BIG BROTHER COMMUNISM, SPYCHIPS IN CLOTHES
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2008/08/14/spy-shoes-rfid-to-be-embedded-directly-into-clothing/
goodhumored
Homeland stupidity threat:
HIGH
Potential Threat To The Nation
Homeland Stupidity
EDITED OUT COMMENTS, SEE PAGE
Spy shoes: RFID to be embedded directly into clothing
Homeland Stupidity Exclusive
By Michael Hampton
Posted: August 14, 2008 7:05 pm

Protesters gathered Wednesday afternoon at the opening of the RFID in Fashion conference in New
York City to urge clothing manufacturers and retailers not to embed tracking chips into articles of
clothing.

The industry conference, one of several hosted by RFID Journal magazine, allows clothing
manufacturers to learn the state of the RFID industry and meet with RFID suppliers and industry
executives. RFID, or radio frequency identification, is a small chip with a unique identifying number
which can be read from as far away as 30 feet. The RFID in Fashion conference is being held
Wednesday and Thursday at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

But at this conference, the industry is urging clothing manufacturers to embed RFID chips directly
into their clothing for purposes of inventory control and loss prevention, known in the industry as
item-level tagging, according to consumer privacy expert Katherine Albrecht, who co-authored the
book on RFID, Spychips. And that raises what she calls a “privacy nightmare.”

“We’re here to let the industry know that consumers don’t want tracking devices in their clothing,”

Albrecht said. “When they embed [RFID] into clothing, or shoes, or other items people wear or

carry, they can also put the readers to pick up those signals into floors, doorways, ceiling tiles,

anywhere people go, and use them to track and identify people.”

Retailers would create databases linking individual RFID chips to consumers at the point of purchase,

creating a database of what each person bought which would allow businesses or governments to

keep tabs on every individual passing through a given area. The technology to accomplish this

tracking, Albrecht says, has already been developed.

A conference attendee who could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak for his

company said that such tags would be decommissioned before the customer left the store. But

Albrecht responded that the tags would merely be placed in a dormant state and could be

reawakened at any time, as it would be too expensive to use tags which could be deactivated

permanently.

“You can’t put your clothing in the microwave to kill these chips, because it could catch fire,” she

said.

Some attendees actually stopped to talk with the 14 protesters and present their case. An

attendee who could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak for his employer spent

nearly an hour talking to protesters and pointing out that RFID has good uses as well. “There’s

potential for abuse in everything,” he said. “All of those retailers, all they care about is making

sure they have the right products at the right time, and actually saving money.”

Police did not interfere with the protest at all. One off-duty NYPD officer who could not appear on

camera for personal safety reasons showed his police ID and pointed out that it contains a tracking

device which allows the officer to be located in the event of an emergency. Security staff spoke to

Albrecht and told her that they agreed with the protest, she said.

The trouble with databases is that despite every possible precaution, they can fall into the wrong

hands. These databases will be an inviting target for today’s criminals, for whom obtaining data is

the first step to committing a crime. In addition, once such a database is created, the tracking will

inevitably follow. Government will be unable to resist having yet another way to track, monitor and

control people, built by hapless companies who are just trying to save a few bucks.

Video of some of the protest follows:

Raw video of Albrecht interview by Chinese-language broadcaster NTDTV:

2 Trackbacks/Pingbacks

   1.
      RFID Technology and Targeted Individuals. « Gang Stalking World
      August 24, 2008 7:56 pm
   2.
      Advanced Services are Never Really Free - We Trade Our Freedom For Them |

GROWMAP.COM
      September 11, 2008 8:04 am

BIG BROTHER COMMUNISM, SPYCHIPS IN CLOTHES
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2008/08/14/spy-shoes-rfid-to-be-embedded-directly-into-

clothing/
goodhumored
Homeland stupidity threat:
HIGH
Potential Threat To The Nation
Homeland Stupidity
EDITED OUT COMMENTS, SEE PAGE
Spy shoes: RFID to be embedded directly into clothing
Homeland Stupidity Exclusive
By Michael Hampton
Posted: August 14, 2008 7:05 pm

Protesters gathered Wednesday afternoon at the opening of the RFID in Fashion conference in New

York City to urge clothing manufacturers and retailers not to embed tracking chips into articles of

clothing.

The industry conference, one of several hosted by RFID Journal magazine, allows clothing

manufacturers to learn the state of the RFID industry and meet with RFID suppliers and industry

executives. RFID, or radio frequency identification, is a small chip with a unique identifying number

which can be read from as far away as 30 feet. The RFID in Fashion conference is being held

Wednesday and Thursday at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

But at this conference, the industry is urging clothing manufacturers to embed RFID chips directly

into their clothing for purposes of inventory control and loss prevention, known in the industry as

item-level tagging, according to consumer privacy expert Katherine Albrecht, who co-authored the

book on RFID, Spychips. And that raises what she calls a “privacy nightmare.”

“We’re here to let the industry know that consumers don’t want tracking devices in their clothing,”

Albrecht said. “When they embed [RFID] into clothing, or shoes, or other items people wear or

carry, they can also put the readers to pick up those signals into floors, doorways, ceiling tiles,

anywhere people go, and use them to track and identify people.”

Retailers would create databases linking individual RFID chips to consumers at the point of purchase,

creating a database of what each person bought which would allow businesses or governments to

keep tabs on every individual passing through a given area. The technology to accomplish this

tracking, Albrecht says, has already been developed.

