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..

[October_30th]

"RFID Neutralizer"

Like a microwave oven?

how many geeks wear Benetton???

[stonebeat.org]

I dont think many geeks wear Benetton. All I wear is the t-shirts/jackets I get from expos. So until they start putting tracking devices in those freebies, I am not worried.

Re:how many geeks wear Benetton???

[dr_dank]

When they put RFIDs the pocket protectors, I did not speak up.

When they put RFIDs in Members Only jackets, I did not speak up.

When they put RFIDs in sans-a-belt slacks, I did not speak up.

They put RFIDs in expo schwag. Now who will speak up for me?

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.

A Threat to Privacy?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought that these RFID transmitters had
a range of 10-15 ft. Barring society installing
scanners every 15 feet, how is this a threat
to privacy? You probably have a better chance
of being tracked by using your debit card than
RFID technology.

More accurately. . .

[Fritz Benwalla]

Benetton has said no to the publicity surrounding RFID tags.

So this particular implementation got onto the radar screens - do we think this will actually go away? Not in the slightest. All Phillips and everyone else has to do is make some quiet deals that don't directly impact consumers, maybe some business-to-business product, then find a way to make RFID tags "important to homeland security" and it's off to the races.

I have an idea for Philips, how about saying that RFID tags should be required on all products coming over the border from Mexico and into ports in the U.S. so that the Department of Homeland Security can better track them for suspicious shipment patterns? It would be a delicious use of both your lobbying power and the government's ability to shove intrusive technologies down our throats as long as they're slathered in a thick gravy of anti-terrorism.

Sorry to be Mr. Cynical on this, but we just watched Benetton take a principled stand on nothing excepting being an RFID guinea pig. I give them two years before they're back on board.

-----

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...

Are slashdotters luddites?

[stevens]

It's perfectly possible to make a type of RFID tag that doesn't affect privacy in any meaningful way. If the tag wasn't a unique identifier, but more like a product code (like the UPC code), then the only information it leaks it that it's a particlar inventiroy item, say, a red sweater.

No one can trace it to you, since--like a UPC symbol--it's not unique to item, but to the kind of item. And they could msake a way to disable them after purchase (like they do the little magnetized thingies in bookstores).

The privacy loss in unique-id RFID tags has a technological solution. I wish some slashdotter with access to capital would make a better, privacy-preserving widget instead of just hearing all of the bitching that you don't want the gov't to know you shop at LL Bean.

Tag technology

[ugen]

I can't see what the hysterical whining is about.
Here is the link: http://www.rf-id.com to general tags site. Read all about them.
The tags are just that - tags, just like any other tag on your clothing. It is not as if unique id is "embedded" in the threads of your pants and cannot be removed. In fact, if you will continue wearning clothes with RFID tag still attached - you will look like an idiot. Much like keeping any other tags on clothes.

Incidentally, what is the issue with privacy, even if the tag was somehow magically embedded into the thread of your pants? The tag identifies your pants as being a olive-green khakees size 48L, specifically made in Malaysia by a 12 year old? What part of that is not public knowledge or painfully obvious? What part of that is divulging information about the wearer of such clothes that he/she is not already giving up simply by wearing them?