IDG.com.sg - Article

“Last week, a trial of RFID tags on Gillette Corp.’s Mach 3 razors in Tesco’s Cambridge, England, store was discontinued, and privacy campaigners claimed a victory saying that they had persuaded the company to withdraw from the tests. However, Tesco insists that the Gillette trial, involving RFID tags and a camera to photograph each purchaser, came to a natural end. A second trial, on DVDs, is continuing at a Tesco store in Sandhurst, England, spokesman Greg Sage said Friday. “It started in June and will continue to the end of the year,” he said. The DVD RFID trial does not involve cameras and so may attract fewer privacy concerns, Sage said.”

RSA Seeks to Fix RFID Worries

“The solution, which involves fooling RFID (radio frequency identification) readers into believing all possible tags are present at any given time, is an inexpensive, elegant answer to a number of the privacy and security questions being asked about RFID technology, security experts say.”

Cutting-edge ‘smart shelf’ test ends | CNET News.com

” The largest supermarket chain in Britain has ended a controversial field trial of a merchandise-tracking system that shoppers claimed violated their privacy. … Tesco’s experiment with the shelf, which began in February and wrapped up in July, was scheduled to last only six months, Sage said. The trial ended as originally scheduled, and was not affected by a privacy protest that occurred over several days in June, Sage said. “There is no connection between the fact that people protested and the fact that the field trial ended,” Sage said.”

Silicon Valley Biz Ink :: The voice of the valley economy

“Parco Wireless has received notification of an equipment authorization awarded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the company’s RFID UWB Precision Asset Location system (FCC IDENTIFIER: QCJPAL650). The Parco system utilizes ultra- wideband pulses to provide sub-foot precision for the two-dimensional and three-dimensional location of RFID tagged objects.”

Goody’s Family Clothing Reports Second Quarter Results

“As part of its continuing efforts to improve operating efficiencies and customer service, the Company will move up the installation of new radio frequency scanning equipment in all stores targeted to be completed by the end of fiscal 2003.”

Goody’s will be installing some RF equipment this year at their stores. RFID News does not anticipate item level tracking, but is interested to see if this technology will be on the floor.  

Alanco Expects New Prison Rape Elimination Act to Accelerate Adoption of its TSI PRISM Tracking Technology

“Alanco Technologies Inc. said today it expects the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 to accelerate adoption of its TSI PRISM(TM) tracking technology in the nation’s prisons and announced a new initiative to assist states to deploy its unique technology by accessing federal matching grants available through the new act. … Utilizing wrist-worn inmate transmitters and belt-worn officer safety units, Alanco’s TSI PRISM tracking system tracks and records the location of everyone in a prison facility every second of every day, providing a unique historical database for post-incident investigations and disciplinary proceedings. Proprietary anti-tampering features automatically detect and record any attempt to remove transmitters worn by inmates and staff. Inmates quickly learn that they are being continuously monitored and can no longer hide their activities nor depend on a “silent” inmate population to cover their prohibited behavior.”

Systems similar to these will soon be installed in controlled organizations. Look for it first in prisons, dubiously used to prevent violence, then subsequently in manufacturing facilities. The technology is already in place in some facilities as a security measure. Inevitably the lessons learned by these early projects will help track white collar workers in a corporate setting.