Companies Want RFID Sensors In Your Bedroom

[Scarecrow Man]

Certain e-commerce companies are promoting some very scary plans for RFID tags and sensors. RFID tags are tiny radio transceivers which transmit a short code identifying themselves when a signal is received from an RFID reader device. When embedded into merchandise, these tags allow a person with a reader to know exactly what the merchandise is, where it was bought, how much it cost and, potentially, who bought it.

One company, Accenture Technology Labs in Chicago, has created medicine cabinets and even bedroom furniture with embedded RFID readers. These readers are, of course, connected via the internet to certain e-commerce web sites. Imagine your own furniture detecting your new clothes and prescription drugs and reporting them to some marketing company over the internet. The reason for doing this is so that these companies can target very specific advertising at you.

My tin foil hat is on too tight you say? Not so; that is exactly what the company says it wants to do.

Both the wardrobe and the medicine cabinet scenarios link to e-commerce websites.

    ...

But the companies appear to want consumers to keep RFID tags attached to their clothes and other items, to make them available to internet-connected reader devices in stores, homes and on the street. That way, companies like Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy can pitch new products to consumers based on what they are wearing or carrying, wherever the companies find them.

As a sop to privacy advocates, some spokespersons are entertaining the idea of giving the buyer the option to disable or remove the RFID tags. They would, of course, do this voluntarily. No doubt they hope to stave off calls for legislation requiring them to disable all tags at the point of purchase.

In my opinion, this would be worse than if all retailers refused to disable the tags. Why? At least if you know the tags are active, you can obtain a tag-killing device somewhere and use it yourself to debug new purchases. A handful of companies are making plans to make such products.

Under a voluntary system, some retailers would disable the tags and some would not. You would never know when or if the tags are still live when you leave the store with your purchases. And even if they claimed to disable it but actually did not, the retailer would not be breaking any laws. You wouldn't be able to force them to disable the tags and you wouldn't be able to hold them accountable if they lied to you about disabling them.

I still believe strongly that all retailers should be required to have tag killing devices at the register and should be required to ask the customer if they want to keep the tags live or not. This should be law, not an optional "self regulating" behavior. If, as some of these commerce groups are claiming, they really do intend to give the consumer that option, then they should have no objection to it being mandatory.

Not in my house. Can you say, 'Invasion of privacy'? :angry:

[-pops-]

George Orwell's visions were right - he just got the dates a few years out.

[andsome]

NO WAY could I go along with this. I would rather go without than buy anything tagged like this.

[CurlyWhirly]

NO WAY could I go along with this.  I would rather go without than buy anything tagged like this.

Yes I agree but how are you going to know if the article is tagged or not?

I shouldn't think that the manufacturers would advertise the fact for fear of putting customers off buying the merchandise!

[-pops-]

I shouldn't think that the manufacturers would advertise the fact for fear of putting customers off buying the merchandise!

The surefire way to prevent the fear and put people off buying is not to do it in the first place.

You can rest assured, though, that if this Orwellian vision does come into commerce, some hack will have a way of either detecting or disabling it as soon, if not before, it comes on the market.

[CurlyWhirly]

You can rest assured, though, that if this Orwellian vision does come into commerce, some hack will have a way of either detecting or disabling it as soon, if not before, it comes on the market.

I am generally not in favour of hacks, but in this case I would welcome it as I value my privacy like most people.

I certainly don't want to be part of the Big Brother craze!

[andsome]

Expect Cheesy to agree to this mad brained scheme, because his mate GWB and also Brussels will tell him to.