Futuretail: The Retail Technology Weblog

Bosch begins RFID tagging power tools

Now this is an effective use of RFID tags: construction sites. A contained environment, with lots of high-value tools lying around. So lo and behold, Bosch tools has announced it will incorporate RFID tags into its power tools as part of its "Safe & Sound" anti-theft program. The tools will cost 2% to 5% more with an RFID tag embedded, but given that tool theft is a $300 million to $1 billion problem in the US, I don't see many contractors balking at that. Note: this is exactly how to deploy RFID against a problem. Scope the problem first, then build the solution. At 2% of a $100 tool (on the cheap end), that accounts for a $2 tag, so we don't need to worry about tag cost once we get the math right.

New paper blocks RFID

Possibly an interesting application for privacy for contactless cards: a new paper (warning: Google translation from Japanese) that blocks RFID signals using a very thin layer of metal. I don't think this would be terribly useful to block the signals from tags on products (except maybe in shopping bags), but I could very easily see it in a wallet or purse to ensure privacy of your RFID-chipped loyalty and ID cards.

Tenth Amendment battle heats up

OK, for any of you who don't know it, the tenth amendment to the Constitution delegates all powers "not delegated to the US by the Consitution" to the states. So what happens when the feds legislate the use of RFID in ID cards while California bans the use of RFID in ID cards? It's bad enough that I can't use a piece of federal ID like a passport to buy California Pinot Noir... what happens when they make me surrender it when I land at LAX?

RFID-chipped cell phone "shopping" in Japan

This is interesting, mostly because it combines the receiving/display power of a consumer-owned device (the cell phone) with an RFID-tag that allows a retailer to easily identify the consumer - when the consumer wants to be identified, that is. Basically, a company in Japan has launched a service that allows consumers with RFID-chipped phones to wave their phone at a reader in their favorite stores, thus alerting the retailer that the consumer is interested and to send them more information. The challenge (among others) would be that while "universal loyalty" functionality is great for consumers, it ain't so good for retailers. Of course, we're still waiting for RFID-chipped phones here in the US, let alone ones with some degree of integration into the phone itself. Sigh.

An interesting use for item-level RFID

Though it costs about $16,000 (thanks, George W. for making the dollar equal to 50 pence), this device promises an unheralded degree of freedom for the blind. Ironically, the same thing could be accomplished if retailers just PUBLISHED maps of their stores, via Flash or Adobe vector format. C'mon folks... 65 million cell phone users... GIVE THEM SOMETHING in store!

California cleverly bans RFID in identity cards

Boneheaded legislation: 1, common sense: 0. Once again, California has proved that it's legislators just don't get it. There's a bill making its way through the state senate that bans the use of RFID technology in identity cards, including (but not limited to): ID cards for state employees (so much for secure access), library cards (so much for faster checkout), health insurance cards (so much for fast-response medical care from EMS units), and student IDs (so much for contactless vending, ticketing, and buying a hot dog at the snack bar). Note to legislators: don't ban the technology, support encryption and punish abusers. What's next, you're going to ban automobiles because they can be used in bank robberies?

How to cause mischief with RFID tags

OK, so with all the talk about RFID privacy, isn't it time to take a moment to contemplate the physical security of the RFID tag itself. Consider for a moment the hypothetical situation that your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart has RFID tags on every product. What is to stop you from:

a) taking one of these into the store plugged into your PDA, walking through the aisles, and in about 10 minutes having an exact SKU by SKU inventory count for the store? (Remember, ePC is standards-based, so the same tag means the same thing in every store...)

b) taking one of these into the store, and walking through selectively (or indiscriminately, for that matter) zapping RFID tags on products, thus rendering the entire RFID-based check-out and security system inoperable and causing all the affected tags to have to be identified and replaced? (This form of sabotage would be EASY... responding to consumer pressure, the Metro Future Store installed an RFID-tag de-activator outside the checkout... why couldn't you simply do the same thing in the store?)

Consumer-facing RFID needs a little more thinking before it becomes mainstream.

Wal-Mart extends RFID mandate to endagered wildlife

So, in a stunning development likely to anger both animal rights activists and privacy activists (and animal privacy activists), the government of China has apparently announced  plans to tag all the panda bears in captivity. I had never really thought of panda bears as particularly fast or prone to supply chain shrink, but then again, I'm hardly an expert.