Slashdot Mirror
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. ""
When were razor blades so valuable to warrant this?
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.
Seeing as this is the fourth time this month you've purchased genital wart cream, perhaps you'd be better off moving up to Genwartrexol?
...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...?
Tin foil hat privacy issues aside, the reason for this is because Gilette Mach 3 Razor Blades are the most shoplifted item in Britain. This is due to Gilette's "strategy" of giving away the razors and charging through the nose for the blades.
Just shave before the checkout and you won't get caught.
Is everyone who picks something up, decides they prefer to get a 12 pack, or the cheap disposable, or whatever, going to get investigated by the police?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Suddently splitting up and asking your significant other to pick something up for you in a different part of a store warrants a crime.
- Serge Wroclawski
I, for one, welcome our new razor blade overlords!
When you go shopping, always have an accomplice - (s)he picks up the blades, hands them to you somewhere else in the store, and you take them to the checkout.
Of course, this would happen 'accidentally' quite often anyway, but it's always good to make more trouble for stupid schemes like this.
So, what would happen if we round up 30+ slashdotters and have all of them pillage the rack of razor blades, only to put them all back and pillage some more? You know, with a bunch of beach balls and a large amount of beer we could have a great time while pillaging razorblades!
Hate me!
[This trial] is not to do with security or theft, it is a supply chain trial."
But they then say security staff use it. So what is it for? What supply chain information does it give them that they can't get from the till receipts?
My local supermarket (Safeways, Shepherds Bush) had huge shoplifting problems with razor blades. Rather than implementing this (presumably expensive) scheme, they took the simple step of moving the blades behind the counter at the store pharmacy. Shoplifting drops overnight, no added cost and no privacy concerns.
For preventing theft, the RFID tag would be enough alone.
So why do they need the photos for ?
Marketing ? But for customer group identification one photo would be sufficient.
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
I don't know how it is set up, but does it also take your picture if you put it back later? Otherwise the picture on the checkout will register you as a thief..
God , i would love to be able to make trouble about that. If you live in England , try it and if they mark you as a thief then unleash all your fury. (and i don't mean "Slashdot reader mode" fury. i mean "Quake 3 mayhem mode" fury).
Slashdot Sig. version 0.1alpha. Use at your own risk.
What happens now?
Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]
You have to wonder why they don't just put them behind the counter, as with cigarettes.
Is it some kind of subtle lure? Do they fear the drop in sales resulting from the less control of POS presentation? How would that stack up against the losses from shoplifting?
I'm now going to make sure I keep all RFID tags I find, and each time I go buy some new blades I'll take them along to swapping their sensors... ;-)
All this for something that you're using to cut off a part of yourself that grows back in a short time.:P
Before even taking into account physiological differences due to genetics, no matter how much you spend on the blades, you're going to have to shave again tomorrow (some men even sooner). Which is why I gave up the price battle and just use an electric razor for most times, and a pack of the cheap safety razors around for use other times. If my body is going to force me to spend money, I'll certainly make it as little as possible.
Karma: Excellent, but still won't get you laid.
As per the back of a Gillette Mach3 box :
Questions? Comments? 0800 174543 (UK Only)
So, you mean instead of training a camera on you continuously as you shop, now they can capture only a few key moments?
You'd think people would be declaring this a privacy *win* since you'll be video taped less now, and only at the points that matter.
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.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
Karma Whoring, mirroring from this sadly defunct comedy site...but I did go and order his book already
Right now, I want to be like the naked jet pilot, but I'm not like the naked jet pilot. He has three blades on his razor and I have only two.
You know who I'm talking about? The naked jet pilot on the Gillette commercial? He's got a uniform and a plane and then -- whoah! -- it all disintegrates and suddenly he's standing naked on what looks like the set of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? tenderly caressing his face. That guy. The naked jet pilot.
What a guy! I mean, he's lost it all: his uniform, his plane. What's he got left? A razor. Not even a can of shaving cream. But you can't keep him down. There he sits, rubbing his face. At least he got a smooth shave! He's looking on the bright side. Booyah naked jet pilot!
