New RFID technology at Wal-Mart stores has been criticized for suspicion over the use of it to invade consumer privacy by scanning smartcard ID cards
In response to Wal-Mart’s recently released RFID technology for scanning product barcodes, privacy advocates have been expressing concern about ID card security while entering the stores, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Wal-Mart is implementing the new technology to provide a more convenient solution to scanning products and monitoring inventory. Because of its capabilities, it can also access information on smartcard plastic IDs that feature RFID technology. Privacy advocates have recently spoken out about the risk of Wal-Mart employees using the technology to monitor the identities of the store’s shoppers for marketing purposes.
"There are two things you really don’t want to tag, clothing and identity documents, and ironically that’s where we are seeing adoption," Katherine Albrecht, founder of a group called Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, told the Wall Street Journal. "The inventory guys may be in the dark about this, but there are a lot of corporate marketers who are interested in tracking people as they walk sales floors."
Consumer privacy issues will continue to rise while smartcard ID cards spread throughout the country. Delaware has recently began a program to upgrade the technology on its plastic ID cards to include RFID technology.
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