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RFID Coming 'Whether You Like It Or Not'
VTBassMatt writes "According to an interview with Scott McGregor of Philips Semiconductor in BusinessWeek, RFID tags are coming whether we like it or not but of course won't affect our privacy. Choice quotes from the article include such gems as, '[P]rivacy concerns around RFID tags are a little like concerns about supermarket scanners years ago. When the laser scanners were coming out, everybody was saying, retailers are going to collect information about what you buy. And none of that happened.' Is that why I have two loyalty cards on my keyring and three more in my wallet?"
RFID may be coming, but its not exactly bursting out at least in the UK.
I investigated RFID for implementation within my company, but came up with
next to no suppliers, apart from one company who after several phone calls
'forgot' about the samples and paperwork they were meant to send. And I simply don't have the
time to implement from electronics up.
IMHO if someone wants to make some money on this, set up a company now, as no-one
else seems to have their act together with customer relations or advertising (yet).
I actually *wanted* to implement this, so imagine the chance someone who's indifferent,
or uninterested in this technology has of being persuaded to implement it in industry.
Windows in 6 Bytes (IA-32) : 90 90 90 90 CD 19
in the supermarkets around here, supermarkets require you to have the 'loytalty' card in order to write a check, for their own protection.
... i've also approved it with the managers.
friends of mine work there, and they track *everything* you buy, with the card.
My own solution? 'could you use the store card? i'm not writing a check, but i want the things on sale'
it's too bad i can't play that on screen slot machine game to win the magic token though.
Runnin' On Empty
At my grocery store they spit out coupons based on what you buy and hand that to you in addition to your receipt. I know they track because the coupons from one trip correspond to previous trips. For example if I buy baby formula I get diaper coupons. On another trip for milk and eggs I get another round of diaper coupons while the little old lady gets coupons for Depends.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Loyalty cards are your choice, and you can still buy stuff without them. I don't see how that relates to RFID.
Most wil activate them without any paperwork.
If not then...
Fill them out like this:
123 Main St
Anytown, AK
12345
(800)-555-3825
RFID tags are a little different.
I've always said I don't mind RFID tags as long as there are no laws mandating them.
I would probably choose to buy the product without a tag. And when I buy products that have them, I remove them.
But what concerns me is a law (and I could see this happening) that forbids anyone to remove RFID tags. That would scare the crap out of me. But up until that point, I'll handle the tags myself.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
Yep, you sure can.... you don't need the card at all. It's just rather nice, imo.
And you know what, I don't care at all if they track my purchases. This is because:
- I get coupons for items I frequently buy
- I didn't have to give out my name or address to get the card, so it's anonymous data
- The data from my purchases helps them run their store better, so everyone's happy
"Quoting famous computer scientists out of context is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming." - K
As a small retailer who owns two stores (Music related and Aggressive Sports related), I am very open about being anti-RFID within the products I carry. Should a supplier offer RFID within the POP/POS merchandising structure, I'll refuse it.
As such, I've cut back as much as I can from the Targets and Wal*Marts and other large chains, instead attempting to find smaller "Ma and Pa" shops that offer similiar merchandise. In today's market, you'd think these stores are hard to find, but I've actually found the opposite.
I've been able to buy vacuum cleaners cheaper than at the mass goods stores, TVs and DVD players as well. Found razor blades and shampoo and other items at stores that won't desire RFID or other tracking mechanisms, and I found them cheaper than I would have purchased them from the large chain stores or grocery stores.
Look around your community and find retailers who have no reason to jump on the RFID bandwagon. Do you use your "Preferred Shopper" card? You're already giving up your privacy. Do you buy online? You're already giving up your privacy. Do you give your phone number to a store when they ask for it when closing a sale? Bye bye privacy.
If you want more privacy, shop where stores provide it. Don't use your credit cards or write a check (the information can get deposited into a database), pay cash. Don't get "zero percent financing for 2 years" because you'll end up having those purchases tracked by who knows how many marketing firms.
Your choice for privacy is up to you. If you care about it, the power to keep your information away from prying eyes is readily available in even the smallest towns.
When the laser scanners were coming out, everybody was saying, retailers are going to collect information about what you buy.
