RE: OT - Clothing ID tags

[Brad Beveridge]

Bring on the directed advertising

 "Hello there citizen, I see you are wearing ..Benetton.. ..pants.. - we sell a complimentary product that you may find interesting..."

Just like Minority Report.

 

Brad

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Greenwood [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, 13 March 2003 9:28 a.m.
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: OT - Clothing ID tags

And now for a story with an orwellian slant:

What Your Clothes Say About You

http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,58006,00.html?tw=wn_ascii

In a move wireless industry analysts say will infringe on customers' privacy, clothing designer Benetton plans to weave radio frequency ID chips into its garments to track its clothes worldwide.

The chips will help the Italian clothing manufacturer cut costs by eliminating the need for workers to take inventory by manually scanning individual items of clothing. It will also protect the garments against theft, analysts say.

But analysts warn that the RFID chips could pose significant risks to customers' privacy because they would allow anyone with an RFID receiver to locate customers wearing Benetton clothes, including companies that want to sell them their products.