- NEWS In This Issue -
-
- 1- Houston kids tagged and tracked like
inventory
- 2- FDA supports RFID tags on pharmaceuticals
- 3- Wal-Mart's data outstrips entire Internet
- 4- Airlines must turn over passenger data to TSA next
week
- 5- U.S. passports to get RFID chips
- 6- Wal-Mart expands RFID use to Sam's Club
- 7- Albertsons moving forward with RFID tagging
plans
- 8- Should you get a chip in your shoulder?
- 9- Will your cell phone become your wallet?
- 10- Lessons from Lexmark
- 11- FDA gives RFID big push in pharmaceutical
labeling
- 12- What RFID rights?
-
- CASPIAN ACTIVISTS UPDATE
-
- 1- Katherine Albrecht is all over the media!
- 2- Australian CASPIAN member publishes novel
- 3- CASPIAN members sound off
-
- TOOLS YOU CAN USE
-
- 1- CASPIAN member's novel a great educational
tool
- 2- Arguments against national sales tax
- 3- PBS show "The Persuaders" available
online
-
-
- HOUSTON SCHOOLKIDS TAGGED AND TRACKED LIKE
INVENTORY
- by Katherine Albrecht, CASPIAN Director
-
- Why do creepy RFID initiatives seem to gravitate to
Texas,
even though Texans are among the most privacy and freedom-loving people
in the nation? The latest assault involves the children of the Spring
Independent
School District, just north of Houston, where 28,000 students will soon
be issued RFID badges that will track them as they get on and off school
buses.
-
- Apparently, RFID reader devices in the buses scan the
kids and send their data across town to police and school officials.
(Excuse
me, did I read that right? Police?!?) Of course, since the kids could
lose or trade their cards, some bright bulbs are already considering RFID
implants as a more secure alternative.
-
- Despite the fact that no child has ever been lost or
abducted in the Spring district, students are being RFID tagged "just
in case" (and at a considerable cost, too).
-
- This program, if allowed to continue, would mark a
disastrous
turn for privacy and civil liberties in this country and set a terrible
precedent. The tracking of school children is especially loathsome, since
not only are kids a captive audience (in this regard, public school
students
are second only to prisoners and the military), but they are not old enough
to vote out the perpetrators -- or even to take their grievances against
them to a court of law.
-
- The program's impact on kids is summed up in the words
of a 15-year-old, quoted as saying the program "makes me feel kind
of like an animal." Is this how we, as a society, actually plan to
treat the next generation of Americans? Are we really so intent on
numbering,
watching, and dehumanizing kids that we will ignore the impact of our
technology
on their independence and psychological wellbeing?
-
- Kids must rely on adults to let them know what is and
isn't appropriate in a free society. We adults, who are older and wiser
and know the historical dangers of unchecked government power, have an
obligation to look out for their interests. We must take a stand to protect
our kids -- and indeed, ourselves -- from the busybodies who would have
us all under lock and key (for our own safety, of course) the moment we
let our guard down.
-
- CASPIAN has many committed, freedom-loving members in
the Houston area. If you wonderful folks want to plan a time and a date
to rally to these kids' defense, CASPIAN will get the word out to the media
and spread the message around the world not to mess with Texas. (And
especially
not its kids!)
-
- Write us at "Houston @/at nocards.org" if you
want to take a stand.
-
- Source: New York Times via CNET, November 17, 2004
- http://news.com.com/In+Texas,+28,000+
- students+test+an+electronic+eye/2100-1039_3-5456061.html
-
- or
-
- http://tinyurl.com/6etrq
-
- MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
-
- Are you as disgusted as I am with plans to monitor kids
like cattle?
- If so, write an email to the people behind this
program:
-
- Dr. Michael Hinojosa
- Spring Independent School District Superintendent
- michaelh@springisd.org
-
- Brian Weisinger
- Spring ISD Transportation Director
- brianW@springisd.org
-
- Alan Bragg
- Spring Police Chief
- alanb@springisd.org
-
- Regina Curry
- Assistant Superintendent
- reginac@springisd.org
-
- Cindy Doyle
- Director of Community Relations
- cdoyle@springisd.org
-
- To write to all of these people at once, copy the email
addresses below and paste into the "TO:" line in your
email:
-
- michaelh@springisd.org, brianW@springisd.org,
- alanb@springisd.org,reginac@springisd.org,
cdoyle@springisd.org
-
- If you'd like us to publish your comments in an upcoming
newsletter, send a carbon copy to CASPIAN by pasting "sunni @/at
nocards.org"
in the "CC:" line of your email. Note that unless you state
otherwise,
we will print your first name and city with your message, but we'll keep
your last name and email address confidential.
-
- FDA CALLS FOR RFID TAGS ON PHARMACEUTICALS
-
- The FDA gave its blessing to using RFID chips in
pharmaceutical
labels, using the justification of drug counterfeiting. However, by the
FDA's own admission in this article, fewer than 1% of American drugs are
counterfeit. Pfizer and Purdue are among the drug makers who have announced
they'll start using RFID. Scary quote:
-
- "Right away, for the first time ever, a cop can
say 'that bottle came from a crime scene and this suspect is in possession
of stolen property'"
-
- Katherine attended a meeting recently where an industry
executive outlined his vision for RFID tagged drugs. His plan involved
RFID reader devices in patients' homes to allow officials to monitor
people's
use of prescription drugs. The reason? Increased "compliance"
means more money for the industry.
