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Technology Your Rights Online

RFID Tags on Mach3 Razorblades Snap Your Photo 579

Posted by CmdrTaco from the now-thats-just-creapy dept.
peteo writes "Think RFID tags are harmless? Look at how they are being used in the UK: "At the Tesco Cambridge store, a camera trained on the Gillette blade shelf, and triggered by RFID tags, captures a photo of each customer who removes a Mach3 pack. Another photo is taken at the checkout and security staff compare the two images to ensure they always have a pair" According to the spokesman,"there are certainly not any privacy concerns" in relation to these tags. He adds that there is plenty of in-store signage indicating the supermarket's use of CCTV cameras. ""
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RFID Tags on Mach3 Razorblades Snap Your Photo More

RFID Tags on Mach3 Razorblades Snap Your Photo

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  • Buh-wah? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by felistigre ( 673891 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:15AM (#6483619)
    When were razor blades so valuable to warrant this?

    • Re:Buh-wah? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Phibz ( 254992 )
      Last time i bought some replacement electric razor blades (little round blades and screens) it cost $25.

      Phibz

      • Re:Buh-wah? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by packeteer ( 566398 )
        Its that price that makes them stolen so much. If someone steals a couple boxes of razors and sells them at a flea market they can make a few hundred dollars very qickly.

        I read that Gilette is buying 500 million RFID tags and will start putting them in their razor packages. At that quanitity its sitll cheap but reduces losses. Up to 20% of their razors are stolen in a year so its worth it for them to o something.

    • Re:Buh-wah? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Morologous ( 201459 ) * on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:19AM (#6483635)
      In my local grocery store they were such a frequently-stolen item that they had to be removed from the aisles. Now, if you want a pack of Mach3s you have to go up to the pharmacy and get them to hand them to you personally.

      That is, of course, after you show two forms of picture ID, at least one showing you with a beard. They then perform a cursory measurement of your existing stubble and review your past purchases of razor blades to determine whether you actually need the blades or not. Cap it all off with an American-as-apple-pie dirty look and you've got your shopping experience.

      -jason
    • Seriously... I shave sometimes with a razor, sometimes with an electric shaver. The Mach3 blades cost something on the order of about 15 USD for five. (Or at least that is what I pay here in Switzerland). It is totally outrageous. Talk about a monopoly!

      The worst part is that I tried to downgrade to a cheaper shaver. It seems that they not as good and do not hold as long...

      • A losing battle against facial hair... (Score:5, Funny)

        by hiryuu ( 125210 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:31AM (#6483681)
        I shave sometimes with a razor, sometimes with an electric shaver. The Mach3 blades cost something on the order of about 15 USD for five.

        All this for something that you're using to cut off a part of yourself that grows back in a short time.:P

        Before even taking into account physiological differences due to genetics, no matter how much you spend on the blades, you're going to have to shave again tomorrow (some men even sooner). Which is why I gave up the price battle and just use an electric razor for most times, and a pack of the cheap safety razors around for use other times. If my body is going to force me to spend money, I'll certainly make it as little as possible.

        • Neck-beard UNIX guru (Score:5, Funny)

          by AndroidCat ( 229562 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:01AM (#6483794) Homepage
          I've always thought that if I could grow a reasonable looking beard that didn't irritate the hell out of me, it could be worth a few thousand more in the job market.

          A solid beard lets you look sage while stroking it and giving a measured Hmmm and a nod, while you try to figure out what the hell to do next.

          Alternately I could extend my moustache to a Fu Manchu and try out for the next Evil Overlord position that opens up. (I've got the laugh, but an extreme moustache is a job requirement, bastards.)

          • Gillette blades are highly valued because being clean shaven is clear evidence that you do not support Bin Laden and are not a Muslim Extremeist.

            Obviously, by using the RFID/Video technology, the FBI will be able to compile a database of all the clean-cut Americans that are not Muslim extremeists.

            So get down to Tescos and have your picture taken NOW, or you may be extradited to Guantanamo Bay in real quick time!

        • Razor Blades, in my mind, fall somewhere around cigarettes and crack. I asked for a pack as a stocking stuffer last Christmas and was promptly told that things that sell for $25 deserve their own box.

