The Future Is Now
How we are becoming a micro-chipped population
by Mika Belle,
Boise Weekly (Idaho)
Aug 11, 2004
Imagine no more grocery lines. Imagine no more lost children. Imagine your
television,
cell phone or laptop warning you the milk in your fridge is old. Now imagine
most
of these things are happening right now.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology collects information by
using tiny
microchip "tags" which are embedded "tagged" into products, animals and
people. The
chips are then tracked by "readers" at a distance, possibly through
clothing, purses
or wallets.
Some large retailers plan to replace barcodes with RFID for supply and
payment purposes,
but it can also identify who bought an individual item, when and where, and
how it
was paid for. Most importantly, RFID can track products after they have left
the
store, meaning it can track you. Privacy advocates are concerned.
Welcome to the future. It began yesterday.
In June 2003, Wal-Mart announced its Electronic Product Code (EPC)
initiative, ordering
its top 100 suppliers to start using RFID tags on cases and pallets headed
for the
Dallas, Texas, area. The suppliers were given a deadline of January 2005.
"It will become a requirement," said Linda Dillman, Wal-Mart's CIO.
One year later, Dillman echoed the same deadline, but to Wal-Mart's top 300
suppliers.
"Over the next 16 months, we also plan to significantly increase the number
of Wal-Mart
stores and Sam's Club locations where customers can benefit from this
revolutionary
technology," she said.
Although Dillman has repeatedly declined to say how much the new technology
is costing
the company, she has admitted it is a "top line" item.
RFID is such a priority for Wal-Mart, that testing has begun at their
Dallas-metro
warehouses. Cases and pallets of dozens of products use microchips when
delivered
to a distribution center, where readers installed at dock doors
automatically notify
staff and suppliers that a specific shipment has arrived.
Although the testing began at the case and pallet level, some products use
their
casing for its package, and are therefore already "tagged." Wal-Mart states
three
products -- two Hewlett-Packard Photosmart photo printers and an HP ScanJet
scanner
-- may feature tags on the outer packaging.
"The industry plan is to put an RFID tag on every product on Earth to
identify and
locate them at any time, anywhere," said Katherine Albrecht, founder and
director
of CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering).
"Wal-Mart
is taking the first steps to creating a society where everything could be
surveilled
at all times."
Wal-Mart and HP aren't alone. Several companies, including Target,
Cola-Cola, Proctor
& Gamble (P&G) and Gillette, have publicly stated they want RFID to
revolutionize
retail sales by helping them better supply their products to customers.
Headquartered in Boise, Albertsons, Inc. announced in March it expects its
top 100
suppliers to use RFID at the case and pallet level by April 2005. Albertsons
operates
about 2,300 stores under half a dozen names in 31 states.
"RFID is a cutting-edge tool that will give us a win-win advantage with both
customers
and suppliers," said Gabe Gabriel, an executive vice president.
According to "RFID and Consumers: Understanding Their Mindset," a Cap Gemini
Ernst
& Young study, "RFID allows companies to gain a competitive advantage. ...
Reaching
this future state, however, will require gaining the trust of consumers
before they
find RFID tags in their shopping carts."
But consumers have already started trusting retailers with their privacy.
Dozens
of retailers already use Smart Cards/Preferred Cards to assess what
individuals are
buying. According to a recent AC Nielson Frequent Shopping Survey, more than
70 percent
of shoppers participate in two or more preferred-card programs.
But microchipped products could allow these companies to know what their
customers
are doing after they leave their store, in real time, in almost every aspect
of life.
The surveillance scenario is possible when the tags are not "killed" or
deactivated
after products are purchased.
The retail tags are passive, but can be scanned an average of 15 to 20 feet
by readers
that various companies want to embed in doorways and floors at banks, shops,
airports,
libraries and homes. Active tags can transmit signals as far as you'd like.
Last November The Chicago-Sun Times revealed that Wal-Mart conducted a
secret RFID
trial in Oklahoma. The article reported customers bought P&G's Lipfinity
brand lipstick
with RFID tracking devices embedded in the packaging. Although Wal-Mart
previously
denied any consumer-level RFID testing in the United States, representatives
declined
to comment on the incident.
Business Week Online wrote about a protest at the German Metro
 "Future-store" last
winter, after RFID tags were discovered in loyalty cards, shopping carts,
packages
of Kraft's Philadelphia cream cheese, P&G's Pantene shampoo and Gillette
razors.
The protestors complained they were never told about the chips in the
loyalty cards.
Metro spokesman Albrecht von Truchsess said the chips were only put in the
cards
to prevent youths from renting adult films.
"We're not the CIA," he said.
CASPIAN's Web site (
www.spychips.com
 ) reported an incident where Gillette used "spy shelves" at a store in
England.
Whenever a shopper picked up a packet of razor blades from a shelf, a hidden
camera
secretly took a photo of the shopper's face.
The Web site links to Gillette Vice President Richard Cantrell discussing
the technology,
called Auto-Id, created by EPCglobal, whose major clients include Bechtel
(widely
criticized for its contract-bidding procedures in Afghanistan and Iraq).
Several retailers, led by P&G, oppose RFID legislation that would require
them to
deactivate tags after checkout. Some concerned citizens believe only using
cash will
protect their privacy, but paper currency may not be the last bastion for
long.
