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AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS DENIES RFID USE (link to video created for AE)
Caspian newsletter via e-mail ^ | August 9, 2006 | Caspian newsletter

Posted on 08/09/2006 1:39:02 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

On the eve of a major RFID apparel and footwear conference, privacy activists are asking questions about an Orwellian industry video presentation depicting the use of Radio Frequency Identification at an American Eagle Outfitters store. The animated video, created by technology integrator CompEx Inc., depicts how a retailer could embed the controversial technology into clothing and credit cards to secretly identify and track consumers--even deliver targeted marketing messages.

"American Eagle Outfitters has assured us that it is not using RFID in its stores or operations, and we applaud them for that. But consumers need to know that this technology exists and what it could mean for them. We have documentation showing that other companies are looking closely at these types of invasive applications," said Liz McIntyre and Katherine Albrecht, co-authors of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."

The video shows a consumer walking into an American Eagle Outfitters store, being remotely identified through the American Eagle Outfitters credit card in his pocket, and purchasing items with RFID tags hidden in the store's branded clothing. The graphic footage concludes with a full-facial biometric scan conducted through a pinhole camera at checkout.

The animated flash clip is posted on the authors' website at:
http://www.spychips.com/RFIDclothingstoredemo.html

Although the footage was created in 2002, its disclosure yesterday had an immediate impact on senior management at American Eagle Outfitters. McIntyre says that within minutes of sending the video clip to an executive at American Eagle, she received a call from Ed Nebb, senior director of investor relations and crisis communications at Berns Communications Group. He issued the following statement:

"American Eagle currently does not use any RFID systems, either in supply chain management, consumer credit card or loyalty programs, or anywhere else within our operations. We highly value and respect our customers' privacy. The fact that a vendor may have offered a system demonstration should not be interpreted as an intention on our part to adopt such a system in the future."

CompEx Inc. President Aram Kovach, who developed the video, told McIntyre that American Eagle Outfitters had requested the RFID demonstration. "They asked us to come out," he said, explaining that the executives later traveled to Kovach's office in Ohio to see a working prototype.

The RFID tracking capability depicted in the video is feasible. "It worked," Kovach said. "All of these things can be done." But he noted that the cost of the tags was a big barrier to adoption.

McIntyre and Albrecht worry that companies deterred by cost issues may be reviving such plans now that the price of tags has dropped below the $.08-cent range.

They point to the RFID Apparel and Footwear Conference to be held at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology next week as a reason for concern. The event, co-sponsored by RFID Journal and the American Apparel and Footwear Association, promises "to show you how RFID can uniquely benefit the apparel and footwear industry." However, unlike past RFID events, where members of the press were welcomed, the promotional literature for the conference states:

"The entire conference is off limits to the press, so you can be sure you'll get candid insider insight that you can't hear anywhere else."

"It's clear that implementing RFID in apparel and footwear is being discussed behind closed doors," said Albrecht. "Our concern is that the companies working to integrate RFID into clothing operations are keeping their plans from the public. A case in point is Levi Strauss, which is selling clothes with RFID hang tags attached, but refusing to disclose the test location."

The pair is asking the conference sponsors to explain the need for secrecy at their event. "What is it they're discussing that they don't want the press to know?" Albrecht asks. "The press restriction is obviously not designed to keep proprietary information from industry competitors, since any apparel or footwear company can attend the event at a discounted rate. Clearly, excluding the press is an attempt to prevent the public from learning about the industry's plans to use RFID tracking devices in clothing."

Albrecht and McIntyre have posted a promotional email for the conference that specifies the press restriction at:
http://www.spychips.com/RFIDApparelandFootwearConference.html

=====================================================================

ABOUT "SPYCHIPS"

Liz McIntyre and Katherine Albrecht are the authors of "Spychips: How Major Corporations Plan to Track your Every Move with RFID." The book draws on patent documents, corporate source materials, conference proceedings, and firsthand interviews to paint a convincing -- and frightening -- picture of the consumer privacy threat posed by RFID.

Despite its hundreds of footnotes and academic-level accuracy, the book remains lively and readable according to critics, who have called it a "techno-thriller" and "a masterpiece of technocriticism."

Two days prior to its release in 2005, "Spychips" flew the top of the Amazon bestseller charts, hitting number one as a "Mover & Shaker," making its way to the top-ten Nonfiction bestseller list, and spending weeks as a Current Events bestseller. In a nod to the book's focus on freedom, Spychips was awarded the prestigious Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty and named "the year's best book on liberty."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: conference; invasionofprivacy; privacy; rfid; spychips
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The link in the source is the direct link to the 2002 video.
1 posted on 08/09/2006 1:39:03 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

Condoms, suppositories, tampons...?

Where dat ole tinfoil?


2 posted on 08/09/2006 1:42:26 PM PDT by sinanju
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To: sinanju

I heard they're even putting it in the tinfoil now.


3 posted on 08/09/2006 1:43:42 PM PDT by SerpentDove (No weapon forged against Israel will prevail. - Isaiah 54:17)
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

Some guy is out there trying to figure out how he can construct an EMP to 'clean' all of his clothes.