        • The solution: (Score:4, Informative)

          by MattRog ( 527508 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @03:23PM (#6485808)
          The best shave [gentlemans-shop.co.uk] is with an open razor.

          It's a lot of fun, too. Not to mention a lot of time and effort -- but if you have the time the results over electric and the Mach 3 are nothing short of fantastic.

      • Re:They are... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Martin Blank ( 154261 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:41AM (#6483724) Homepage Journal
        Pack of four costs me US$8, pack of eight costs US$12.

        When they're in stock. And they *are* placed at the checkout lines (though at the Ralph's where I shop, they're out so you don't have to ask for them, provided there are any left in stock), which has reduced shoplifting but the damned things are so popular that I've taken to shopping for the eight packs when I can and looking for replacements when I start in on the second cartridge of four.

        The Mach3 has got to be one of the best examples of taking a common product and making a seemingly simple change that makes the product indispensible overnight. I picked one up a few months after they came out, and I can't believe I used to put up with other razors. Now if I use a normal two-blade razor, even one of the better ones, I tend to see shaving nicks all over the place. I know of a lot of women that use the Mach3 (or its successor for women, the Venus3) as well because it's less likely to leave nicks on their legs and under their arms.

      • Re:They are... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by gilroy ( 155262 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:46AM (#6483746) Homepage Journal
        Blockquoth the poster:

        The worst part is that I tried to downgrade to a cheaper shaver. It seems that they not as good and do not hold as long...

        The funny thing is, this is preceded by

        It is totally outrageous. Talk about a monopoly!

        Of course, these statements are essentially contradictory. Obviously Gillette does not have a monopoly, because there exist alternatives. They apparently offer a superior product, but at a higher cost. The whole point of the free market is, you get to choose what you pay for. If the cheaper blades were as good, people would move to that system and Gillette's price would come down.


        Are you alleging that Gillette somehow uses its market presence to squeeze out the other players?


        Not every high price indicates the boogey-man of "monopoly". Higher quality sometimes demands higher price.

        • Re:They are... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Talez ( 468021 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @11:55AM (#6484538)
          Higher quality sometimes demands higher price.

          Damn straight. After using the Mach3, going back to ordinary razors just didn't cut it.

    • Re:Buh-wah? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      What's funny is how you will see the blades on sale at Flea Markets. Gilette says that the blades can only be sold with a proper vendor licence. So where do the blades come from.

      It's a big problem everywhere. I worked security in grocery stores for a while, and there were weeks that they lost thousands of dollars in these blades.

      The next biggest item for shoplifters.... big packs of chewing gum. Go figure (actually, another big flea market item)

    • Re:Buh-wah? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by CoolVibe ( 11466 )
      Like I care. It does however put a new dimension to the activity of generating so much false positives that they will turn it off.

      Imagine this scenario:

      • I grab a mach3 pack
      • The thingy takes my picture
      • I put it back
      • I grab another mach3 pack
      • The thingy takes my picture
      • I put it back
      • I grab another mach3 pack
      • The thingy takes my picture
      • I put it back
      • repeat several more times...
      • walk out the store
      • come back next day and do it again. Tell your friends, let them do that too

      Isn't civil disobedience grand? :

      • Re:Buh-wah? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by AnotherBrian ( 319405 )
        That's a good idea, but they could fix it easily by dumping the photo record attached to the tag if it ti returned to the shelf. I'd bet the security system already does this. Try this scenario:
        • I grab a mach3 pack
        • The thingy takes my picture
        • I give it to one of my friends that that coincidently decided to shop for razors on the same day.
        • My friend purchase the razor and I walk out of the store
        • Repeat

  • Waitrose have a camera on the razor blades... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blowdart ( 31458 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:15AM (#6483620) Homepage
    I only know this because they have a do it yourself barcode scanner for shopping and razor blades always come up as "Declare to cashier".

    Last week I asked why. The cashier said it's because kids go in and steal them a lot, then come back the next day and ask for the money back (a pack of 8 is rather expensive, and they are easy to slip into pockets). So Waitrose watch the blades carefully and always check reciepts.

  • Welcome back sir! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:15AM (#6483621)
    Seeing as this is the fourth time this month you've purchased genital wart cream, perhaps you'd be better off moving up to Genwartrexol?

