Wal-Mart Starts RFID Trials

from the prepare-for-angry-rants dept

Wal-Mart is now starting RFID chip trials in a few stores. As expected, Wal-Mart has been the driving force pushing companies to move towards using such chips, and they're still hopeful that they'll do a wider RFID chip rollout early next year. Right now, the main use is for logistics in the back end, allowing distribution and stores to better manage inventory (something Wal-Mart is famous for). They're not using them to manage in-store inventory or for ringing up sales - though, it's likely they'll get there eventually. It's expected that some privacy folks are going to complain loudly, but so far it looks like Wal-Mart is being very careful to avoid any privacy problems. There are technology solutions to the privacy issues - so hopefully those will become more popular.