There's something homoerotic about a naked man standing around fondling his face, but I don't think the naked jet pilot is gay. If he is gay, it's just because he's so heterosexual that he's spun the meter all the way around. He appears gay because he's hyper-heterosexual in a way the rest of us can't understand. That's assuming he's an air force pilot. If he's in the navy, he's probably gay.
Gay or straight, he sure likes that razor! And why not? It's got three blades on it. Three! Check out the computer animated close-up: that'll take the hair off your face! I mean, the commercial implies that this razor disintegrated a state-of-the-art jet aircraft! That's a pretty good razor! They should drop planeloads of these things on Iraq! Even if they didn't destroy the Iraqi ability to make war at least Saddam Hussein could finally rid himself of that five-o'clock shadow he always seems to have.
(Then again, maybe the razor isn't responsible for the guy's plane falling apart. Maybe his plane just routinely fell apart because he's in the Canadian air force.)
Personally, I use the Gillette Sensor XL for my shaving needs. It can't destroy military equipment, but make no mistake -- it's a mighty razor. The top of the line in its day. You see, it has two blades. That's one to shave your face and another one, I guess, just to have. Plus, it has some kind of patented goop strip.
Admittedly the MACH 3, the naked jet-fighter's razor, has a higher blade count, but I'm not planning to upgrade at this time. And I'll tell you why: first off, I'm sitting on a large Costco-size stockpile of Sensor XL blades. Secondly, although I don't consider myself a nervous flier, the fact that the MACH 3 may cause jet aircraft to suddenly disintegrate gives me pause. Thirdly, and most importantly, I'm holding out for the new, four-bladed Gillette product which must be just around the corner.
Won't that be something! Four blades! One to shave your face, one just to have, one to be like the naked jet pilot, and a spare! That'll give you a smooth shave, I bet. Like, you'll really want to stand around naked caressing your face after using that thing!
I'm sure Gillette's labs are working on it now. Still, they have to be careful. I mean, if a MACH 3 can rip off a jet pilot's clothes and blow up his airplane and still leave him with a smooth shave, imagine what four blades could do? The guy wouldn't be left with any skin! He'd just be a manly skeleton, standing around on the set of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, smugly rubbing his mandible.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
The funny thing is, this is preceded by
Of course, these statements are essentially contradictory. Obviously Gillette does not have a monopoly, because there exist alternatives. They apparently offer a superior product, but at a higher cost. The whole point of the free market is, you get to choose what you pay for. If the cheaper blades were as good, people would move to that system and Gillette's price would come down.
Are you alleging that Gillette somehow uses its market presence to squeeze out the other players?
Not every high price indicates the boogey-man of "monopoly". Higher quality sometimes demands higher price.
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
I was gonna say that too.
If they wanted to test it for the supply chain side, they would put them tags in a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk. Something high volume that would let them track some real sales and put their system through its paces. not some gimmicky, expensive razor blades that maybe a couple people per day purchase.
I can see the press conferences now...
Shop Spokesman: We are not using these RFID tags for security purposes. It is just pure coincidence that we happen to pick the "most shoplifted" item in Britain to test these on. A very important link in our supply chain entails comparing photos of who picked up an item and who is exiting the store with that item. We are not interested in testing this technology to track the location of something like a case of these razor blades in our warehouse.
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.
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said: "I drank what?" - Chris Knight (Val Kilmer)- Real Genius
...is that they can be "scanned" from a distance away.
I don't see why a picture is necessary. If someone has an RFID'ed item (say in their pocket), it should get scanned and charged for just like an item being held in the hands or resting in the cart. RFID SHOULD potentially eliminate shoplifting, with NO privacy concerns.
Imagine going into walmart and instead of each item being scanned separately, the cashier just aims the scanner at your cart, then you, and instantly everything is added to the total. No questions about what you may have slipped into your pockets because it just get's added. The scanner makes no value judgement.
RFID can be used to make life simpler, as long as we don't start using it to invade privacy.
Everyone knows linux hackers and users don't shave, and the more hair the better.
:)
Also, simply using the Tesco Online Grocery Shopping system would get round the problem.