  • Is this really so much worse... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by 26199 ( 577806 ) * on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:16AM (#6483625) Homepage

    ...than plain old CCTV? Alright, so it's a little unsettling to think of someone with a photo of you taking something off the shelf comparing it with other photos to see if you bought the thing... but odds are if there's a CCTV camera then they're watching you as you take things off the shelf then, too.

    Hmm. Doing this without telling people, however, is certainly cause for objection... there should be a sign of some sort, I suppose...

    I would imagine that legally it doesn't require anything more than 'CCTV in use on these premesis', since the camera would have been there anyway...?

    • Re:Is this really so much worse... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by aking137 ( 266199 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:41AM (#6483722)
      Possibly - here, they're demonstrating the ability to link your identity with what you buy, and fairly automatically, en masse. Potentially, this could allow the authorities to track practically every "new" object you bought. Imagine if five years down the line, the police raid your house because they suspect you of something, and then they look at the RFID tags of lots of items in your house, and are able to tell exactly who bought what item and when (from their big database that's full of dates, times, photos, places, lists of items, etc). Or they might just simply keep track of all the stuff you're buying over a set period of time and then start drawing conclusions from it.

      My understanding at the moment is that you do have to display a sign in the UK if you're filming the public. I doubt you have to do anything extra if you're attempting to link this footage with what's being taken off your shelves too though. It's no doubt being rolled out all over the place already.

      I've already quit my job to avoid having a need for one of those identity cards, I've already sent back my driving license and made do with a push bike to stop them tracking me by my number plate, and I got my mobile crushed last week. Looks like I'm going to have to start an allotment now too!

      • Ah, yes, well, RFID tags in general -- I was just commenting on the photograph part. RFID tags that stay in place could be bad... but in this case, they're part of the packaging, surely? And so not really a problem... who keeps the packaging for their razor blades?

        • From the article, wrt the theft issue:

          At the Tesco Cambridge store, reports the magazine, a camera trained on the Gillette blade shelf, and triggered by the tags, captures a photo of each customer who removes a Mach3 pack. Another photo is taken at the checkout and security staff compare the two images to ensure they always have a pair.

          So you and your wife are shopping, you drop a pack of blades in your common cart, then you go out to the car. Meanwhile your wife gets to the cashier, and her photo sure

      • Re:Is this really so much worse... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Brave Guy ( 457657 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:00PM (#6484568)
        Possibly - here, they're demonstrating the ability to link your identity with what you buy, and fairly automatically, en masse. Potentially, this could allow the authorities to track practically every "new" object you bought.

        Um... Most of the major supermarket chains in the UK, including Tesco and Sainsburys, have a "loyalty card" scheme that allows them to do just that, in exchange for a small discount on your shopping. These are used to target advertising, adjust product lines according to customer demand, etc. They don't tell you in as many words that this is what the cards are for, but everyone with an ounce of brain matter knows it, no-one really makes a secret of it at the stores, and it seems the vast majority of their customers voluntarily get such a card, supplying the required information in exchange for a discount.

        So yes, they can theoretically track every new purchase you make, as long as you use the card with it. That's the whole point. If you don't like that, don't get the card, but the vast majority of people don't seem to care.

        I'm curious to know what they gain by this arrangement, though. There are already scanners on the door at that Tesco (my local branch, half a mile from my home) that are supposed to detect anyone walking out with security tagged goods that haven't been paid for, and a security guard by the door. (The same is true of pretty much every major supermarket over here, and most high street clothing stores etc. where there's a big risk of theft.) What does this gain them, a picture if someone manages to get through the alarmed section and past the guard without setting them off? In that case, what if someone else picked up the tagged item, got photographed, and then replaced it on the shelf, prior to a second person stealing them? Oo-er, doesn't sound promising. Maybe I'll just buy my razors from Sainsburys (the other big supermarket, half a mile in the other direction) instead...

        • We have the same card schemes here in the states. I don't mind at all...I have cards for all the major stores near me, and I always make sure to use my card whenever I shop. They don't have my name or address or anything...it only tracks what I buy, not who I am. My bill's a little lower, and the register prints out coupons for me when I check out. The coupons are great, because they're for items I might actually want to buy, because they know about the other sorts of things I buy.

