Guess what this is?

[tough love]

Do you know what this is?



Do you even care what that is?

Hint:
Wal-Mart loves it.

Does this latest corp infringement of your privacy bother you?

[Bobby42]

Some type of insidious barcode where your purchases are tracked and recorded? Just a guess.

[Diego in Seattle]

Do you know what this is?



Do you even care what that is?

Hint:
Wal-Mart loves it.

Does this latest corp infringement of your privacy bother you?

No. Only government invasions of privacy bother us (unless it involves what goes on in other people's bedrooms).

Sin,
Conservatives

[Diogenes]

Do you know what this is?



Do you even care what that is?

Hint:
Wal-Mart loves it.

Does this latest corp infringement of your privacy bother you?

Yes.

Not as much as you, appearantly.

Then it must be worthwhile.

Take your prozac.

[Mister Bushice]

Why does your response in this thread have to be a personal shot? It's useless an serves no purpopse.

TL, why don't you save us a google search and tell us why it is an invasion of our privacy.

[Mike the Lab Rat]

Do you know what this is?

Another excuse for Luddite conspiracy freaks to clamor that the Eschaton is immanent? I remember as a kid hearing and reading the paranoid crap about how barcodes were a harbinger of the "end times" and were tied into the "number of the Beast."

My wife is a business owner, and in our opinion, any technology that helps business keep better track of inventory, prevent loss, and makes it easier to determine which products to stock for your customer base is a good thing.

Peddle your paranoia to the uneducated rabble...

[Ten Packs]

The insides of those tag/button thingies that set off an alarm, if you walk out the door with something?

[tough love]

To whom it may concern:
I never wrote that it bothers me, or do you mean that my posting's bother you?

Whatever's...I really don't know what to make of it yet, nor of some of you for that matter.

P_Ugh military brass appear to like it also, and not just because it resembles a swastika.
Hopefully (not that they have produced a whole lot of reason to believe otherwise) they do have the sense to realize that RFID signals can be duplicated by their enemy.

Not that you asked; but my concern would be very strong if the commercial application involved adding the electronic purchase imfo to the tag - eg: debit card or credit card user address and other personal paticulars - which may not be all that far fetched given the quickening state of the technical what is of the what now, if you know what I mean. :wink:

As requested:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=+RFID+con ... S:official

[Mike the Lab Rat]

To whom it may concern:
I never wrote that it bothers me, or do you mean that my posting's bother you?

Nice try at spin, but your initial post asked this:

Does this latest corp infringement of your privacy bother you?

By using the specific word "infringement," you've already given your opinion of the matter. Claiming that it doesn't bother you while using a value-laden term with obviously negative connotations is disingenuous.

[Diogenes]

Why does your response in this thread have to be a personal shot? It's useless an serves no purpopse.

In response to portraying a freaking barcode as an 'invasion of privacy'?

Mockery is the only response.

Peddle your paranoia to the uneducated rabble...

So this thread was for Diego and Bushice's benefit?







Never mind.

[tough love]

^^
If YOU say so, you over-educated Rat.
I reacon that most folk don't concern themselves with most infringements, otherwise there would be revolutions a plenty.



SPIN CITY

[Mike the Lab Rat]

I reacon that most folk don't concern themselves with most infringements, otherwise there would be revolutions a plenty.

You know why most folks don't concern themselves with it?

Because it's not, contrary to your assertion, an "infringement."

Simple as that.

[Diogenes]

And BTW, there is a serious differance in the level of info carried and the security required for various RFID applications.

Electronic car keys, passports and credit/debit cards DO require serious security concerns.

Walmart Barcodes don't.

Get over your Walton obsession, losers.

[Diego in Seattle]

And BTW, there is a serious differance in the level of info carried and the security required for various RFID applications.

Electronic car keys, passports and credit/debit cards DO require serious security concerns.

Walmart Barcodes don't.

Get over your Walton obsession, losers.

Read the first hit on that link, dumbfuck. This isn't about barcodes.