I am an Networking contractor. Some of my customers do this very thing.
A large chain of video rental stores in Sydney Australia spring to mind...
They DO collect data on what customers buy and retain the link between that data and that customer. The customer then receives promotional material via whatever channels they know how to get to you.
The store owner who told me this, assured me that all was okay because, they "don't sell that data".
That made me feel so much better.
War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
When the laser scanners were coming out, everybody was saying, retailers are going to collect information about what you buy. And none of that happened.'
Excuse me? What do you think "Club cards" are, and why do you think there is a discount associated with it? All the info about what you buy is aggregated to create shopping profiles in order to suck more $$$ out of you in the form of targeted advertising and "sharing your info with our business partners."
RFID is everything that the barcode scanners are in terms of information collection, and A WHOLE LOT MORE! Consider: you go to your local supermarket and buy a six pack or two and walk out the front door, RFIDs and all. If an hour later you leave the parking lot but the six pack with the RFID doesn't, what's the logical conclusion, and how long will it be before all of the bored busy-body housewives of the world DEMAND that law enforcement be notified of such a scenario just in case someone might be drinking and then driving???
After all, it's for the safety of the children...
Yeah, I admit it - I'm the bitch of almost every local supermarket and retail store that requires a barcode for discounts.
It sucks, but I try not go down without a fight. You know, it amazes me how many people simply do not care about the wealth of information garnered about them. I've brought this up in lunchroom conversations with my fellow employees and they're like, "Oh well, what can ya do..."
Get this: Recently, I went to a bank to cash a check. This was not my bank, but the check belonged to them and as I was in a hurry for the money, I thought I'd simply cash it there.
I showed them my ID, but you can guess my reaction when they asked me for a FINGERPRINT! "Oh, it's just a formality..."
Bullshit! Look, I don't mind that the gov't has this info on me (I was in the Army once), but it REALLY bothers me when a financial institution can ask for this. Needless to say, I deposited my check at my bank, but I was a bit shaken by the incident.
Is this the beginnings of our Brave New World? If so, I hope they use oral thermometers. No way I'm getting that up my ass for 5% off!
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
I've lost the URL unfortunately but one site had a project of sorts where someone had signed up for a card and then scanned the numbers/barcode in. People then printed the barcode out, taped it over their clubcard and made purchases all over the UK on one card, making it quite a puzzle for Tesco. Alas, that wouldn't work with RFID, but I'd imagine actually posting RFID tags from one end of the country to the other could provide some amusment/ store confusion.
This may not work everywhere, you'll need to do your own experimenting but I find that my Kroger Card works at Food Lion and vice versa (ie it makes a nice beep and I get the discount on my receipt.) You obviously have to do this at the self-checkout lines. I imagine my purchases are being recorded as some other customers records... that or the loyalty card software doesn't do any sanity checking... Hmmmm buffer overflow, anyone?
2^5
The supermarket card is the perfect example of what can happen with RFID gone bad. Obviously, supermarket cards collect individual buying habits of customers. This really isn't in dispute or something to hide. The scary part is what can be done with that data that goes well beyond just marketing information.
There have already been two cases (that I'm aware of) in which data collected by supermarket cards has been used in court. The first was a case where the info was used to show that a man had a habit of buying very expensive wines, and was successfully used to argue that he could therefore afford more in allimony than he was initially supposed to pay. The second case involves a man suing the grocery store for slipping while shopping. The store attempted to use the man's buying history to show that he was likely an alcoholic.
Scared yet?
How about RFIDs? How can they be miss-used? Well, just look at EZPass, the toll-booth system that uses RFIDs to automatically charge motorists. That info, in the state of IL, has been supoenaed 11 times already. In one case to prove infidelity in a divorce case.
Now imagine how many places will use RFIDs. Every store. Public places. EVERYWHERE. Compile and cross-reference this data and you can assemble a complete picture of a person.
This is not "tin foil hat" material. It IS happening and it WILL continue if you don't do something.
"The market alone cannot provide sufficient constraints on corporation's penchant to cause harm." -- Joel Bakan
I always shop at the Albertson's by my home, which up until recently didn't have a loyalty card. I never pay cash though, I always use my ATM card.
