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Wal-Mart Cancels RFID Trial

Posted by timothy on from the is-your-foil-hat-rfid-enabled dept.

EABird writes "CNet is reporting that Wal-mart has announced that they have canceled the RFID trial they were planning. Unfortunately, it looks like they are canceling it to focus on the use of the same technology in the warehouses and distribution centers instead, and waiting for the cost to come down before using the RFIDs in the stores."

1 of 411 comments (clear)

  1. Privacy Concerns are SO overrrated by Frac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    (Disclaimer: I am affiliated with the MIT Auto-ID Center.)

    All these privacy concerns people bring up, about people tracking you down are really overrrated.

    Why?

    The stores (walmart and others) have the same concerns. They preferably just want their own scanners to recognize their own products. Why? If an average joe can create a reader that identifies the actual product, what's to stop their competitor from parking a van outside their store with a powerful reader? The last thing a store wants to do is let anyone else knows their inventory levels. They're practically on the same boat.

    and why won't they have the incentive to kill the tags when you leave the store? If you're talking about Walmart, people that buy clothes from walmart most likely will go BACK to walmart at some point in the future wearing those clothes. The last thing they need is a line of 100 house-wifes lining up at the customer service center wondering why they were accused of stealing.