[Diogenes]

According to the initial post in this thread it is.






What the fuck do you think that is a pic of?



Moron.

[Mister Bushice]

Not that you asked; but my concern would be very strong if the commercial application involved adding the electronic purchase imfo to the tag - eg: debit card or credit card user address and other personal paticulars - which may not be all that far fetched given the quickening state of the technical what is of the what now, if you know what I mean. :wink:

As requested:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=+RFID+con ... S:official

It certainly would be a concern if they took it that far. It would only be a matter of time before hackers would break in. I doubt they'd be allowed to go there very easily, though.

[Diogenes]

First of all, the tags in question only contain product info, not consumer info.

They are mass produced, reletively low memory capacity, and not even encrypted (as opposed to other RFID aps).

Secondly, they are enabled by the manufacturer prior to shipping and disabled at the point of sale.


Unless you are concerned about the nature of your purchases being public info, you have nothing to worry about, and even if you are, the only way the info is accessable is if the sales clerk or scanner in question malfunctions.

[Ang]

Well, we all know from dealing with our local "mart" folks or even our upper level "best buy" folks....that a sales clerk or scanner in question would never be a problem :)

[tough love]

Rat Wrote:
You know why most folks don't concern themselves with it?

Because it's not, contrary to your assertion, an "infringement."

Simple as that.

So, it doesn't concern YOU.
Was that so freakin hard.

Over Educated Idiots. :roll:

D Wrote:
First of all, the tags in question only contain product info, not consumer info.

For now, so we are being told.

Secondly, they are enabled by the manufacturer prior to shipping and disabled at the point of sale.

Wrong

RFID tags are now product embedded, and even though Wal_Mart (for example) say's that each product embedded RFID chip will be shut off on demand at time of purchase, no one is being made aware that the chip is even there.
Word is; RFID tags are now small enough to be implanted within a thread of clothing.

Here's something on it:

http://news.com.com/RFID+tags+Big+Broth ... 80325.html

Could we be constantly tracked through our clothes, shoes or even our cash in the future?

I'm not talking about having a microchip surgically implanted beneath your skin, which is what Applied Digital Systems of Palm Beach, Fla., would like to do. Nor am I talking about John Poindexter's creepy Total Information Awareness spy-veillance system, which I wrote about last week.

Instead, in the future, we could be tracked because we'll be wearing, eating and carrying objects that are carefully designed to do so.

The generic name for this technology is RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification. RFID tags are miniscule microchips, which already have shrunk to half the size of a grain of sand. They listen for a radio query and respond by transmitting their unique ID code. Most RFID tags have no batteries: They use the power from the initial radio signal to transmit their response.

You should become familiar with RFID technology because you'll be hearing much more about it soon. Retailers adore the concept, and CNET News.com's own Alorie Gilbert wrote last week about how Wal-Mart and the U.K.-based grocery chain Tesco are starting to install "smart shelves" with networked RFID readers. In what will become the largest test of the technology, consumer goods giant Gillette recently said it would purchase 500 million RFID tags from Alien Technology of Morgan Hill, Calif.

Alien Technology won't reveal how it charges for each tag, but industry estimates hover around 25 cents. The company does predict that in quantities of 1 billion, RFID tags will approach 10 cents each, and in lots of 10 billion, the industry's holy grail of 5 cents a tag.

It becomes unnervingly easy to imagine a scenario where everything you buy that's more expensive than a Snickers will sport RFID tags, which typically include a 64-bit unique identifier yielding about 18 thousand trillion possible values. KSW-Microtec, a German company, has invented washable RFID tags designed to be sewn into clothing. And according to EE Times, the European central bank is considering embedding RFID tags into banknotes by 2005.

It becomes unnervingly easy to imagine a scenario where everything you buy that's more expensive than a Snickers will sport RFID tags.
That raises the disquieting possibility of being tracked though our personal possessions. Imagine: The Gap links your sweater's RFID tag with the credit card you used to buy it and recognizes you by name when you return. Grocery stores flash ads on wall-sized screens based on your spending patterns, just like in "Minority Report." Police gain a trendy method of constant, cradle-to-grave surveillance.