          For example, I drink

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @01:46PM (#6485217)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I didn't used to have a problem with CCTV until I went to a local Wal-Mart for the first time-- the parking lot was rigged with at least 50 cameras. I obviously can't verify that each one is real, but in this age of cheap hard drives and video recorders, and the fact that Wal-Mart is quite the profitable company, I doubt that they're all decoys.

      And that's not counting the cameras IN the store...
    • Do they also take a picture when you put it back on the shelf? What if you bumped the shelf and knocked one off with your cart and put it back? What if you picked one up and decided that some other brand was a better deal? On the hardware side, what happens if someone spends half an hour removing and putting back razor blades? I suppose this is all digital, but do they have a flash card big enough for that many photos?

      Continuous non-discrimatory survellience is fine by me, but this idea clearly has iss

      • Re:Is this really so much worse... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Ella the Cat ( 133841 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:56AM (#6484126) Homepage Journal
        I am tempted, should this arrive at my local Tesco, to carefully put the damn things in my basket, smiling for the camera, walk to another aisle, and put them on another shelf. Just out of interest, am I deemed to have bought them when I pick them up, or when I go through the checkout?

        • Re:Is this really so much worse... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by plugger ( 450839 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @02:51PM (#6485627) Homepage
          I imagine that you are logged when picking up the razorblades, and again when you pay for them. I guess that any discrepancy is flagged and you picture is added to a list of 'suspicious characters'. According to an article in the Guardian yesterday, Tesco say that they store the pictures 'temporarily'.

          What you could do is consistently pick up the razorblades every time you visit, place them on another shelf whilst you are shopping and check out without buying them. Then, write to Tesco's Data Controller and ask if they are holding any information on you. Tell them what you have been doing and state that you believe they might have a photo of you. Pay the £10 charge and supply a photo of yourself to help them check. If a few thousand customers did this, they would probably find running the scheme very expensive. They might also be unable to respond within a reasonable time (not sure if there is a statutory response time). That would then put them in breach of Data Protection law.

  • Most stolen item in Britain (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Yakman ( 22964 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:17AM (#6483627) Homepage Journal
    Tin foil hat privacy issues aside, the reason for this is because Gilette Mach 3 Razor Blades are the most shoplifted item in Britain [smh.com.au]. This is due to Gilette's "strategy" of giving away the razors and charging through the nose for the blades.

  • Don't worry (Score:5, Funny)

    by SlashdotMakesMeKool ( 610077 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:17AM (#6483628) Homepage
    Just shave before the checkout and you won't get caught.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:17AM (#6483629)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Obvious problem (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dizco ( 20340 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:45AM (#6483742)
      Not unless you maul the package, take out the rfid chip, and hide it in your sock. If you put it back, the store knows, because hey look, the 8 pack of blades just showed up back in stock. If you put it down elsewhere, the RFID reader at the door never sees it leave, so it never sounds the alarm.

      Besides, it won't be long before they can track items anywhere in the store with RFID, at which point when you put your 8 pack of blades in with the potato chips, they'll send a stock boy out to put 'em back.
    • That is when you sue their arses hard when they harass you at the door.

      The only language stores understand today is "I'm going to sue your ass!"

      and that crap about the cutomer is always right? and that dreamland idea of customer service....

      Ha!

      I have seen lots of people harased by the no-training no-wage no-brain store security over honest mistakes.

      and a friend recently had to sue the local chain store after the turd-security harassed his wife to tears about a forgotten bag of dogfood under the cart, wh

    • Re:Obvious problem (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Alan Cox ( 27532 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:24AM (#6483903) Homepage
      That is the same problem as hotel automated mini-bars, and one of the long standing ob electronic people jokes - removing all the items from the minibar then putting them all back.

      Needless to say its very hard for the manager to explain the automated bar bill that appears as a result.

      The police aren't the only problem with RFID though. If I have the RFID data for a range of products I can do several things that favour the criminal - consider a mugger sitting with a PDA zapping people going past and getting valuations on them..

      Estimated $350
      Notes:
      Take the ring, take the phone

      [OK] [CANCEL]

      Teenage kids (or bad newspapers) using RFID to obtain the colours of passing womens underwear and bra size is at least merely going to irritate rather than get people targetted.