There is a myth on the Internet that microwaving a $20 bill will make it
burn due
to an implanted RFID chip. The Boise Weekly conducted its own experiment and
there
was no such burning.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department has hinted that our currency will
eventually
have RFID chips implanted in it. Across the pond, the European Union appears
to be
planning to implant chips in Euros by 2005.
This means your "former" cash, and anything you bought with it, could be
traced to
you. Police investigators could use any crime-scene object to interrogate
the last
person involved with the object's last transaction.
Because of RFID's potential accuracy for identification, some organizations
believe
it can promote good security, by any means necessary.
Last month, Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha announced he
and
160 members of his staff were implanted with RFID chips, which allow them
access
to secure areas of his headquarters.
"It's only for access, for security," he said.
More Mexican government officials may soon get tagged, including key members
of the
military, police and staff members of President Vicente Fox.
"Promoting implanted RFID devices as a security measure is downright 'loco,
'" responded
Albrecht. "Advertising you've got a chip in your arm that opens important
doors is
an invitation to kidnapping and mutilation."
She described a Mexican kidnapping gang nicknamed "el chip," for reportedly
demanding
its victims point out the locations of their implanted chips.
But Americans may not have to travel to Mexico to get mutilated for their
microchips.
In fact, they may only need to step out of their house.
Introducing the ChipMobile, a tranquil blue and white recreational vehicle
tirelessly
traveling to a city near you to microchip your entire family. The RV is
owned by
VeriChip, which is owned by Applied Digital, who also owns Digital Angel.
The three
companies combine services to ensure all personal and corporate needs for
microchips
are covered.
The Digital Angel consists of a device similar to a wristwatch and a
belt-worn module.
It is marketed for concerned citizens to locate Alzheimer's patients, the
mentally
challenged or anybody else wearing the device. It can locate them anywhere
from any
P.C. This service costs $9.95 per month.
VeriChip's Web site states, "We are promoting VeriChip as a universal means
of identification.
We expect it to be used in a variety of applications including financial and
transportation,
security, residential and commercial."
VeriChip was just rewarded a $600,000 contract to start implanting 200,000
dogs in
Portugal, under a government initiative to control rabies. Chief Executive
Kevin
McGrath estimated RFID helped return 72,000 animals in the United States
last year.
Never mind lost dogs, RFID locates lost children. The Great America
amusement park
in Santa Clara, California, has the Star Watch program, where kids can wear
wristbands
that broadcast signals to antennas scattered throughout the park. A central
computer
tracks the children and sends their location to seven interactive kiosks
placed around
the park.
In Osaka, Japan, school authorities have decided to test RFID in one primary
school.
The tags will be put onto kids' schoolbags, nametags or clothing, in
conjunction
with readers at the school gates and other "key locations." Denmark started
a similar
scheme in June.
There are endless creative uses for RFID. British-based Innovasion developed
a reader
that supports Near Field Communication (NFC), a new standard that will allow
electronic
devices to download music or theater tickets from "smart" posters. The
reader, called
Io, is smaller than a dime, making it the smallest yet created.
"NFC has all the right building blocks for many applications," said
Innovasion's
Marc Borrett.
He said the first products could be deployed in 12 to 18 months, when users
could
use NFC phones to swap music and more. A recent demonstration showed a
businessperson
using such a phone to check in at an airport, collect a digital key at their
hotel
and pay their bill electronically upon check out.
"This isn't a pie-in-the-sky scenario," Borrett said.
When home appliances and related products become chipped and connected to
computers,
anything is possible. Your fridge could alert your television the milk has
passed
its expiration date (would you like to order more?). Insurance companies
could require
"smart" medicine cabinets to help ensure you are properly taking the right
drugs.
Steve David, chief information officer for P&G, has said prescription drug
counterfeiting
costs the pharmaceutical industry $500 billion worldwide, and backshop
thefts costs
companies another $50 billion per year.
The pharmaceutical industry estimates that between 2 and 7 percent of all
drugs sold
globally are counterfeit. The Food and Drug Administration has asked
manufacturers
to consider RFID technology to help combat counterfeit drugs.
The list of current RFID research and development grows: the San Francisco
library
wants to ease document inventory and checkout; hospitals use it to match
babies,
medications and allergies; airlines are matching luggage; police departments
debate
tagging officers so that only they may fire modified firearms.
But to be sure, RFID's greatest controversy surrounds its proliferation
among retailers.
Barry Steinhardt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, warned a RFID
conference
last April that companies could profile their customers and share that
information
with the government, which would violate their privacy policies.
Last February, the Utah House of Representatives passed a bill mandating
clear labeling
of RFID-chipped products. At the same time, the California Senate considered
stronger
legislation, arguing retailers should need consumers' permission to use
RFID.
In response, the Grocery Manufacturers of America (representing Coca-Cola,
P&G, Gillette
and others) is trying to draft its own legislation before more stringent
laws are
passed.
Albrecht intends to keep an eye on all the retailers, she is prepared to
organize
boycotts.
"When the world's largest retailer (Wal-Mart) adopts a technology with
chilling societal
implications, and does so irresponsibly, we should all be concerned," she
said.
For more information, contact:
CASPIAN:
www.spychips.com