A solid beard lets you look sage while stroking it and giving a measured Hmmm and a nod, while you try to figure out what the hell to do next.
Alternately I could extend my moustache to a Fu Manchu and try out for the next Evil Overlord position that opens up. (I've got the laugh, but an extreme moustache is a job requirement, bastards.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
- Pick-up some blades, making sure you are snapped by the camera.
- Move outside of the camera range
- Dump the razor blades somewhere else in the store
- Pass at the cash
- When you are stopped by store security, insist that they call the police to search you - only the police has the right to search you
- When the police has found nothing at all, sue the store for false arrest (the manager will perhaps make a counter-offer for free merchandise - I have an aunt to got herself a free mink coat this way after she was arrested by store detectives at Eaton's [Macy's equivalent])
- ????
- profit!
After 10-20 people do that trick, mabye the store will reconsider it's policy...No, I do not have a loyalty card. No, I do not want an application form. I would tell you why, but then I would have to charge you at my usual hourly rates...
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
but you can never "leave"
my sig
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!
London uses CCTV to impose a congestion charge on you whenever you drive into downtown London. The camera photographs your car and you get a bill for driving in the city. The idea is to reduce traffic to a manageable level and provide revenues for the bus system.
The tax is politically unusual in that Milton Friedman, a conservative economist at the University of Chicago, came up with the idea and Ken Livingston, a socialist, implemented it.
Higher quality sometimes demands higher price.
Damn straight. After using the Mach3, going back to ordinary razors just didn't cut it.
literally!
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.
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
Admittedly, the 2450MHz band is the same as WiFi, so most of us would be opposed to jamming that on general principles, but it looks like the 915MHz band is what is being used more often. The Alien Technology tags for 2450 look really big and expensive.
It should only take about a watt or two with a bandwidth of 26MHz in the low band or 56.5Hz in high band. (These numbers from the FCC web site:FCC frequency spectrum PDF Some sort of pulse modulation would probably help the jamming, too.
Heck, you could probably take the RF shielding off an appropriate-speed laptop and walk around with it as a first iteration of the design. I remember the old Apple ][+ used to jam channel 6 pretty well.
Language students: Don't try to learn English here. This ain't it.
Not that I recommend doing such a thing - but just to highlight
why this is a silly idea...
1) Go to the razor blade stand - pick up a pack of blades - get
photo taken.
2) Hand pack of blades to your wife as she's buying cornflakes in
the next aisle. Say "Honey - please pay for these - I have to go
to the store next door."
3) Leave store.
4) When they stop you leaving the store and accuse you of not paying for
the blades you picked up - tell them that you left the blades in the
Cornflakes aisle. Let them strip-search you - you don't have
the blades. Make a terrible fuss.
5) They let you go with profuse apologies.
6) Your wife then leaves the store - with pack of blades in her pocket
'forgetting' to pay for them. Nobody bats an eyelid because her photo
didn't get taken at the razor blade shelf.
So why don't they simply correlate the RFID tags that they detect going
through the exit of the store with an RFID tag on the till reciept and
directly check that every tag that they detect as marked as being in the
store's inventory is also in the database as having been sold against
that reciept?
Nobody's privacy is invaded - it's all perfectly anonymous.
I don't see the need for all the photography and consequent invasion of
privacy.
www.sjbaker.org
"The solution here is to break the system. Take razors off the shelf then leave them elsewhere within the store. You're not shoplifting and you can cause enough noise that the system is worthless."
Until Fritz and Berman pass the Digital Millenium Shopping Act that makes it a felony to "circumvent" (or obfuscate) any hair brained "shoplifiting protection system" even if you don't steal ANYTHING.
Sooner or later the day will come when we are guilty of a crime for simply making it DIFFICULT for private and government authorites to track our every move...
Corporatism != Free Market
At the Tesco Cambridge store, reports the magazine, a camera trained on the Gillette blade shelf, and triggered by the 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.
So you and your wife are shopping, you drop a pack of blades in your common cart, then you go out to the car. Meanwhile your wife gets to the cashier, and her photo sure doesn't match the scratchy-faced guy who put the blades in the cart. Hey, lady, you tryin' to kipe these or somethin'??