  • There's the end of shopping with your SO (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SWroclawski ( 95770 ) <serge.wroclawski@org> on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:17AM (#6483630) Homepage
    Suddently splitting up and asking your significant other to pick something up for you in a different part of a store warrants a crime.

    - Serge Wroclawski
    • No it doesn't. If they see a discrepancy, they have all those other cameras recording video to catch the exchange of blades from your SO to you.

    • Re:There's the end of shopping with your SO (Score:4, Insightful)

      by GammaTau ( 636807 ) <jni@iki.fi> on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:57AM (#6483778) Homepage Journal

      Suddently splitting up and asking your significant other to pick something up for you in a different part of a store warrants a crime.

      The thing is, it doesn't. If they build a technical mechanism to catch shoplifters and that mechanism isn't reliable, it's not your problem. "Crime" is a concept defined by law, not technology.

      Sure, they might not want to give you this impression, but it's their responsibility to prove that you are guilty of something and if their technology can't give enough proof, the technology is nothing more but a way to scare people. Picking something from a shelf may be proof in some cases, in some cases it isn't.

      If you know that you've not stolen anything (which should be rather easy to know...), stand up for your rights if you're accused of something.

      • Re:There's the end of shopping with your SO (Score:4, Insightful)

        by freeweed ( 309734 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @11:44AM (#6484470)
        If you know that you've not stolen anything (which should be rather easy to know...), stand up for your rights if you're accused of something.

        Yeah, because people are never wrongfully accused, or convicted, based on incomplete or even entirely false evidence.

        Personally, I can't afford the legal fees I'd need just to be able to shop in the UK. I take things off shelves all the time and put them back in the wrong place.

  • well... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:18AM (#6483632)
    I, for one, welcome our new razor blade overlords!

  • Simple solution (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BabyDave ( 575083 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:19AM (#6483634)

    When you go shopping, always have an accomplice - (s)he picks up the blades, hands them to you somewhere else in the store, and you take them to the checkout.

    Of course, this would happen 'accidentally' quite often anyway, but it's always good to make more trouble for stupid schemes like this.

    • the closed-circuit picture-snapping doesnt even matter. It's just a case of: for every razor picked off a shelf, one is also purchased. The CCsnapping is only important on the shelf-end. You are an idiot.

  • PILLAGE AND PLUNDER! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Dark Lord Seth ( 584963 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:19AM (#6483637) Journal

    So, what would happen if we round up 30+ slashdotters and have all of them pillage the rack of razor blades, only to put them all back and pillage some more? You know, with a bunch of beach balls and a large amount of beer we could have a great time while pillaging razorblades!

    • actually, cince it's triggering on a event... simply standing there and taking the blades, putting them back and taking them again.. would produce tons of pictures.

      and yes, screwing with them making the "tactic" a pain in the arse is the best way of getting rid of it.

      Kinda like when at work they went sweeping for 802.11 access points. they discovered 10,000 of them in my office alone :-) funny I wonder who was running that access-point spoofer generating all those bogus beacons.... oh well...
    • So, what would happen if we round up 30+ slashdotters and have all of them pillage the rack of razor blades, only to put them all back and pillage some more?

      Well, I'm pretty sure I know at least a dozen other /. readers in Cambridge besides myself. ;-)

      It's a shame Tesco shut five minutes ago. Might have been fun to print out this article and the various comments posted on it, and go have a word with their manager...

  • I was unsure of RFIDs, to be honest, I did not know the technical capabilities of them.

    All I can say is..

    Wow..

    Not necessarly a good wow, it is rather impressive 'tho..in a Klez kind of way. I do not think that this is TOO much of a worry as is, at least in this case.

    But the technical potential?

    wow.


  • I know EXACTLY where I'd put the price sticker when I was walking by with a sticker gun.

    Any other fun non-destructive vandelism/protest ideas?

    Ryan Fenton

  • Technological approach again (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BenjyD ( 316700 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:26AM (#6483660)

    [This trial] is not to do with security or theft, it is a supply chain trial."

    But they then say security staff use it. So what is it for? What supply chain information does it give them that they can't get from the till receipts?