You can imagine nightmare legal scenarios that don't involve the cops. Future divorce cases could involve one party seeking a subpoena for RFID logs--to prove that a spouse was in a certain location at a certain time. Future burglars could canvass alleys with RFID detectors, looking for RFID tags on discarded packaging that indicates expensive electronic gear is nearby. In all of these scenarios, the ability to remain anonymous is eroded.

Don't get me wrong. RFID tags are, on the whole, a useful development and a compelling technology. They permit retailers to slim inventory levels and reduce theft, which one industry group estimates at $50 billion a year. With RFID tags providing economic efficiencies for businesses, consumers likely will end up with more choices and lower prices. Besides, wouldn't it be handy to grab a few items from store shelves and simply walk out, with the purchase automatically debited from your (hopefully secure) RFID'd credit card?

The privacy threat comes when RFID tags remain active once you leave a store. That's the scenario that should raise alarms--and currently the RFID industry seems to be giving mixed signals about whether the tags will be disabled or left enabled by default.

In an interview with News.com's Gilbert last week, Gillette Vice President Dick Cantwell said that its RFID tags would be disabled at the cash register only if the consumer chooses to "opt out" and asks for the tags to be turned off. "The protocol for the tag is that it has built in opt-out function for the retailer, manufacturer, consumer," Cantwell said.

Wal-Mart, on the other hand, says that's not the case. When asked if Wal-Mart will disable the RFID tags at checkout, company spokesman Bill Wertz told Gilbert: "My understanding is that we will."

Cantwell asserts that there's no reason to fret. "At this stage of the game, the tag is no good outside the store," he said. "At this point in time, the tag is useless beyond the store shelf. There is no value and no harm in the tag outside the distribution channel. There is no way it can be read or that (the) data would be at all meaningful to anyone." That's true as far as it goes, but it doesn't address what might happen if RFID tags and readers become widespread.

If the tags stay active after they leave the store, the biggest privacy worries depend on the range of the RFID readers. There's a big difference between tags that can be read from an inch away compared to dozens or hundreds of feet away.

The privacy threat comes when RFID tags remain active once you leave a store.
For its part, Alien Technology says its RFID tags can be read up to 15 feet away. "When we talk about the range of these tags being 3 to 5 meters, that's a range in free space," said Tom Pounds, a company vice president. "That's optimally oriented in front of a reader in free space. In fact if you put a tag up against your body or on a metal Rolex watch in free space, the read range drops to zero."

But what about a more powerful RFID reader, created by criminals or police who don't mind violating FCC regulations? Eric Blossom, a veteran radio engineer, said it would not be difficult to build a beefier transmitter and a more sensitive receiver that would make the range far greater. "I don't see any problem building a sensitive receiver," Blossom said. "It's well-known technology, particularly if it's a specialty item where you're willing to spend five times as much."

Privacy worries also depend on the size of the tags. Matrics of Columbia, Md., said it has claimed the record for the smallest RFID tag, a flat square measuring 550 microns a side with an antenna that varies between half an inch long to four inches by four inches, depending on the application. Without an antenna, the RFID tag is about the size of a flake of pepper.

Matrics CEO Piyush Sodha said the RFID industry is still in a state of experimentation. "All of the customers are participating in a phase of extensive field trials," Sodha said. "Then adoption and use in true business practices will happen...Those pilots are only going to start early this year."

To the credit of the people in the nascent RFID industry, these trials are allowing them to think through the privacy concerns. An MIT-affiliated standards group called the Auto-ID Center said in an e-mailed statement to News.com that they have "designed a kill feature to be built into every (RFID) tag. If consumers are concerned, the tags can be easily destroyed with an inexpensive reader. How this will be executed i.e. in the home or at point of sale is still being defined, and will be tested in the third phase of the field test."

