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Walmart Begins Rollout of RFID and EPC Tags

Posted by michael on from the mark-of-the-benton-beast dept.

paroneayea writes "There's a lot about RFID tags in the news today. Wal-Mart is officially beginning to use RFID tags on its merchandise. We've heard about Wal-Mart's plans to introduce RFID tags in the past, but this is the first time that this is actually being put into use. To quote the article: 'Wal-Mart is billing this as a trial, but Simon Langford, Wal-Mart's manager of RFID strategies, told RFID Journal that this is the beginning of the company's planned roll-out of EPC (Electronic Product Code) technology.' Meanwhile, California does something right for a change and introduces a bill that will limit the use of RFID tags in stores and libraries to protect the privacy of customers. IBM, which plans to be a major manufacturer of RFID tags, bashes critics of RFID tags as 'anti-retail.'"

2 of 462 comments (clear)

  1. Nothing to worry about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Troll

    I see absolutely no problems here. If you're worried about your privacy, remove/disable the rfid tags onec you've purchased the products.
    It's not as if there are any laws preventing you from tampering with products that you own ... oh, wait. The DMCA ... one step closer to 1984 ... well done Bu$h :(

  2. Tin Foil Liner... by the+MaD+HuNGaRIaN · · Score: 3, Troll

    When I was lining the inside of my SUV with tin foil, my wife said "isn't the hat enough?"

    I knew it was coming to this. Now I'm ready!

    Once I leave the store, nobody will ever know what I bought (except Visa, my bank, and their business partners, and Walmart and their business partners, and whoever is behind me at the checkout, and the girl who checks me out, and the kid who bags it, and the old guy who checks my receipt, and the guys operating the 10,000 security cameras at the store).