    My local supermarket (Safeways, Shepherds Bush) had huge shoplifting problems with razor blades. Rather than implementing this (presumably expensive) scheme, they took the simple step of moving the blades behind the counter at the store pharmacy. Shoplifting drops overnight, no added cost and no privacy concerns.

    • I was gonna say that too.

      If they wanted to test it for the supply chain side, they would put them tags in a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk. Something high volume that would let them track some real sales and put their system through its paces. not some gimmicky, expensive razor blades that maybe a couple people per day purchase.

      I can see the press conferences now...

      Shop Spokesman: We are not using these RFID tags for security purposes. It is just pure coincidence that we happen to pick the "most

  • Why ? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Krapangor ( 533950 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:26AM (#6483661) Homepage
    For preventing theft, the RFID tag would be enough alone.
    So why do they need the photos for ?
    Marketing ? But for customer group identification one photo would be sufficient.

  • What if you take it back later? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by arcanumas ( 646807 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:26AM (#6483662) Homepage
    I don't know how it is set up, but does it also take your picture if you put it back later? Otherwise the picture on the checkout will register you as a thief..
    God , i would love to be able to make trouble about that. If you live in England , try it and if they mark you as a thief then unleash all your fury. (and i don't mean "Slashdot reader mode" fury. i mean "Quake 3 mayhem mode" fury).

  • Scenario (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Compact Dick ( 518888 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:29AM (#6483670) Homepage
    • Customer #1 picks up a pack of Gillettes.
    • Customer #1 decides against buying it while in the cereal aisle, dumps it there.
    • Customer #2, also in the cereal aisle, decides to get a pack of Gillettes, spots the rogue pack, picks it up.
    • Both proceed to their respective checkouts...

    • What happens now?

    • Re:Scenario (Score:3, Informative)

      by sql*kitten ( 1359 ) *
      What happens now?

      If you read the article, you'd know the whole thing is supervised by human operators. It isn't a case that a machine automatically matches faces and raises an alarm. Presumably one of them would simply ask.

      • Re:Scenario (Score:5, Funny)

        by roystgnr ( 4015 ) <roy@stog[ ]s.org ['ner' in gap]> on Sunday July 20, 2003 @11:54AM (#6484534) Homepage
        If you read the article, you'd know the whole thing is supervised by human operators. It isn't a case that a machine automatically matches faces and raises an alarm.

        Well, even if you didn't read the article, you've got to realize that there will be a human in the loop somewhere. We aren't quite up to replacing security guards with ED-209 yet.

        Robot: "HALT. PRESENT RECEIPT. YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO COMPLY."
        Customer: "It's right here."
        Robot: "YOU NOW HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COMPLY."
        Customer: "It... It's right here!"
        Robot: "3...2...1... I AM NOW AUTHORIZED TO PREVENT SHOPLIFTING WITH PHYSICAL FORCE." (gatling guns spin up)
        Customer: "Aaahhh!!!"

    • Re:Scenario (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Nimey ( 114278 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:57AM (#6484138) Homepage Journal
      Customer #1 decides against buying it while in the cereal aisle, dumps it there.
      ...
      What happens now?
      Customer #1 gets rightfully punished. I hated that when I worked in a grocery store. The worst thing was the wankers who would decide they didn't want a cut of meat, then drop it any old place to warm up and become unfit for consumption.

      I know, your time is valuable, blah blah blah, but it's damned rude and inconsiderate.

      • Re:Scenario (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Ella the Cat ( 133841 )

        It infuriates me as a customer to see people dumping stuff back on shelves like that, especially perishables. But someone making such a protest with non-perishable razor blades isn't being inconsiderate (and neither person is committing a crime AFAIK). You would punish protesting customers for the sins of the inconsiderate ones. Stores would trash our privacy to punish shoplifters.

        The road to hell is paved with good intentions

  • Cigarettes (Score:3, Interesting)

    by afternoon ( 310303 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:29AM (#6483673) Homepage
    You have to wonder why they don't just put them behind the counter, as with cigarettes.

    Is it some kind of subtle lure? Do they fear the drop in sales resulting from the less control of POS presentation? How would that stack up against the losses from shoplifting?