If you care about privacy, now's your chance to let the industry know how you feel. (And, no, I'm not calling for new laws or regulations.) Tell them that RFID tags are perfectly acceptable inside stores to track pallets and crates, but that if retailers wish to use them on consumer goods, they should follow four voluntary guidelines.

First, consumers should be notified--a notice on a checkout receipt would work--when RFID tags are present in what they're buying. Second, RFID tags should be disabled by default at the checkout counter. Third, RFID tags should be placed on the product's packaging instead of on the product when possible. Fourth, RFID tags should be readily visible and easily removable.
Given RFID's potential for tracking your every move, is that too much to ask?

Biography:
Declan McCullagh is CNET News.com's Washington, D.C., correspondent. He chronicles the busy intersection between technology and politics. Before that, he worked for several years as Washington bureau chief for Wired News. He has also worked as a reporter for The Netly News, Time magazine and HotWired.
-----------------------------------
To whom it may concern:
For the sake of argument, if Declan McCullaghs above take on the new application of RFID tagging proved to be accurate, would you then be concerned?

[Tom In VA]

Do you know what this is?



Do you even care what that is?

Hint:
Wal-Mart loves it.

Does this latest corp infringement of your privacy bother you?

There's something swastika-esque about that picture. Like a melting swastika.

A swastika on acid. That's what it is. So is this a troll to see if people experimented with LSD before in their life by the Corporate Evil Empire of Hasboro and Fisher Price ?

[tough love]

You are correct, Tom, it most certainly does resemble a swast.
Apparently this sad and sorry earths' true masters are becoming much bolder now that the likes of your greed infested Bu$h; as well as other equally vile global de$pots, have been successfull in bringing about their new greed order.
Hold on tight, my brother.

WooHoo
HUGE Grates to mv.
He has won a lust filled night with Michael Moore.
And enjoy he will cuz we all know that he knows all there is to know about taking.



:)

[Hapday]

Do you know what this is?



Do you even care what that is?

Oh!! I know!!!

It's something totally insignificant that makes raving, paranoid left wing dumbfucks melt.

What do I win?

You win a 'Bush Kills Puppies' T-Shirt, a Michael Moore DVD collection, a two-year subscription to the New York Times, and a full frontal labotomy after which the Democrats will present you with a life-time membership.

The runner up got a toaster.

[Diogenes]

First of all, the tags in question only contain product info, not consumer info.

For now, so we are being told.

Just out of curiousity , do you have a scanner on your pc?
Try using it to write info on the book/magazine/whatever you are downloading info from and get back to me.

Secondly, they are enabled by the manufacturer prior to shipping and disabled at the point of sale.

Wrong
http://news.com.com/RFID+tags+Big+Broth ... 80325.html

At Wal-mart they are.

As far as any of the moderately paranoid security questions raised in the article (that are being addressed by the industry), like i said before...

Unless you are concerned about the nature of your purchases being public info, you have nothing to worry about, and even if you are, the only way the info is accessable is if the sales clerk or scanner in question malfunctions.

[tough love]

Declan McCullagh
If you care about privacy, now's your chance to let the industry know how you feel. (And, no, I'm not calling for new laws or regulations.) Tell them that RFID tags are perfectly acceptable inside stores to track pallets and crates, but that if retailers wish to use them on consumer goods, they should follow four voluntary guidelines.

First, consumers should be notified--a notice on a checkout receipt would work--when RFID tags are present in what they're buying. Second, RFID tags should be disabled by default at the checkout counter. Third, RFID tags should be placed on the product's packaging instead of on the product when possible. Fourth, RFID tags should be readily visible and easily removable.
Given RFID's potential for tracking your every move, is that too much to ask?

Just to be safe, I vote for # two:

The spy tags should be automatically shut off at time of purchace, unless the consummer is an idiot who requests to be followed by big brother.
Why put the onus on the consummer, that could only make sense to those whose brains are all hopped up on greed.