Originally published May 2 2005
Stores want RFID tags on their merchandise, but privacy advocates fear they may be used to track customers
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Stores want to put radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on their merchandise in order to track merchandise, but there is some question on whether the tags will be deactivated when they are purchased. Privacy advocates worry that the tags will be used to track customers in order to see where they go and what they purchase. In fact, stores want the tags left on for that very reason. Stores want to use so-called "silent commerce" to examine customers' shopping habits. RFID tags can also be used in the "smart home" in order to help people do everything from remember to refill prescriptions to properly matching their clothes in the morning.
Consumer retailers and manufacturers this week promised to help shoppers disable or discard the radio tags attached to their purchased items in coming years -- if that's what shoppers really want.
The companies, chiefly retailers and their suppliers, say they will self-enforce policies requiring them to inform consumers whenever the tags are present on packaging or within products.
Some technology firms, such as IBM, are also making devices known as kill machines that will be able to disable the tags after checkout.
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.
Shoppers who keep the tags will be able to easily return items for refunds and credit, even if they lose their receipts.
Retailers can match each RFID tag to a customer's loyalty card or credit account number used at the time of purchase, said Joseph Tobolski, an associate partner at Accenture Technology Labs in Chicago.
The company's Silent Commerce Center, which Tobolski heads, is one of several research groups worldwide developing kiosks, store shelves, medicine cabinets and even bedroom armoires that read the RFID tags on purchased goods and offer consumers new products to go along with them.
In the "real world showroom" (an Accenture scenario), shoppers with RFID-equipped mobile phones can buy nearly anything they point their devices at, from neckties to used cars.
The company is also developing an "online wardrobe" that dishes out sartorial advice, helping its users match shirts and jackets, and suggesting new items that can be purchased on the internet.
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