US Patent 7482925 Apparatus and method to electromagnetically shield portable consumer devices

An apparatus and method is provided to shield contactless portable electronic consumer devices such as radio frequency identification devices (RFID), tokens, mini-cards, key fobs, cellular phones, smartcards, etc. from wireless interrogation. In one embodiment, a contactless portable consumer device which includes a first antenna is shielded from unauthorized wireless interrogation with a radio frequency (RF) shield. The RF shield includes electrically conductive, non-ferromagnetic material and is configured to prevent unauthorized data transfer between a second antenna external to the portable consumer device and the first antenna.