-
- Source: Yahoo News, November 15, 2004
- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
- tmplstory&cid571&ncid751&e1&u/nm/
- 20041115/hl_nm/health_tags_dc
-
- or http://tinyurl.com/4aa2c
-
- WAL-MART'S DATA OUTSTRIPS ENTIRE INTERNET
-
- Straight from the New York Times article:
-
- "Plenty of retailers collect data about their stores
and their shoppers, and many use the information to try to improve sales,
but Wal-Mart amasses more data about the products it sells and its
shoppers'
buying habits than any other company, so much so that some privacy
advocates
worry about potential for abuse."
-
- Since, as the next paragraph in the article states, the
data include Social Security numbers, drivers' license numbers and more,
what reasonable person wouldn't be concerned? The article continues,
stating
that the amount of information Wal-Mart "houses indefinitely"
(yes, you read that right; the information is apparently never discarded)
is more than double the entire content on the Internet!
-
- Again, from the article:
-
- "By next October, the company will require its
biggest
suppliers to tag shipments to some of its distribution centers with tiny
transmitters that would eventually let Wal-Mart track every item that it
sells."
-
- The article includes a quote from CASPIAN founder
Katherine
Albrecht who points to the huge variety of personal information Wal-Mart
could amass on customers once they have their SSNs and driver's license
numbers. Even though the piece focuses on the powerful use of consumer
data by Wal-Mart, it's a good way to introduce individuals to the realities
of consumer privacy and data-mining.
-
- Source: New York Times/Denver Post, November 15,
2004
- http://www.denverpost.com/
- Stories/0,1413,36~33~2534195,00.html
-
- AIRLINES MUST TURN OVER PASSENGER DATA TO TSA NEXT
WEEK
-
- November 23 is the deadline for all U.S. airlines to
turn over passenger data so that the Transportation Security Administration
can test the Secure Flight passenger pre-screening system. Here are the
details of the information to be shared:
-
- "Once each of the 72 domestic airlines submits data,
including passenger name, reservation date, travel itinerary, and form
of payment for domestic flights between June 1 and June 30 of this year,
testing is expected to last through the end of January."
-
- The data they get will also be compared to existing
"no-fly"
lists.
-
- Source: InformationWeek, November 15, 2004
- http://www.informationweek.com
- /showArticle.jhtml;?articleID52601881
-
- U.S. PASSPORTS TO GET RFID CHIPS
-
- The U.S. government appears to have taken the worst
possible
route to "provide security" by putting RFID chips into passports.
They've chosen to use a remote-reading chip that beams unencrypted
information
to a reader. That means that unless you've taken pains to protect your
chipped passport from being read without your knowledge and consent, it
will beam "the passport holder's name, address, date and place of
birth, and send along a digital photograph."
-
- The new chipped passports will go first to diplomats
and State Department employees; citizen passports will start to be chipped
in spring 2005. Sounds like a good reason not to procrastinate on getting
a passport.
-
- Source: Wired, October 21, 2004
- http://www.wired.com/news/privacy
- /0,1848,65412,00.html?twwn_tophead_1
-
- WAL-MART EXPANDS RFID USE TO SAM'S CLUB STORE
-
- Wal-Mart continues its RFID push, announcing that
RFID-tagged
cases and pallets will be shipped to a Sam's Club store in Plano, TX. Since
Sam's Club is a bulk-discount store, there's a good possibility that those
RFID chips will go home with many consumers. According to the
article:
-
- "Wal-Mart will alert customers of cases that contain
RFID tags via signs and literature that explains RFID, and they can remove
the tags after purchase, a spokesman says."
-
- The Plano store where the chipped packaging will be for
sale is located at Highway 121 and Ohio Drive. This looks like a good
target
for an educational campaign or protest. Anyone in Plano game?
-
- Source: InformationWeek, November 1, 2004
- http://www.informationweek.com/
- showArticle.jhtml?articleID51201650
-
- ALBERTSONS MOVING FORWARD WITH RFID TAGGING PLANS
-
- I guess their loyalty card woes weren't enough to
convince
Albertsons to listen to consumers; the company has recently released its
plan for RFID tagging of shipments of merchandise to their warehouse. The
pilot project will begin in early 2005 and will focus on Dallas/Fort Worth
Albertsons stores. They hope to have all suppliers tagging crates and
pallets
by October of 2005.
-
- Source: RFID Journal, November 12, 2004
- http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1227/1/1/
-
- SHOULD YOU GET A CHIP IN YOUR SHOULDER?
-
- Presumably, if you're a subscriber to this newsletter
you know the answer to that question ... but this MSN article does a good
job of presenting a balanced view of chipping individuals. Author Josh
McHugh saves the best for last: his final two paragraphs provide good
information
on how readers can be used, and links to various models. MSN often changes
their links, so check this one before it goes 404.
