RFID tags reportedly found in German loyalty shopping card [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[If the Metro Future Store's contract consumers likely sign (when obtaining 
a loyalty card) does not permit RFID tags embedded in the card, then 
consumers might have recourse for breach of contract. If it does not, then 
consumers over time perhaps will (a) demand such privacy protections in the 
contract or (b) decide they don't care. Option (b) is a real possibility. 
After all, an RFID tag in a loyalty card seems similar, based on the below 
description, to the U.S. speedpass or ezpass transponders, neither of which 
has resulted in a privacy outcry. --Declan]

---

Subject: German RFID Scandal: Hidden devices, unkillable tags found in
        Metro Future Store
From: Katherine Albrecht <press () nocards org>
Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 23:36:59 -0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 5, 2004

German RFID Scandal: Hidden devices, unkillable tags found in Metro
Future Store
Germans say, "Nein! We wont be your versuchskaninchen"

"We won't be your versuchskaninchen." That's the message German privacy
advocates are sending to executives at the Metro Future Store in
Rheinberg, Germany after discovering RFID devices hidden in the store's
loyalty cards. They also found that RFID tags on products sold at the
store cannot be completely deactivated after purchase, despite Metro's
claims.

"Versuchskaninchen" is the German word for guinea pig, which is how
German consumers feel Metro and its partners have treated them since
opening the Future Store last year to test experimental RFID
applications on live shoppers.

The revelations came just one day after Katherine Albrecht, founder and
director of CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and
Numbering) toured the Future Store with a delegation of privacy experts
from German advocacy group FoeBud, who sponsored her visit.

"We were shocked to find RFID tags in Metro's 'Payback' loyalty card,"
said Albrecht, after FoeBuD tested the cards with an RFID reader and
discovered the tag. "The card application form, brochures, and signage
at the store made no mention of the embedded technology and Metro
executives spent several hours showing us the store without telling us
about it."

"In retrospect, it's no wonder store employees appeared nervous when we
asked to take a few of the cards with us," she added.

Vendors of RFID-enabled loyalty cards promote them as a way for
supermarkets to identify shoppers remotely as they enter the store,
using details of their identity and purchase history to pitch products
to them and to track their movements and activities within the store.
Prior to the Metro discovery, no major retailer had publicly admitted to
using such cards.

In addition to the cards, Albrecht discovered that Metro cannot
deactivate the unique identification number contained in RFID tags in
products it sells.  The use of unique, item-level ID numbers is one of
the key privacy concerns surrounding the use of RFID tags on consumer
goods.

"Customers are misled into believing that the tags can be killed at a
special deactivation kiosk, but the kiosk only rewrites a portion of the
tag, while leaving the unique ID number intact," she said.

Outraged German citizens are calling on Metro to put an immediate end to
the trials.

"We are deeply disappointed at the Metro executives. They talked of an
open dialog while hiding important facts from us," said Rena Tangens of
FoeBuD. "We are calling for an immediate moratorium on further RFID
testing as it is clear that Metro is not handling the technology
responsibly."

Evidence of the RFID tag in Metro's "Payback" loyalty card, along with
evidence of the incomplete deactivation of product tags, can be found on
FoeBuD's website at http://www.foebud.org/rfid/.

For more information, see http://www.spychips.com
and http://www.nocards.org.
Katherine Albrecht, CASPIAN Founder and Director: (877) 287-5854
Liz McIntyre, CASPIAN Communications: (877) 287-5854 or liz () nocards org

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