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Your Garbage Can Could Be Spying On You

macs4all writes "Garbage cans all over England are under surveillance tonight. And not by sleepy, fallible humans. This article in Live Science claims that at least 500,000 'wheelie bins' are now using RFID technology." Though that doesn't sound very dire, the article points out the ease with which your consumer spending habits could be tracked. "Although this is frankly a story that is difficult to take seriously, please note the following. You should remember that many of the articles you buy (and sooner or later throw away) are now also equipped with passive RFID tags that detail the item's brand name and product name. If it's possible to scan the tag on the trash can with an ID, it's possible to use similar equipment to quickly scan your can to uncover your purchasing habits."

2 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Breaking RFID tags by lordkuri · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, I see you've tried my ex-wife's cooking. Man she gets around!

  2. Re:alarmist bullshit by 0123456 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "UK is a small crowded place, that's running out of landfill sites rapidly."

    Only about 8% of British land is built on, and there are vast areas that could be used for landfills.

    Instead, we end up with piles of 'recyclables' that no-one wants, and have to pay to ship them to the Third World so they'll dump them for us. Recycling in the UK is a huge scam, and this is just another way for councils to charge more for doing less.