Posted on 07/23/2010 2:37:58 PM PDT by deport
NEW YORK Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like jeans starting Aug. 1 as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more control of its inventory. But the move is raising eyebrows among privacy experts.
The individual garments, which also includes underwear and socks, will have removable smart tags that can be read from a distance by Wal-Mart workers with scanners. In seconds, the worker will be able to know what sizes are missing and will also be able tell what it has on hand in the stock room. Such instant knowledge will allow store clerks to have the right sizes on hand when shoppers need them.
The tags work by reflecting a weak radio signal to identify the product. They have long spurred privacy fears as well as visions of stores being able to scan an entire shopping cart of items at one time. ......
"This is a first piece of a very large and very frightening tracking system," said Katherine Albrecht, director of a group called Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering.
Albrecht worries that Wal-Mart and others would be able to track movements of customers who in some border states like Michigan and Washington are carrying new driver's licenses that contain RFID tags to make it easier for them to cross borders.
Albrecht fears that retailers could scan data from such licenses and their purchases and combine that data with other personal information. She also says that even though the smart tags can be removed from clothing, they can't be turned off and can be tracked even after you throw them in the garbage, for example. ....
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(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Microwaves work nicely...
Question: would .5 seconds in my microwave neutralize the tracking info?
Certain items should not be put in microwave ovens.
But can they withstand multiple whacks with an 8 lb. sledge hammer? Remove, destroy, problem solved.
the fearmongering continues..
It is a tag , not a part of the clothing.
Considering the thefts in retail, I say GOOD.
More stores close down from crooks then the rent these days.
If your that worried the next time you buy a bunch of jeans from WalMart take the tags off and go stick them on the underside of a car in the parking lot. That will cause the tracker units from that store to follow the car and get totally confused why that car needed so many jeans! It might even cause them to go haywire...
yeah, but unless you pay for everything with cash, retailers have been collecting data on you for years now!!
And even your cash purchases are tracked for trending and marketing purposes.
Why does Walmart want to track you and your pants after you have paid for them?
They are removable folks, calm down. This is no different than tagging them with that huge plastic anti-theft device that screams when you go through the door. If you fail to remove it and other tags after you have bought it, you are stupid. Nothing at all to do with privacy.
More [somewhat related] Info:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/022904rfidtagsexplode.html
How, do you believe, my cash purchase is tied to me?
They don’t. It’s just another attempt to demonize Wal-Mart.
Union thuggery.
I think the thing that is most stolen at the Walmart I go to is those blue, hand held shopping baskets. They have to stock up on those about every 90 days.
Just remove the damn thing and toss it into Wally Worlds trash bin on your way out the door or if its the sticky back kind stick it on a vehicle that has an Obozo/Biden sticker on it if you can find one.
I read that in the future those tags will be able to read your thoughts and then will be able to report you to the police about future crimes you will commit.
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