A conference attendee who could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak for his

company said that such tags would be decommissioned before the customer left the store. But

Albrecht responded that the tags would merely be placed in a dormant state and could be

reawakened at any time, as it would be too expensive to use tags which could be deactivated

permanently.

“You can’t put your clothing in the microwave to kill these chips, because it could catch fire,” she

said.

Some attendees actually stopped to talk with the 14 protesters and present their case. An

attendee who could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak for his employer spent

nearly an hour talking to protesters and pointing out that RFID has good uses as well. “There’s

potential for abuse in everything,” he said. “All of those retailers, all they care about is making

sure they have the right products at the right time, and actually saving money.”

Police did not interfere with the protest at all. One off-duty NYPD officer who could not appear on

camera for personal safety reasons showed his police ID and pointed out that it contains a tracking

device which allows the officer to be located in the event of an emergency. Security staff spoke to

Albrecht and told her that they agreed with the protest, she said.

The trouble with databases is that despite every possible precaution, they can fall into the wrong

hands. These databases will be an inviting target for today’s criminals, for whom obtaining data is

the first step to committing a crime. In addition, once such a database is created, the tracking will

inevitably follow. Government will be unable to resist having yet another way to track, monitor and

control people, built by hapless companies who are just trying to save a few bucks.

Video of some of the protest follows:

Raw video of Albrecht interview by Chinese-language broadcaster NTDTV:

2 Trackbacks/Pingbacks

   1.
      RFID Technology and Targeted Individuals. « Gang Stalking World
      August 24, 2008 7:56 pm
   2.
      Advanced Services are Never Really Free - We Trade Our Freedom For Them |

GROWMAP.COM
      September 11, 2008 8:04 am

BIG BROTHER COMMUNISM, SPYCHIPS IN CLOTHES
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2008/08/14/spy-shoes-rfid-to-be-embedded-directly-into-

clothing/
goodhumored
Homeland stupidity threat:
HIGH
Potential Threat To The Nation
Homeland Stupidity
EDITED OUT COMMENTS, SEE PAGE
Spy shoes: RFID to be embedded directly into clothing
Homeland Stupidity Exclusive
By Michael Hampton
Posted: August 14, 2008 7:05 pm

Protesters gathered Wednesday afternoon at the opening of the RFID in Fashion conference in New

York City to urge clothing manufacturers and retailers not to embed tracking chips into articles of

clothing.

The industry conference, one of several hosted by RFID Journal magazine, allows clothing

manufacturers to learn the state of the RFID industry and meet with RFID suppliers and industry

executives. RFID, or radio frequency identification, is a small chip with a unique identifying number

which can be read from as far away as 30 feet. The RFID in Fashion conference is being held

Wednesday and Thursday at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

But at this conference, the industry is urging clothing manufacturers to embed RFID chips directly

into their clothing for purposes of inventory control and loss prevention, known in the industry as

item-level tagging, according to consumer privacy expert Katherine Albrecht, who co-authored the

book on RFID, Spychips. And that raises what she calls a “privacy nightmare.”

“We’re here to let the industry know that consumers don’t want tracking devices in their clothing,”

Albrecht said. “When they embed [RFID] into clothing, or shoes, or other items people wear or

carry, they can also put the readers to pick up those signals into floors, doorways, ceiling tiles,

anywhere people go, and use them to track and identify people.”

Retailers would create databases linking individual RFID chips to consumers at the point of purchase,

creating a database of what each person bought which would allow businesses or governments to

keep tabs on every individual passing through a given area. The technology to accomplish this

tracking, Albrecht says, has already been developed.

A conference attendee who could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak for his

company said that such tags would be decommissioned before the customer left the store. But

Albrecht responded that the tags would merely be placed in a dormant state and could be

reawakened at any time, as it would be too expensive to use tags which could be deactivated

permanently.

“You can’t put your clothing in the microwave to kill these chips, because it could catch fire,” she

said.

Some attendees actually stopped to talk with the 14 protesters and present their case. An

attendee who could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak for his employer spent

nearly an hour talking to protesters and pointing out that RFID has good uses as well. “There’s

potential for abuse in everything,” he said. “All of those retailers, all they care about is making

sure they have the right products at the right time, and actually saving money.”

Police did not interfere with the protest at all. One off-duty NYPD officer who could not appear on

camera for personal safety reasons showed his police ID and pointed out that it contains a tracking

device which allows the officer to be located in the event of an emergency. Security staff spoke to

Albrecht and told her that they agreed with the protest, she said.

The trouble with databases is that despite every possible precaution, they can fall into the wrong

hands. These databases will be an inviting target for today’s criminals, for whom obtaining data is

the first step to committing a crime. In addition, once such a database is created, the tracking will

inevitably follow. Government will be unable to resist having yet another way to track, monitor and

control people, built by hapless companies who are just trying to save a few bucks.

Video of some of the protest follows:

Raw video of Albrecht interview by Chinese-language broadcaster NTDTV:

2 Trackbacks/Pingbacks

   1.
      RFID Technology and Targeted Individuals. « Gang Stalking World
      August 24, 2008 7:56 pm
   2.
      Advanced Services are Never Really Free - We Trade Our Freedom For Them |

GROWMAP.COM
      September 11, 2008 8:04 am