-
- Source: Slate/MSN, November 10, 2004
- http://slate.msn.com/id/2109477/
-
- Incidentally, Josh featured our work in a great piece
he wrote for Wired
- this summer. See it here:
- http://www.wired.com/wired/
- archive/12.07/shoppers.html?pg1
-
- WILL YOUR CELL PHONE BECOME YOUR WALLET?
-
- From the article:
-
- "Some big players in telecommunications and finance,
including Motorola, Nokia, Sony, and MasterCard, think ... that people
will rush to make their phones into a kind of magic wand that effortlessly
makes purchases or retrieves information for them."
-
- Putting all of your sensitive information into one unit
-- especially one that can be easily identified (and therefore targeted)
is a phenomenally bad idea. Doesn't using the Social Security number as
a nearly-universal ID demonstrate that well enough? Security and privacy
concerns are being downplayed here in favor of the gee-whiz factor of yet
another use for RFID (which the reporter refers to as "an RF
chip")
technology.
-
- Source: Christian Science Monitor, November 15,
2004
- http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1115/p13s02-wmgn.html?su2
-
- LESSONS FROM LEXMARK
-
- Printer company Lexmark is getting another black eye,
courtesy of consumers, for its questionable practices. The company was
accused of "planting spyware" on customers' computers. At issue
is "undocumented software that monitors the use of its printers and
silently reports back to a Lexmark-owned company Web site," according
to the first article linked below. However, Lexmark says that users are
informed of the software, named Lexmark Connect, in the driver installation
process. (Of course, we all read these things carefully, right?)
-
- The second article, by Mr. Goodwins, is an excellent
overview of the issues involved. He ends it by stating, "In the end,
it's up to the users." But what if they are unaware of what is
happening?
-
- Source: ZD Net, November 11 and 16, 2004
- http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39173517,00.htm
- http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/rupertgoodwins/0,39020691,39174087,00.htm
-
- WHAT RFID RIGHTS?
-
- Simson Garfinkel offers a thoughtful analysis of the
current state of voluntary RFID notification in situations where consumers
may unknowingly purchase RFID-tagged products. In doing so, he makes an
important distinction between proprietary RFID devices, and the EPC chips
that are intended to replace the UPC bar codes. He also recounts some
adventures
Katherine Albrecht has had in uncovering questionable business practices
with RFID chips.
-
- Source: Technology Review, November 3, 2004
- http://www.technologyreview.com
- /articles/04/11/wo_garfinkel110304.asp
-
- CASPIAN ACTIVISTS UPDATE
-
- 1. KATHERINE ALBRECHT has been busy speaking out on
consumer
privacy issues. It's hard to find an article on consumer privacy that
doesn't
include a quote from her. In recent weeks she has discussed the VeriChip
and pharmaceutical tagging on the NBC Nightly News, NPR, CNN, and NBC's
Squawkbox; she has been quoted in the New York Times, Investor's Business
Daily and a host of other domestic publications, and she has been cited
in publications as far away as France, Australia and India.
-
- In addition, Katherine recently participated in an
eye-opening
yet entertaining segment on shopper cards by the Canadian Broadcasting
Company.
-
- The written version of the CBC piece is online
here:
- http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/
- market/files/services/privacy/loyalty.html
-
- The streaming video (RealPlayer) version of the CBC piece
is online here:
- http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market
- /files/services/privacy/cards20041024.ram
-
- 2. AUSTRALIAN CASPIAN MEMBER publishes a novel. It's
a terrific examination of a boy coming of age in a consumerism-centric
society. Psychologist Shaun Saunders drew on his doctoral dissertation
data in creating the novel, so there's a real feel of imminence to the
book, titled "Mallcity 14". Dr. Saunders was kind enough to send
me a copy of the book, which I have reviewed:
-
- http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/04/10/20/sunni.htm
-
- 3. CASPIAN MEMBERS SOUND OFF
-
- Here is just one of the hundreds of email messages of
support we receive
- each month:
-
- "I will buy a sheep, shear it, card it, spin it,
and learn how to knit
- before I knowingly buy any clothing with an RFID tag
in it."
-
- -Lynn, in Wisconsin
-
- ACTIVISM TOOLS YOU CAN USE
-
- 1: CASPIAN member's novel a great educational tool
-
- As mentioned above, Dr. Saunders' book "Mallcity
14" is a novel that touches on many of the privacy issues we're facing
today. A novel based on research may sound intimidating, but Saunders did
an excellent job of creating an interesting story and characters. If you're
having trouble convincing people of the state of consumer privacy today,
consider giving them "Mallcity 14". It's available online from
Trafford Publishers:
-
- http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item6169
-
- 2: Arguments against a national sales tax
-
- Claire Wolfe & Aaron Zelman have written a great
article detailing many reasons to oppose national sales tax. Their article,
titled "The FairTax: A Trojan Horse for America?" echoes CASPIAN
founder Katherine Albrecht's concern that a national sales tax could lead
to unprecedented government surveillance of our purchases and personal
belongings, among other problems. Read it online here:
-
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