Benetton Says No to RFIDs ... For Now

securitas writes "In a dramatic reversal of Benetton's previously announced plans to embed RFID tags in all of its clothing, the retailer has responded to customer privacy concerns and canceled its plans to go ahead with the project. Wired News and ComputerWorld also have stories on this stunning turn of events, which RFID manufacturer Philips is undoubtedly unhappy about. Benetton says it 'reserves the right' to use RFIDs in the future."

Comments

If they can be destroyed easily..

[1337_h4x0r]

Why not let them put them in? If some company makes an "RFID Neutralizer" that blasts them with 3000 watts like in a hair dryer type of configuration, buy your clothes, take them home, spray them, you're done. This thing should be easy and cheap.

Re:If they can be destroyed easily..

[st0rmcold]

Surely it would be possible, but eventually illegal under the DMCA. Anything is possible, just some things could land you in jail.

I recommend everyone bulk up on thrift store items.

1) Buy tons of used clothing!
2) Wait for the RFID tags to take control!
3) Sell the clothes on the black market!
4) Profit!!!

Privacy

[rf0]

I for one can't say that I'm unhappy. I didn't like the idea of people being able to work out where I bought my clothes from by scanning me. Of course the RFID's might of been destroyed at the checkout. I mean if people really want to know they can ask me or look at the label.

With all these sort of things its a balance between privacy and eas of use. For food for example I can see why storing the Use-By date would be handy but for some things it just won't really work

Rus

and I reserve the right

[Anonymous Coward]

to never buy anything from Benetton in the future

Not really that surprising

[idfrsr]

Obviously there are huge privacy concerns with RF tags, but the other side of the coin is that such a system does have lots of benefits for the retailer.

The trick will be finding a way to accomplish those goals will maintaining the privacy of the customers. Perhaps some sort of decaying device that after it ages for a certain period it physically ceases to work.

What is "reserving a right"?

[DoofusOfDeath]

This language has always confused me. It sounds like false legaleese.

Is there some capacity that they would not have, but for having stated a "reservation of right"?

And if it's really a right, they wouldn't need to reserve it, would they?

It sounds to me like a rhetorical device where the speaker tries to sucker the listener into believing that some course of action is a "right" (i.e., undeniable), no merely a planned course of action.

What's the paranoia about?

[joeflies]

I've seen the demonstrations of RFID and I think it's light years ahead of what's going on today. Who would have thought that with today's computer systems, we are still seeing manual labor produce laborious and erroneous inventory reports. And stores experimenting with self-checkout, like Home Depot and some grocery stores, are largely counting on the honor system instead of computers. Libraries are stil trying to work out the problems with self-checkout.

Of course, I reserve the right to remove the tags after purchasing it (much like the alarm sensors put in CD/DVD cases nowadays), but while it's in the store, I wouldn't mind at all. The only groups I would have thought protesting this technology are the union workers doing inventory control now.

DRM (Dryer Rights Mangement)

[Dr. Bent]

Couldn't you design the RFID tags to disable themselves when the clothes are washed? Maybe have some kind of heat sensitive material that would disable the tag (or just melt) when it got hot enough, or wet enough.

I suppose "Dry Clean Only" presents a problem tho...

Re:so they are included into clothing...

[garcia]

because other theft prevention devices aren't sewn into the clothing.

Who the hell is going to walk around with a huge tag that looks like a woman's nipple after giving birth? Better yet, who the hell is going to leave the store with a tag that spews ink?

These can remain sewn into the clothes. I want them to stick to the current deterrents. They work, they are NOTICIABLY removed, and the items to disable them are pretty bulky. If someone creates a "disabler" like was proposed in a previous reply it would seem easier to do than what is currently available.

Re:how many geeks wear Benetton???

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't be surprised if they started putting tracking devices in free stuff. You can get free email, web space, etc. by supplying personal info and/or viewing ads, so why not give companies a log of every store you shop at in exchange for a free T shirt or jacket?

Sounds like a bad dotcom business plan. :)

Re:Dramatic???

[eXtro]

Something fishy here - how can Bentton track thieves, unless they have a database of tags and owners? Does it mean they tag the owner as well, so I can't lend clothing without informing Benetton? This theft-prevention stuff is silly.

You don't need a database of tags and owners to track thieves. Suppose that these RFIDs are sold in ranges. Benetton purchase serial numbers 100000 through 20000. As items are sold the RFID is struck from the list and the RFID destroyed.

Now if an RFID appears in range there are two checks to determine if the item was stolen. First, the RFID existing at all is an indicator since it was supposed to be destroyed. Second, if the RFID appears in the database then according to policy the item is in fact stolen.

No individual was actually tracked, no purchasing information was stored and there is no way to match a given RFID to any customer.

I still don't like RFID, but there are ways to avoid privacy issues and make use of them. Even with this blind system you could end up falsely accused of theft. If the clerk doesn't correctly enter the tag in the database and doesn't disable the RFID chip then her laziness or mechanical failure could incorrectly single you out as a thief.

they can't be destroyed easily..

[anticypher]

After seeing several companies at CeBit showing off tiny RFID tags, all of them promote the fact that they can't be destroyed by putting them in a microwave, or with other types of high energy RF systems. They have been designed to withstand most easy things thieves/consumers can do to disable them.

Only way to disable them is to locate them in the clothing, and tear them out. Those things are tiny, like smaller than a dried grain of rice, with tiny loops on the ends for threads to hold them in place.

the AC