Tiny chips could be very hard to spot

Especially when “printed” onto product packaging "The vision is to move from the etched, solid metal antennas to the printed antennas." "Since radio waves travel through most packaging materials, packagers...could print the antenna…inside of the box. They could laminate it inside the package, or print it on the outside and print over it." – Dan Lawrence, Flint Ink

And they’re getting smaller. Hitachi’s mu-chip contrasted with grains of rice

They can be integrated into paper Inkode’s “chipless tag”: Closeup of Inkode metal fibers embedded in paper

Tags can be sewn into clothing

Hidden in fabric labels (Checkpoint prototype)

Back of Checkpoint clothing label

RFID tag in Checkpoint label

Embedded in shoes

A 6” tag is hard to hide. Alien/RAFSEC “C” tag

Or is it? Hidden: Sandwiched in cardboard 6” Alien/RAFSEC “C” tag inside a box

This tag (with a 17ft. read range) is easy to spot, right? Alien/RAFSEC “I” Tag

Not when “placed inside cap” – an inaccessible location on this flip-top product Alien/RAFSEC “I” tag in lid of Pantene shampoo bottle

Another big tag (4.5”) Alien/RAFSEC “S” Tag

“placed between layers of paper” Alien/RAFSEC “S” Tag in Bag

The government has mandated RFID in passports

Now they’re appearing in credit cards

Traceable Cash Japanese yen and Euro banknote may soon carry RFID chips

Tracking people: The “Verichip” implant (short read range)

Industry has plans to ID shoppers

“Future Store”

Spychip hidden in loyalty card

Threat: Ubiquitous readers Texas Instruments advises retailers to scan customers’ loyalty cards right through their purse or wallet Source:

In ceilings and floors Source: Checkpoint Systems

Image source: Copytag In doorways

Even “Thinking Carpets” Image source: Vorwerk (Germany)

Free Market Privacy Activism Who is guarding the henhouse?

Fair Information Principles Ignored Direct Marketing Association member companies surveyed: NOTICE : 62% gather personal information without telling customers CHOICE : 74% use customers’ personal data without asking permission (n=365) Source: Milne, George R. and Maria-Eugenia Boza (1998), “A Business Perspective on Database Marketing and Consumer Privacy Practices,” Marketing Science Institute Working Paper No Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute. As cited in: Milne, George R. (2000) “Privacy and Ethical Issues in Database/Interactive Marketing and Public Policy,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 19 (Spring), 1-6.

Scandal: Benetton/Philips clothing tagging Tags could not be “killed” as promised Benetton told consumers the tags could be “killed” at checkout, while Philips documentation revealed the tags could only be made “dormant.”

Scandal: The Gillette “smart shelf”

Took a mug shot of every customer

Tags were hidden in Gillette product packaging

For more details see: Our response:

Result: Wal-Mart stopped.

Picketers protested Tesco’s spychipped razor blades

Result: Tesco stopped, too.

Scandal: Secret Wal-Mart/P&G trial Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 4-month secret RFID experiment used live consumers. Distant P&G executives used a video camera trained on the shelf to observe shoppers. Both Wal-Mart and P&G repeatedly denied the trials until evidence was produced.

Outcome: Very bad press.

Scandal: Spychipped shopper cards at Future Store

Rheinberg, Germany February 28, 2004 Outcome: Germans protested

The program was cancelled.

Scandal: Wal-Mart stepping into item-level tagging.

Outcome: 75 People protested in Dallas just this month

Just for fun: Can you spot the RFID tag on the Hewlett-Packard printer box? Hint: It's "clearly labeled," according to HP and Wal-Mart. ©Liz McIntyre

Look closer. Do you see the RFID tag now?

Oh, there it is!

Wal-Mart keeps employees in the dark. A Wal-Mart employee assured us this tag was "Nothing, just a label.“ She also told us the letters 'EPC' didn't mean a thing.

And now there’s a book. "The privacy movement needs a book. I nominate Spychips.” - Marc Rotenberg, EPIC “Spychips "make[s] a stunningly powerful argument against plans for RFID being mapped out by government agencies, retail and manufacturing companies…. This won't be comfortable reading in the IT departments of major retailers and manufacturers, but it is essential.” - Evan Schuman, CIOInsight

Prepare to see a lot more of this.

Katherine Albrecht, Ed.M., CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering)