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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. ""
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.
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.
In my local grocery store they were such a frequently-stolen item that they had to be removed from the aisles. Now, if you want a pack of Mach3s you have to go up to the pharmacy and get them to hand them to you personally.
That is, of course, after you show two forms of picture ID, at least one showing you with a beard. They then perform a cursory measurement of your existing stubble and review your past purchases of razor blades to determine whether you actually need the blades or not. Cap it all off with an American-as-apple-pie dirty look and you've got your shopping experience.
-jason
[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.
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... ;-)
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.
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!