4 posted on 08/09/2006 1:44:01 PM PDT by Sax (You Done Tore Out My Heart And Stomped That Sucker Flat)
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
This is worse than NSA surveillance for sure.
5 posted on 08/09/2006 1:44:30 PM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

This is dumb. RFID is the future. It lowers costs, controls inventory, and allows for near-real time tracking of sales. RFID will be adopted the same way every technology gets adopted - some business will use it, experience significant cost savings, and pass those savings in part on to consumers. People are much less likely to worry about ridiculous scenarios when they save a few bucks.


6 posted on 08/09/2006 1:48:45 PM PDT by domenad (In all things, in all ways, at all times, let honor guide me.)
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To: Not gonna take it anymore

Wonder what wallyworld is doing these days.


7 posted on 08/09/2006 1:48:57 PM PDT by Westlander (Unleash the Neutron Bomb)
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To: Westlander

Probably the same thing.


8 posted on 08/09/2006 1:50:19 PM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore
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To: domenad

Did you actually watch the video? Do you like the concept of your face being scanned when you apply for their card without you knowing about it?


9 posted on 08/09/2006 1:50:52 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

I work in the RFID industry, and this is ridiculous on so many levels, it doesn't warrant discussion. If you want to worry about something, worry about Libs being voted into office and allowing terrorists to invade our country because they don't believe it's a real threat.


10 posted on 08/09/2006 1:52:41 PM PDT by SueAngel
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

Is there something wrong with ID verification on credit card purchases? Cuts down on fraud and saves everybody money.


11 posted on 08/09/2006 1:55:12 PM PDT by discostu (you must be joking son, where did you get those shoes)
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

Why would they be concerned about using RFID (which would absolutely NOT lower costs) when people already use credit/debit cards to purchase items? Why should they care where their clothes end up after they leave the store? Surveilance cameras should be enough for security.

They keep talking about RFID for 'alzheimers' patients. Yeah, right. That's ALL they will be used on.

Note my tagline. Tattoos, and social security numbers should have been enough, but nooooooo, fascism attempts captialism. Sure, tell me another one.


12 posted on 08/09/2006 1:57:45 PM PDT by Mrs. Shawnlaw (No NAIS! And the USDA can bugger off, too!)
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To: domenad

Have not formulated an opinion yet. It is intereting.
http://www.spychips.com/


13 posted on 08/09/2006 1:59:17 PM PDT by Westlander (Unleash the Neutron Bomb)
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To: Mrs. Shawnlaw

RFIDs can lower cost, they can reduce theft and make self checkout easier, the easier self checkout is the fewer employees you need manning the registers. They don't care where the clothes wind up after the leave the store, only the anti-RFID people talk about tracking after purchase. Surveilance cameras are only as useful as the people watching them and the coverage area, if a theif takes an item to an unobserved area and the people watching the monitors don't notice him walking out of that area with less stuff than he walked in with then he just got away with it, RFID readers are easier to put in without black holes and never turn away from the monitor.


14 posted on 08/09/2006 2:02:04 PM PDT by discostu (you must be joking son, where did you get those shoes)
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To: SueAngel

Why is this conference closed to the press?


15 posted on 08/09/2006 2:03:49 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: discostu

Did you watch the video linked in the source line above?


16 posted on 08/09/2006 2:07:07 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: domenad

'RFID is the future'
Maybe on your planet. I enjoy setting off the alarms at Home Depot because the chip in my boots I bought at KMart cannot be deactivated. Security and local PD stopping to 'check me out'. I just laugh.


17 posted on 08/09/2006 2:08:37 PM PDT by Westlander (Unleash the Neutron Bomb)
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To: discostu

Please explain why a face or fingerprint scan (i.e. what you are terming "ID verification") be needed on credit card purchases?!


18 posted on 08/09/2006 2:08:42 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

Yes, it's just ID verification to make sure he's the valid user of that card. Credit card fraud is a very expensive thing in this country, various organizations have been spending a lot trying to find way to cut it down, holograms on the card, electric pens for signature verification, PINs, these are all attempts to reduce fraud. Video ID is the next obvious step, Las Vegas has been using it to enforce the black book for a while.


19 posted on 08/09/2006 2:10:07 PM PDT by discostu (you must be joking son, where did you get those shoes)
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To: Sax; SueAngel
This thread went ugly early. Grin. So be it. It's a big deal. Cost Savings is righteous. Fraud Protection is righteous. AND, concern about privacy is righteous.

I would like a simple detection device. Just as you can get a little keychain size tool that detects wifi hotspots, so too would a tool that detects rfid be useful. Actually, that's such a nobrainer I'm sure such a tool exists or is on the way.

Indeed 30 seconds with yahoo reveals plenty of people are doing such things. And, on the subject of disabling/jammin chips, there is this from FR:
Frying Your Own RFID Tags(silly, but pretty much on topic)

Finally, under the dual heading of worst and best use of RFID technology I know of to date goes this:
An outfit has developed an rfid tag for liquor bottles. The device tracks amount of each pour and helps the bar owner manage inventory, and bartenders. yikes. Clever as hell and ugly as hell all at once.

20 posted on 08/09/2006 2:12:26 PM PDT by FreeRadical (Islamists are so Cute when They're Dead)
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