  • Collecting RFID for further shopping (Score:5, Funny)

    by Erik_ ( 183203 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:30AM (#6483677)
    I'm now going to make sure I keep all RFID tags I find, and each time I go buy some new blades I'll take them along to swapping their sensors... ;-)
  • UK highest crime than detroit?

    oh my my my
  • As per the back of a Gillette Mach3 box :
    Questions? Comments? 0800 174543 (UK Only)

  • Why is this not harmless? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) * on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:39AM (#6483709)
    So, you mean instead of training a camera on you continuously as you shop, now they can capture only a few key moments?

    You'd think people would be declaring this a privacy *win* since you'll be video taped less now, and only at the points that matter.
    • I don't think it helps privacy any when they take your photo, and start adding extra information to it, like what you have just bought.
      • I don't think it helps privacy any when they take your photo, and start adding extra information to it, like what you have just bought.

        Ever see the cameras above the checkout? They can do it already, and they don't need the help of RFID tags either.
  • Karma Whoring, mirroring from this sadly defunct comedy site [subatomichumor.com]...but I did go and order his book already
    Right now, I want to be like the naked jet pilot, but I'm not like the naked jet pilot. He has three blades on his razor and I have only two.

    You know who I'm talking about? The naked jet pilot on the Gillette commercial? He's got a uniform and a plane and then -- whoah! -- it all disintegrates and suddenly he's standing naked on what looks like the set of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? tenderly caressi
  • take a Mach three from the shelf and set it down in a different isle everytime you are in the store if people do this in large quanitites it frustrates the snapshot game.
  • ..According to the spokesman,"there are certainly not any privacy concerns" in relation to these tags...

    Of course there are not any privacy concerns, from their point of view. They don't give a damn about *our* privacy concerns.

  • My understanding of RFID tags.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:57AM (#6483776)
    ...is that they can be "scanned" from a distance away.

    I don't see why a picture is necessary. If someone has an RFID'ed item (say in their pocket), it should get scanned and charged for just like an item being held in the hands or resting in the cart. RFID SHOULD potentially eliminate shoplifting, with NO privacy concerns.

    Imagine going into walmart and instead of each item being scanned separately, the cashier just aims the scanner at your cart, then you, and instantly everything is added to the total. No questions about what you may have slipped into your pockets because it just get's added. The scanner makes no value judgement.

    RFID can be used to make life simpler, as long as we don't start using it to invade privacy.

  • Why is this relevent to the linux community? (Score:5, Funny)

    by peterprior ( 319967 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @09:58AM (#6483783)
    Everyone knows linux hackers and users don't shave, and the more hair the better.
    Also, simply using the Tesco Online Grocery Shopping [tesco.co.uk] system would get round the problem.

    :)

  • Easy to abuse. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Pig Hogger ( 10379 ) <pig DOT hogger AT gmail DOT com> on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:03AM (#6483803) Journal
    Such a system is very easy to abuse.
    1. Pick-up some blades, making sure you are snapped by the camera.
    2. Move outside of the camera range
    3. Dump the razor blades somewhere else in the store
    4. Pass at the cash
    5. When you are stopped by store security, insist that they call the police to search you - only the police has the right to search you
    6. When the police has found nothing at all, sue the store for false arrest (the manager will perhaps make a counter-offer for free merchandise - I have an aunt to got herself a free mink coat this way after she was arrested by store detectives at Eaton's [Macy's equivalent])
    7. ????
    8. profit!
    After 10-20 people do that trick, mabye the store will reconsider it's policy...

  • As little added value as possible (Score:4, Insightful)

    by panurge ( 573432 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:04AM (#6483807)
    Of course, this arises because supermarkets try to create as little added value as possible. They hire expensive psychologists who tell them that because we are basically hunter/gatherers, we can be conned into pushing the trolleys round the store and collecting the goods ourselves without realising that we are doing all the work, being exposed to all the advertising and subtle pressure to buy, and they are getting all the money. So, rather than prevent theft by the traditional means (sell things from behind the counter on request) they decide to try RFID - which we pay for - so we can have our privacy invaded at our expense.

    No, I do not have a loyalty card. No, I do not want an application form. I would tell you why, but then I would have to charge you at my usual hourly rates...

  • Did anyone else think (from the title) that the RFID tag itself took the picture? My next thought was, how could they make it that small, and cheap enough to put on razor blades?!?

