How Much Data Are You Willing To Give Up For What?
from the is-that-so-surprising? dept
This shouldn't really be much of a surprise at all, but the article is written as if it's completely out of the blue that people shopping for groceries have no problem being tracked by RFID, if they receive discounts. There is a limit, though, as it depends on what information is being collected about them. This is the exact same thing as people who use "frequent shopper cards" at supermarkets, so I don't understand what's so surprising. Also, the article says that people balk at "more personal information" being collected - but doesn't say what kind of information people consider too personal. Still, the article positions this as "shifting attitudes" towards RFID - which isn't true at all. It's just that people see it as being similar to a frequent shopper card (which, in many ways, it is).
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Same At Casinos
Interestingly, one RFID demo I saw a few months ago had RFID insdie casino chips. The vendor didn't specify which casino, but indicated it would be rolled out first for "high rollers" and they would be used to track gaming habits for "comps", but would probably fanned out to everyone else eventually. Except, unlike the grocery markets, I doubt casinos will advertise it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
cheap trick
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: cheap trick
http://www.nocards.org/
check that out.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: cheap trick
Thanks for posting this before I did !
WWW.NOCARDS.ORG
Educate yourself before you lose all of your rights to privacy.
Food is a basic need, not an item to be priced on a tiered level depending on your purchasing habits.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
black market for RFID chips?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
(1) the item is only tracked by the owner
(2) when a new owner receives the item, they can remove the tracking device entirely without losing any functionality of the item, or give the item to a third party without notifying the first owner
Now, this is clear when it comes to retail goods: the store owns it until I leave the register with the goods, and I can remove the tag before I get to my car, if I so choose.
What about "service prone" items? Dell has a unique ID for each box, which aids the service crew to get the initial configuration. If it were RFID-backed, is that tracking the box, or is it tracking a physical token of the service agreement between Dell and the consumer?
What about casino chips? Today, the chip is the property of the bettor. If the casinos claim they own the chips, that means they can track where their chips go, and can ask neighboring casinos to share the tracking data. But if it's not actually yours, can you give a waitress in a Vegas restaurant a chip for a tip? Can you swap $100 Bally's for $100 Harrah's on the street? If the casinos don't revoke the cash value even when traded outside their domain, I'd still have no problem.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]