About a month after having our second child, the coupon printer at the checkout started printing coupons for baby formula, no matter what I bought.
Their system knew who I am based off of my ATM card, and knew that I had a new baby. It kept printing the formula coupons to keep me coming there.
Do I mind it? Hell no. The coupons I was constantly getting (And still getting occasionally) are worth about $10 each, and I was getting one no matter how little I spent at the store. There were several times I ran in for something small, and ended up with a buy one get one free coupon for formula worth 2-3x the amount of my purchase.
In the last few months, I've gotten $200-$300 worth of formula coupons, so to me it is worth them tracking what I buy at the grocery store.
The benefit of RFID will be when you push your trolley through a gate, but your credit card in the hole in the wall and pay...
I really don't see the privacy implication here. All they will know is what you've bought, which they know anyway, seeing you're paying for it. How exactly are they going to use the RFIDs to invade anyone's privacy?
I'm sure even i can come up with some ludicrous schemes, and knowing the way the world works some of them will be implemented eventually, but at the moment with the things they propose i see it as a stock-keeping and payment issue, and nothing else...
Ponxx
Of course, spam is spam is spam...
>>stores only use the addresses on file to send snail-mail spam. The solution? Use a fake name and address.
t ements.htm
A good idea, but you can do better than that, give them the name of the President/CEO/CFO/CIO of the supermarket chain!! Let the company bigshots that make these stupid policies get hardcopy spammed and see how they like it.
So how do you find VIP names? Go to the corporate section of the company web page, look for investor information (if a publicly traded company) or "history" or such if a private company. Get a list of names of the officers and put that together with information about where the company is based. Jump over to the internet phone book with that information and you're all set. If you can't get a home address, just enter the corporate office address.
How 'bout a couple links to get you started? Kroger: http://www.kroger.com/financialinfo_reportsandsta
Food Lion: http://www.delhaizegroup.com/en/in_ar2002.asp
I was in Austin last week for the second largest music festival in the US, South by Southwest (sxsw). RFID tags were embedded in the wrist bands that fesitval goers had to wear for the duration of the multi-day event. Most venues I went to scanned these (checking for counterfeit wristbands) using equipment that has the ability to store the info on the RFID tag to upload into a database. With plans to link personal information such as birthdate (for 21+ verification to purchase alcohol at events) and the ability to add money and use the wristband as a sxsw debit card, I see many privacy issues on the horizon for future sxsw goers. Approximately 7,000
I use 'em all the time, but that doesn't make analogies any more accurate.
Comparing RFID to bar codes is close in that that is what most retailers want them for.
However, that doesn't change the fact that bar codes DO NOT TRANSMIT and CAN NOT BE SEEN unless you put them in plain site.
It's like the difference in security between an ethernet cable and an open WiFi signal. Same -intended- purpose, but one is far more prone to abuse.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
It would be better not to participate then to purposely corrupt the data stream. The potential is for these loyalty card programs to have a real effect on what is offered to you, and what information is sold to others about you. If I have to be in a database, I would rather the information was accurate so the machine logic doesn't draw incorrect inferences and cause me further problems.
-- Gary Goldberg KA3ZYW 301/249-6501 AIM:OgGreeb Digital Marketing Inc., Bowie, MD
I look forward to widespread use of RFIDs in the checkout lane. As a person who had to leave an area with a lot of self-service checkouts (Minneapolis) to an area with NO self-service checkouts (Rochester NY) I am NOT happy because now I have to wait in lines again while low wage retards slowly scan groceries for soccer moms that insist on writing a check AND only start to do so after the final tally is calculated. Since my move I've not once spent more time shopping for groceries than I spend in line waiting to pay for them!
When a new "upscale" grocery store opened in my old neighborhood, I was pleased that they didn't have loyalty cards. Now I notice that one of the major grocery stores I shop at (Rainbow Foods in Minneapolis area) has dropped their card. The other large competing chain, Cub/Supervalu doesn't have one either. Together they probably get 80% of the grocery shoppers in the metro area.
Neither do the others: Lund's, Byerly's etc. I can't think of a single grocery chain around here that still uses loyalty cards.
Q: Is this a nationwide trend, or just specific to this area of the upper Midwest?
