RFID Tags on Mach3 Razorblades Snap Your Photo

peteo writes "Think RFID tags are harmless? Look at how they are being used in the UK: "At the Tesco Cambridge store, a camera trained on the Gillette blade shelf, and triggered by RFID tags, captures a photo of each customer who removes a Mach3 pack. Another photo is taken at the checkout and security staff compare the two images to ensure they always have a pair" According to the spokesman,"there are certainly not any privacy concerns" in relation to these tags. He adds that there is plenty of in-store signage indicating the supermarket's use of CCTV cameras. ""

Comments

Waitrose have a camera on the razor blades...

[blowdart]

I only know this because they have a do it yourself barcode scanner for shopping and razor blades always come up as "Declare to cashier".

Last week I asked why. The cashier said it's because kids go in and steal them a lot, then come back the next day and ask for the money back (a pack of 8 is rather expensive, and they are easy to slip into pockets). So Waitrose watch the blades carefully and always check reciepts.

Is this really so much worse...

[26199]

...than plain old CCTV? Alright, so it's a little unsettling to think of someone with a photo of you taking something off the shelf comparing it with other photos to see if you bought the thing... but odds are if there's a CCTV camera then they're watching you as you take things off the shelf then, too.

Hmm. Doing this without telling people, however, is certainly cause for objection... there should be a sign of some sort, I suppose...

I would imagine that legally it doesn't require anything more than 'CCTV in use on these premesis', since the camera would have been there anyway...?

Re:Is this really so much worse...

[aking137]

Possibly - here, they're demonstrating the ability to link your identity with what you buy, and fairly automatically, en masse. Potentially, this could allow the authorities to track practically every "new" object you bought. Imagine if five years down the line, the police raid your house because they suspect you of something, and then they look at the RFID tags of lots of items in your house, and are able to tell exactly who bought what item and when (from their big database that's full of dates, times, photos, places, lists of items, etc). Or they might just simply keep track of all the stuff you're buying over a set period of time and then start drawing conclusions from it.

My understanding at the moment is that you do have to display a sign in the UK if you're filming the public. I doubt you have to do anything extra if you're attempting to link this footage with what's being taken off your shelves too though. It's no doubt being rolled out all over the place already.

I've already quit my job to avoid having a need for one of those identity cards, I've already sent back my driving license and made do with a push bike to stop them tracking me by my number plate, and I got my mobile crushed last week. Looks like I'm going to have to start an allotment now too!

Scenario

[Compact Dick]

• Customer #1 picks up a pack of Gillettes.
  
• Customer #1 decides against buying it while in the cereal aisle, dumps it there.
  
• Customer #2, also in the cereal aisle, decides to get a pack of Gillettes, spots the rogue pack, picks it up.
  
• Both proceed to their respective checkouts...
  
• 
  What happens now?

Re:Scenario

[Nimey]

Customer #1 decides against buying it while in the cereal aisle, dumps it there.

...

What happens now?

Customer #1 gets rightfully punished. I hated that when I worked in a grocery store. The worst thing was the wankers who would decide they didn't want a cut of meat, then drop it any old place to warm up and become unfit for consumption.

I know, your time is valuable, blah blah blah, but it's damned rude and inconsiderate.

Re:They are...

[Martin Blank]

Pack of four costs me US$8, pack of eight costs US$12.

When they're in stock. And they *are* placed at the checkout lines (though at the Ralph's where I shop, they're out so you don't have to ask for them, provided there are any left in stock), which has reduced shoplifting but the damned things are so popular that I've taken to shopping for the eight packs when I can and looking for replacements when I start in on the second cartridge of four.

The Mach3 has got to be one of the best examples of taking a common product and making a seemingly simple change that makes the product indispensible overnight. I picked one up a few months after they came out, and I can't believe I used to put up with other razors. Now if I use a normal two-blade razor, even one of the better ones, I tend to see shaving nicks all over the place. I know of a lot of women that use the Mach3 (or its successor for women, the Venus3) as well because it's less likely to leave nicks on their legs and under their arms.

Re:Honestly,

[ninthwave]

CCTV is used very widely in the United Kingdom and it is fairly well posted on signage going into to stores. But even outside of shop fronts in the United Kingdom entire high towns can be under CCTV. The debate was fought awhile ago here in the United Kingdom and because of IRA threats and a constant belief in any culture that crime is always worse than it used to be, people generally supported the idea of CCTV and recorded imagery used for security and police use.

But RFID adds so many issues, the fact is the rfid is unique and can be followed back to your residence if you have the right scanners so you now have a photo an item if this information is gathered elsewhere you can follow individuals and some facial recognition elsewhere and tie down a persons where abouts with other rfid purchases that may be worn, in theory at least. How close is that theory from reality and should the philosophical and political issued be discuessed now or later. I personally believe if this debate is not stated more clearly and in a broder context of these few products we see on the market the later systems we fear will be in place before we have a voice to do anything about them. But who knows the future is unwritten.

Re:There's a flaw here...

[beebware]

Or what happens when a family are shopping and adult A picks up the razor blades, decides they don't want them and gets child B to return them. Then they get to the checkout and realise they do need them, so they get child C to fetch a new pack - and finally adult D pays for the goods.
That's really going to screw up any "photographic auditing" system!

Fun hack to fight RFID.

[Alsee]

RFID works on frequencies and power levels that are perfctly legal to receive and re-broadcast. Imaging walking around with a tiny device that constantly listens for RFID codes and randomly rebroadcasts the last 5,000 codes it's stored.

Another cute device but trickier to make might listen for RFID codes to start and jump in in the middle drowning out the last half of the code with random garbage.

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