Now what? It seems innocuous enough on the surface -- your wife merely pays for the blades and life goes on as before. But multiply this by every family with kids who shop in the usual random way, and it's a helluva lot of inconvenience (and if there's any justice, more cost to the store than the theft prevention is worth).
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Yes, I have seen a clean-shaven terrorist. Here's a big picture of him.
Will I retire or break 10K?
The best shave is with an open razor.
It's a lot of fun, too. Not to mention a lot of time and effort -- but if you have the time the results over electric and the Mach 3 are nothing short of fantastic.
Thanks,
--
Matt
And that makes him(her) how much different from the majority of slashdotters? ;-)
mrg
This could be enormous fun. Imagine now. A group of people go into a supermarket and disperse. Half the group each select a packet of razor blades, then pass them to members of the other half of the group, who take them to the tills and pay.
Or just keep picking up packs of razor blades, wandering around the store for awhile and putting them back on the shelves. Or wave a packet of razor blades back and forth in front of the sensor to keep taking photographs.
In some stores, you can go out to the exit side of the checkout e.g. to go to the tobacco kiosk - there is only one exit, with security guards in attendance. You could sneak packets of razor blades out of the main sales floor, then pass them backward through the checkouts, triggering the cameras as you go. Put the blades back on the shelves.
If there is an easy way to kill the RFID tags or blind the sensors {this will require experimentation} then maybe this can be done right there in-store.
Yes, there is plenty of potential for fun to be had with these things.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
What I am alleging is that the shaving companies have a conspiracy and setup a nice and neat monopoly.
No, what you are referring to is not a monopoly, but a cartel, where competitors collude to fix prices and, sometimes supply.
I kinda doubt this is happening, but I do agree the prices are exorbitant. But damn, how ironclad are the patents on the Mach series blades? Why doesn't somebody reverse-engineer these baddies and put up some competition? I did try a storebrand work-alike of the older Gillette line (it was a Sensor generic designed for the Sensor stick) and it was AWFUL. Bloody mess.
Margins on razorblades are actually pretty darn good for the manufacturors. Just think about it: why do you think Warren Buffet holds big stake in Gillette? Why do you think those blades can be manufactured in USA and not china? Another thing: blade market is not monopoly but it is oligapoly and I wouldn't be surprised if they are fixing price somehow.
Hmm quite a failed logic. Bin Laden and Co. don't shave because they believe it's against their religion. If they don't shave, why would they buy Gillete Mach 3s?
That's why they need the cameras. If an unshaven guy who looks like a terrorist buys a razor then it must be for some nefarious purpose, such as sticking it in Halloween candy.
-a
Buy RFID-tagged products! Keep the tags! Spread them around!
I think I will push Mach 3 RFID tags into, oh, a bunch of banannas. Or a loaf of bread. Drop it into a shampoo bottle. And if WalMart starts RFIDing underwear, it will be even more fun...
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
The whole point of RFIDs are for stock control- shelf and point of sale.
Umm - so why the cameras? A bar code can provide perfect stock control. These RFIDs are for MARKETING so lets not kid ourselves any longer.
Two years ago I lived 20 miles outside Cambridge (now 5000 miles away) - if I was still there I'd let the cam snap me picking them up, drop them elsewhere in the store and have a good argument on the way out when the store security guard tries to get physical.
while sco {
wget -O
}
What if somebody picked up a pack of razors then decided not to buy them later on while still shopping. Rather than returning to the razor isle, he sets them down right there. Later somebody else see's them sitting there and picks them up.
Now the store saw him pick them up, but didn't notice the remainder of the interaction with that particular pack of razor blades. Now you've just tweaked the system.
So if I don't set them back down in the same isle I could get searched as I walk out because I didn't purchase razor blades?
After using the Mach3, going back to ordinary razors just didn't cut it.
:)
I wish there was a +1 Rimshot mod.
The perception of reality is more important than reality itself.
Did you guys even read the news after 9/11? They found notes that the guys had been handed by their 'leaders' reminding them to shave so they wouldn't look like terrorists...
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips