Posted on 07/26/2004 5:22:42 PM PDT by MindFire
Big Brother in Your Shopping Cart? By Louis James
An emerging controversy that does not seem to be getting as much attention in Europe as it is in the U.S. is that surrounding Radio Frequency ID chips (RFID).
Perhaps this is for the best, as the technology has enormous beneficial potential for personalizing service and products, and it is largely private parties that are pushing the development. But, despite the views of some observers, there appear to be some very dark storm clouds that come with all that silver lining, and they are worth examining.
What is RFID? RFID chips are tiny computer chips that can be embedded in almost any product. Unlike the UPC bar code pasted outside many products today, which identify the category of product for cash registers, the RFID chip emits an EPC (Electronic Price Code) that identifies the specific item.
That's right, each Mars bar or pack of cigarettes can be individually tracked from its manufacture, through its sale, to your home, and the land-fill where the packaging ends up (if the chip is in the packaging). Why would anyone want to do that? This technology allows merchants and manufacturers to better track what happens to their goods, quite believably allowing them to offer better service to their customers. For example, RFID Journal reports in July of 2004 that European retailer Metro Group opened an RFID demonstration facility. At the facility, a company called MCRL " is showcasing an interactive kiosk using RFID technology to provide consumers with a way to quickly retrieve data on the meat they are about to purchase. [P]repackaged meat items, each bearing a smart label, can be presented to the RFID reader in the kiosk. The kiosk's screen can then display a detailed account of that item's history in the supply chain, such as the animal's date of birth and the farm where it was raised, as well as perhaps the kinds of food it was fed, the date and place of its slaughter, and the name of the wholesale butcher. According to the company, there is almost no limit to the amount of and type detail that could be displayed at the kiosk."
Pretty cool, huh? Some people think so. Professor Ken Sakamura of the University of Tokyo recently unveiled a "UC-Watch," an RFID reader developed by the YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory that Sakamura directs. The UC-Watch features a function to read data based on "ucode," an RFID numbering system. Information pulled from RFID chips is displayed on a 120x160 pixel screen. So, what is the controversy about? Enabling a customer to access detailed information on products they are about to buy could be a great service. One day, with RFID, people will be able to walk into stores, take whatever they want, and walk out without having to stop at a cash register, their purchases being deducted automatically from their credit or debit accounts. However, the same technology allows merchants, potentially manufacturers, and at some point, probably governments, to turn the tables and track consumers.
Consider:
supermarkets already compile shopping-pattern dossiers on their customers, thanks to customer loyalty and discount cards. They are known to sell this information. With RFID, tracking can go beyond the point of sale; the chip remains embedded in the product. Merchants interested in reducing theft are excited by the prospect of being able to track stolen goods outside their stores, right into people's homes, but privacy advocates are less enthused.
If it was just one-time tracking, it might not be so bad. The problems arise from two main sources: a) the chips don't go away, and b) the databases filling with information about which products went where, were associated with which individual bank accounts, etc., also won't go away. Some people might like to walk into a store and be greeted by a computerized voice, letting them know about the discounted prices on products they purchased on their last visit. Others will not, and they won't like having information on their shopping patterns amassed by retailers and sold to whomever will pay.
Equally important is what governments could do with such data. Any information is subject to subpoena, or simple seizure by government agents with a good enough excuse
-- fighting crime or terrorism, for example. However, the now-infamous Jet Blue incident shows us that many businesses have no concern at all for their customer's privacy, and do not hesitate in the least to hand over their databases without so much as a simple warrant.
What happens when countless government agents, inspectors, detectives, etc. can have instant access to the most detailed information imaginable about every single item every single individual buys? Do I really want hordes of faceless bureaucrats with clipboards poring over databases that can tell them what style, color, size, and individual item of sexy lingerie I bought my wife? What if she gives one she does not like to a friend, whose police officer husband gets jealous, scans the RFID chip and links the garment to my credit card?
What happens when someone buys a pack of cigarettes, leaves it on a park bench, and it gets picked up later by someone who has it on his person when he gets arrested for a crime? What if the Health Nazis just don't want Citizen X smoking so much, and can tell when he is buying more than he "should," even if he pays with cash? Proponents point to the benefits. Opponents point to all the potential abuse databases filled with such exhaustive and intimate details are prone to. This is not mere scare-mongering, but the issuance of warnings highly consistent with how bureaucratic corporations and governments have acted in the past.
Be that as it may, it is primarily the market place that is driving this technology forward, not the government, and it seems unlikely privacy advocates will be able to motivate people to reject it, en masse. Time will tell, all too soon.
Personally I wouldnt even get this "chip" put into my dog, when the vet tired to peddle it to me. if my dog were to 'run away' or 'be abducted', she can find her way home. What utter idiocy. They can take this diabolical garbage and shove it.
What say you?
Paranoia can be treated with drugs.
what's 'paranoid' about believing in privacy? Sounds like you perhaps have already 'partaken' of the 'drugs' you promote,- Perhaps it's your 'drugs' which have numbed any common sense or principle you may have ever had.
Dictators will love this.
Not! RFID needs a transmitter within about 3 feet or less to "xmit" back its code. Unless "they" place readers all along the way from the store to your house, they won't be tracking much. Reporters really should read up before they spew!
as evidenced, many of the sheeple will eat this up and stand in line to get it as son as it becomes available. sad, isn't it?
No one is as interested in you as you think. That's paranoia.
Also see:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/207
"www.nocards.org" Give me a break...I am not giving up my ATM card. Are they anti-barcode too? Should make for some interesting reading. I am all for privacy, but this borders on Luddism (http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/luddite.html ) IMHO.
a guy named 'glenn' on an internet message board thinks he can make pronouncements about what 'everyone' or 'no one' thinks?
Do you really believe you speak for 'everyone', much less 'anyone', besides 'Glenn'?
And if so,... why?
If you have anything intelligent to the topic, feel free to contribute. Your attempts at insults are juvenile & a waste of time.
two words
ELECTRONIC JAMMING
That was an interesting link on Luddism; however, I don't think that's what CASPIAN is. They are on many mainstream shows addressing privacy issues, so I don't think the issue should be condemned as one of 'extremist old-fashioned kooks'.
They haven't advocated getting rid of ATM Cards. I personally do use ATM?credit cards, but this grocery card movement, if you read the actual dicuments,; including those of the grocers, you will see that these grocery cards are not about savings at all, and they admit as much. it is about data collection, which is a billion dollar business and an invasion of basic privacy. These records have been unknowingly kept on people and turned up, used against them in court cases, etc.
"What say you?"
I'd say this guy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, as is true with most people who spout the RFID conspiracy theories.
The truth is that the majority of RFID's are not in the products, they're in the packaging. And often, since the cost of RFID'ing everything can be prohibitive as a % of item cost, they're usually just on one box that's inside a larger box of items.
So if you throw out the packaging, nobody is going to be able to track you as you walk down the street. About all the tracking they're going to be able to do is your garbage as it heads to the dump. As pointed out earlier, RFID has a rather limited range. Unless it's active RFID (which is even more cost prohibitive than passive RFID), the range can be limited to feet or yards.
RFID can be a great tool in supply chain management. No more looking for a lost pallet of merchandise in your 100,000 square foot warehouse - your network of RFID readers can tell you exactly where it is. It can put the items in inventory as they cross the dock and remove it as it leaves the dock.
My favorite was about 6 months ago when some kook thought there was RFID's in the new twenties - he nuked it in the microwave and the fact that the bills 'burned' was proof there was RFID in the bills.
I guess it never crossed his mind to try testing for actual RFID's with a reader...
The Dread Boston Salty is lojacked. He doesn't have any privacy concerns (we discussed it at length), and he agrees that he'd rather be located and returned to us quickly and safely than make a political statement.
Shhhhh . . . I'm watching him right now, but I don't want him to know, so please keep it on the down low.
OK...I guess I am just not as concerned as they are (I briefly scanned "NoCards.org"), your bank can "track" you thru their ATM card, they take a picture of you every time you use it at an ATM, etc. I just think the cat is out of the bag as far as "total privacy" is concerned. If you don't want the supermarket tracking what you buy, don't get their card. If most people were concerned about it, the supermarket in question would lose business and drop the cards. To go back to the old days we would have to get rid of SSN's, Drivers License #'s, Credit Cards, ATM cards, "Speed Passes", Toll Road x-ponders, Cell Phones (now with government mandated GPS location for 911 use), why no protest against that? The government can now track you via your Cell phone down to about 10 feet...(it was just to the nearest couple of cell towers). Does "NoCards.org" just care about Private companies tracking? But everything the govt. does is OK?? Oh well...rant over...
Actually, to be fair the RFID technology can be imbedded into ink; thereare mainstream stories from this in the EU. it is fact, not a 'wild theory'.
Whether or not you support this is another issue. i have talked to retail folks who see this as a harmless & good thing,.
Individual products have indeed been chipped in a test market, in gilette razor packaging and sold in WalMart stores. As the technology progresses the cost will not be as expensive. Walmrt is already demanding their suppliers implement this technology.
You got your dog chipped? Why not just put a dog collar on him? Better yet a fence in your yard, if the dog is unruly..Better yet, how about some dog training classes?
If your dog turns up mysteriously missing, ... you call the dog tracker police, or what? Then they use the tracker system and find him,.. how much would they charge for that? it seems comical. usually if a dog runs off, it usually either returns home soonafter or gets hit by a car, or is picked up by one of these 'do-gooders' and returned to the dog pound. if he has on a dog collar & tag, they simply call the owner. this tracker stuff just seems unnecessary for responsible pet owners.
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