I suspect that the rise in numbers of people paying with credit cards makes these loyalty cards superfluous. I rarely pay for groceries in cash and I tend to get pretty well targeted register coupons when I shop. e.g., I bake a lot so the register often prints out coupons for flour, sugar, chocolate, etc...
Imagine being able to just push your cart through a metal detector & have everything scanned in seconds.
Imagine having a small piece of electronics that works on two AA batteries and burns out all RFIDs within a, say, one foot radius. Shouldn't be hard to make, really.
Now imagine running a store. Are you sure you want to charge your customers only for items with intact RFIDs?
Kaa
Kaa's Law: In any sufficiently large group of people most are idiots.
Damn right. It must be nice to have the money to sit around and spit out idealistic crap regarding Wal*Mart (and I don't argue that much of it is true), but when you're bairly making it there's pretty much no choice.
"Windows Me offers tremendous reliability and stability improvements..." -- Paul Thurott
Now imagine running a store. Are you sure you want to charge your customers only for items with intact RFIDs?
My local supermarket (Safeway, in the UK) lets you walk round with a barcode reader yourself, then pay at the end without having to get everything scanned. The idea is that there's always the chance of having everything scanned anyway, depending on how "trustworthy" the system considers you to be. When you first start you'll get scanned most of the time, but after you get checked a few times and aren't found to be sneaking anything through it becomes less often.
I'd imagine this could work in a similar way. You never know whether your trolley full of dead tags is going to get checked anyway. If you're always trying to sneak stuff out you'll see almost no advantage; if you're honest you'll be half way home by the time you would have got through the checkout.
"Cattle Prods solve most of life's little problems."
For example, in the Seattle, WA area using the Microsoft main phone number of 425-882-8080 -or- the Boeing number of 206-655-2121 at QFC or Safeway works every time. As an added bonus when they are running "Spent $500 a week and save an additional 10% on your groceries" promotions you get the additional savings almost instantly. There are other promotions they run all the time as well, "Buy 5 Starbucks coffee beverages and the next on is free" I seem to get a free latte every 2nd or 3rd trip to the store.
As long as you use cash (not your ATM/Debit or Credit Card!) you effectively remove yourself from their data-collection system... in fact you are contributing misinformation to their database, actually reducing the value of their data collection stream. To really corrupt the information, use the phone number of a business that you have no interest/affiliation in whatsoever.
If the stores ever care enough to shut down one of the number just move to the next major business number in your area... repeat, lather, rinse.
RFID is not as bad as you think. I used to work for a provider of data warehoouse solutions, granted not in the consulting division. I went to a presentation one of the guys in supermarket consulting gave, and he talked about the complete failure of the supermarkets to do anyting useful with the data they were collecting with loyalty cards. I worked at a grocery store when the cards were first introduced. They had all these great ideas about sending you personalized coupons, and % off rewards by tracking savings and giving reward points. They don't do this anymore. The supermarkets failed miserably at targeted marketing and 'spying'. They are in the business of selling food, they are not in the business of collecting data about their customers. Sure it would be of huge benefit to them to do this, but short of WAL-MART having the resources and brains to make something like this work nobody knows how. The supermarkets are too dumb. Look at self check out and how much they missed the boat on this. I go to the store and all the person in front of me does is complain about what a piece of crap this self checkout is, just last week the lady in front of me said "I could have gone through faster through the regular check out." You do not need ot worry about the ability of retailers to capitalize on this information. RFID will be driven by supply chain management people. Any efforts to aggregate data on your purchases will come from marketing. Any actual solution for these will come from the IT department. So to get this data collection to work you need IT, Marketing and SCM. My corporate experience has shown that getting 2 people to work together on something is hard enough try getting hundreds from 3 different departments and a CEO who is so caught up in squeezing the last dollar out of each department without spending even $0.50 and there is no way this will happen. (this is the one time you can thank CEO's for being so cost driven) Especially 5 years from now when every IT job in America has been outsourced to india and the IT guys are 5,000,000 miles away from the marketing dept. Relax a little and take that foil hat off your head. There is no conspiracy to take away your privacy. Nobody who has the power to do it has the brains to pull it off. Or to reailze that it could actually be done.
I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.