  • You can "check out" any time you want! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Openadvocate ( 573093 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:19AM (#6483870)
    but you can never "leave"

  • Fun hack to fight RFID. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Alsee ( 515537 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:33PM (#6484753) Homepage
    RFID works on frequencies and power levels that are perfctly legal to receive and re-broadcast. Imaging walking around with a tiny device that constantly listens for RFID codes and randomly rebroadcasts the last 5,000 codes it's stored.

    Another cute device but trickier to make might listen for RFID codes to start and jump in in the middle drowning out the last half of the code with random garbage.

    -
    • Of course, you can't just "listen" for RFID codes to be broadcast. You have to actively transmit energy at them in order for the tags to emit the code. Once you do that you'll have to be within about 3 feet of the tag to recieve the code. The chips contain no power source themselves.

      The only place in a store you could routinely recieve tag codes without your own transmitter would be near the checkout registers or perhaps the exit scanners.

      I guess a small reciever run by 9V battery could be double-stick ta

  • Algorithm for Stealing Razor Blades. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by sbaker ( 47485 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:35PM (#6484768) Homepage
    Not that I recommend doing such a thing - but just to highlight
    why this is a silly idea...

    1) Go to the razor blade stand - pick up a pack of blades - get
    photo taken.

    2) Hand pack of blades to your wife as she's buying cornflakes in
    the next aisle. Say "Honey - please pay for these - I have to go
    to the store next door."

    3) Leave store.

    4) When they stop you leaving the store and accuse you of not paying for
    the blades you picked up - tell them that you left the blades in the
    Cornflakes aisle. Let them strip-search you - you don't have
    the blades. Make a terrible fuss.

    5) They let you go with profuse apologies.

    6) Your wife then leaves the store - with pack of blades in her pocket
    'forgetting' to pay for them. Nobody bats an eyelid because her photo
    didn't get taken at the razor blade shelf.

    So why don't they simply correlate the RFID tags that they detect going
    through the exit of the store with an RFID tag on the till reciept and
    directly check that every tag that they detect as marked as being in the
    store's inventory is also in the database as having been sold against
    that reciept?

    Nobody's privacy is invaded - it's all perfectly anonymous.

    I don't see the need for all the photography and consequent invasion of
    privacy.

  • Mischief! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ajs318 ( 655362 ) <sd_resp2@earthshod. c o . uk> on Sunday July 20, 2003 @04:31PM (#6486243)
    This could be enormous fun. Imagine now. A group of people go into a supermarket and disperse. Half the group each select a packet of razor blades, then pass them to members of the other half of the group, who take them to the tills and pay.

    Or just keep picking up packs of razor blades, wandering around the store for awhile and putting them back on the shelves. Or wave a packet of razor blades back and forth in front of the sensor to keep taking photographs.

    In some stores, you can go out to the exit side of the checkout e.g. to go to the tobacco kiosk - there is only one exit, with security guards in attendance. You could sneak packets of razor blades out of the main sales floor, then pass them backward through the checkouts, triggering the cameras as you go. Put the blades back on the shelves.

    If there is an easy way to kill the RFID tags or blind the sensors {this will require experimentation} then maybe this can be done right there in-store.

    Yes, there is plenty of potential for fun to be had with these things.

  • Buy blades. Jam the system. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by FFFish ( 7567 ) on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:38PM (#6488069) Homepage
    Buy RFID-tagged products! Keep the tags! Spread them around!

    I think I will push Mach 3 RFID tags into, oh, a bunch of banannas. Or a loaf of bread. Drop it into a shampoo bottle. And if WalMart starts RFIDing underwear, it will be even more fun...

  • Alternatives to the way it might work... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by diggem ( 74763 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @02:01AM (#6488784) Homepage
    What if somebody picked up a pack of razors then decided not to buy them later on while still shopping. Rather than returning to the razor isle, he sets them down right there. Later somebody else see's them sitting there and picks them up.

    Now the store saw him pick them up, but didn't notice the remainder of the interaction with that particular pack of razor blades. Now you've just tweaked the system.

    So if I don't set them back down in the same isle I could get searched as I walk out because I didn't purchase razor blades?

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