Benetton adds RFID tags.

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Trei, Peter" <ptrei () rsasecurity com>
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 10:02:12 -0500
To: "'dave () farber net'" <dave () farber net>
Subject: Benetton adds RFID tags.

For IP, if you like.

The point of interest here is not that Benetton is utilizing a new system
for inventory
control; it's the fact that RFID tags are yet another way people can be
tracked
without their knowledge. There is no indication that the tag is disabled
after
purchase - indeed, the sfgate article[1] goes into some detail of how it
might
be used to personalize service post sale. Nor is there any indication that
any 
security measures have been implemented to prevent third parties from
querying the tags to build information of who passed what reader when.

RFID tags have the same privacy issues as SpeedPass, but are much more
insidious. Most citizens will be unaware that they've been tagged as
thoroughly as an endangered animal.

Maybe I should start microwaving my underwear.....

Peter Trei
--------------------------------

> http://slashdot.org/articles/03/03/12/0156247.shtml?tid=158
>
> An anonymous reader writes "Clothing manufacturer Benetton has announced
> that
> they will begin embedding RFID tags in clothing[1] for inventory control
> purposes. You
> can read more about this at SF Gate[2]." morcheeba adds more information:
> "EETimes is
> reporting[3] that Benetton will be embedding a Philips RFID chip into the
> label of every new garment
> bearing the name of Benetton's core clothing brand, Sisley[4]. The 15
> million chips expected sold in 2003
> will allow monitoring of garments from production to shipping, shelves and
> dressing rooms. The
> I.CODE chip[5] (tech info)[6] used in Benetton's labels will include 1,024
> bits of EEPROM and operate at a
> distance of up to 1.5 meters. RFIDs look like they would be extremely
> uncomfortable in some Sisley
> clothes[7]." 
>
> [1]http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/03/11
> /financial1508EST0170.DTL
> [2]http://www.sfgate.com/
> [3]http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20030311S0028
> [4]http://www.sisley.com/
> [5]http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/markets/identification/products/i
> code/ic/index.html
> [6]http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat/other/identification/icod
> e_ht_ls.pdf
> [7]http://www.benetton.com/press/sito/photo/product_adver/sisley/2003_wet/
> sisley07.html


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