchange information from the second passive RFID transponder;
• communicating, from an RFID transceiver, the first exchange information to the first passive RFID transponder;
• generating a second exchange information;
• storing the second exchange information;
• encrypting the first exchange information using a private key;
• receiving, at the RFID transceiver, the second exchange information and the encrypted first exchange information from the first passive RFID transponder;
• communicating, from an RFID transceiver, the second exchange information and the encrypted first exchange information to the second passive RFID transponder;
• decrypting the encrypted first exchange information using a public key to generate a decrypted version of first exchange information;
• comparing the decrypted version of the first exchange information to the stored first exchange information;
• encrypting, in response to the comparison of the first exchange information, the second exchange information using a private key;
• receiving, at the RFID transceiver, the encrypted second exchange information from the second passive RFID transponder;
• communicating, from an RFID transceiver, the encrypted second exchange information to the first passive RFID transponder;
• decrypting the encrypted second exchange information using a public key to generate a decrypted version of second exchange information;
• comparing the decrypted version of the second exchange information to the stored second exchange information;
• and
• communicating, in response to the comparison of the second exchange information, data corresponding to the data request from the first passive RFID transponder.