- AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS DENIES RFID USE Crisis PR Firm
Disavows Incriminating Video on Eve of Major Conference
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- On the eve of a major RFID apparel and footwear conference,
privacy activists are asking questions about an Orwellian industry video
presentation depicting the use of Radio Frequency Identification at an
American Eagle Outfitters store. The animated video, created by technology
integrator CompEx Inc., depicts how a retailer could embed the controversial
technology into clothing and credit cards to secretly identify and track
consumers--even deliver targeted marketing messages.
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- "American Eagle Outfitters has assured us that it
is not using RFID in its stores or operations, and we applaud them for
that. But consumers need to know that this technology exists and what it
could mean for them. We have documentation showing that other companies
are looking closely at these types of invasive applications," said
Liz McIntyre and Katherine Albrecht, co-authors of "Spychips: How
Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."
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- The video shows a consumer walking into an American Eagle
Outfitters store, being remotely identified through the American Eagle
Outfitters credit card in his pocket, and purchasing items with RFID tags
hidden in the store's branded clothing. The graphic footage concludes with
a full-facial biometric scan conducted through a pinhole camera at checkout.
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- The animated flash clip is posted on the authors' website
at: http://www.spychips.com/RFIDclothingstoredemo.html
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- Although the footage was created in 2002, its disclosure
yesterday had an immediate impact on senior management at American Eagle
Outfitters. McIntyre says that within minutes of sending the video clip
to an executive at American Eagle, she received a call from Ed Nebb, senior
director of investor relations and crisis communications at Berns Communications
Group. He issued the following statement:
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- "American Eagle currently does not use any RFID
systems, either in supply chain management, consumer credit card or loyalty
programs, or anywhere else within our operations. We highly value and respect
our customers' privacy. The fact that a vendor may have offered a system
demonstration should not be interpreted as an intention on our part to
adopt such a system in the future."
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- CompEx Inc. President Aram Kovach, who developed the
video, told McIntyre that American Eagle Outfitters had requested the RFID
demonstration. "They asked us to come out," he said, explaining
that the executives later traveled to Kovach's office in Ohio to see a
working prototype.
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- The RFID tracking capability depicted in the video is
feasible. "It worked," Kovach said. "All of these things
can be done." But he noted that the cost of the tags was a big barrier
to adoption.
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- McIntyre and Albrecht worry that companies deterred by
cost issues may be reviving such plans now that the price of tags has dropped
below the $.08-cent range.
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- They point to the RFID Apparel and Footwear Conference
to be held at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology next week as a
reason for concern. The event, co-sponsored by RFID Journal and the American
Apparel and Footwear Association, promises "to show you how RFID can
uniquely benefit the apparel and footwear industry." However, unlike
past RFID events, where members of the press were welcomed, the promotional
literature for the conference states:
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- "The entire conference is off limits to the press,
so you can be sure you'll get candid insider insight that you can't hear
anywhere else."
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- "It's clear that implementing RFID in apparel and
footwear is being discussed behind closed doors," said Albrecht. "Our
concern is that the companies working to integrate RFID into clothing operations
are keeping their plans from the public. A case in point is Levi Strauss,
which is selling clothes with RFID hang tags attached, but refusing to
disclose the test location."
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- The pair is asking the conference sponsors to explain
the need for secrecy at their event. "What is it they're discussing
that they don't want the press to know?" Albrecht asks. "The
press restriction is obviously not designed to keep proprietary information
from industry competitors, since any apparel or footwear company can attend
the event at a discounted rate. Clearly, excluding the press is an attempt
to prevent the public from learning about the industry's plans to use RFID
tracking devices in clothing."
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- Albrecht and McIntyre have posted a promotional email
for the conference that specifies the press restriction at: http://www.spychips.com/RFIDApparelandFootwearConference.html
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- ABOUT "SPYCHIPS"
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- Liz McIntyre and Katherine Albrecht are the authors of
"Spychips: How Major Corporations Plan to Track your Every Move with
RFID." The book draws on patent documents, corporate source materials,
conference proceedings, and firsthand interviews to paint a convincing
-- and frightening -- picture of the consumer privacy threat posed by RFID.
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- Despite its hundreds of footnotes and academic-level
accuracy, the book remains lively and readable according to critics, who
have called it a "techno-thriller" and "a masterpiece of
technocriticism."
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- Two days prior to its release in 2005, "Spychips"
flew the top of the Amazon bestseller charts, hitting number one as a "Mover
& Shaker," making its way to the top-ten Nonfiction bestseller
list, and spending weeks as a Current Events bestseller. In a nod to the
book's focus on freedom, Spychips was awarded the prestigious Lysander
Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty and named "the
year's best book on liberty."
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- FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
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- Katherine Albrecht (kma@spychips.com) 877-287-5854 ext.
1 or Liz McIntyre (liz@spychips.com) 877-287-5854 ext. 2
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