- The top brass at American Express, chagrined at the discovery
of its people tracking plans, met with CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket
Privacy Invasion and Numbering) last week to discuss the issue. One outcome
of the meeting was a promise by American Express to review its entire patent
portfolio and ensure that any people-tracking plans be accompanied by language
requiring consumer notice and consent.
-
- The meeting was organized after CASPIAN called attention
to one of the company's more troublesome patent applications. That patent
application, titled "Method and System for Facilitating a Shopping
Experience," describes a Minority Report style blueprint for monitoring
consumers through RFID-enabled objects, like the American Express Blue
Card.
-
- According to the patent, RFID readers called "consumer
trackers" would be placed in store shelving to pick up "consumer
identification signals" emitted by RFID-embedded objects carried by
shoppers. These would be used to identify people, track their movements,
and observe their behavior.
-
- The patent also suggested such people-tracking systems
could "be located in a common area of a school, shopping center, bus
station or other place of public accommodation."
-
- Allegations of American Express people-tracking blueprints
first came to light at a conference sponsored by the Consumer Federation
of America in Washington, D.C. last month. There, Dr. Katherine Albrecht,
Founder and Director of CASPIAN, revealed the patent pending plans that
she and her "Spychips" co-author Liz McIntyre uncovered in their
ongoing RFID research.
-
- Soon thereafter, American Express arranged for four of
its vice presidents, including the vice presidents of Contactless Payments
and Public Affairs, to meet with CASPIAN leaders in a phone conference.
-
- "We are pleased that American Express responded
to our concerns," said Albrecht. "It's clear the company is thinking
about privacy issues and wants to address them constructively. However,
we had hoped that American Express would renounce its people tracking plans
altogether and be more sensitive to the fact that placing RFID tags in
consumer items, like credit cards, puts consumers at risk for surreptitious
tracking by others."
-
- In response to CASPIAN concerns, American Express also
promised that it would make a chip-free version of its credit card available
to concerned consumers who ask for it.
-
- "Offering a chipless credit card is a positive step
and should serve as an example to the rest of the industry," said
McIntyre. "Consumers don't like RFID technology. Contrary to American
Express ads, most people would rather leave home without it."
-
- The complete text of the American Express people tracking
patent application is posted at: http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/american-express-tracking-patent.html
-
- This press release is also available online at: http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/american-express-conference.html
-
-
- =========================================
-
- ABOUT RFID
-
- Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a controversial
technology that uses tiny microchips to track items from a distance. These
RFID microchips have earned the nickname "spychips" because each
contains a unique identification number, like a Social Security number
for things, that can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves.
-
-
- =========================================
-
- ABOUT CASPIAN
-
- CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion
and Numbering) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance
schemes since 1999 and irresponsible RFID use since 2002. With thousands
of members in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide, CASPIAN
seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade their
privacy and encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the retail
spectrum.
-
- To join or support CASPIAN or to sign up for our mailing
list, please see: <http://www.spychips.com/get_involved.html>http://www.spychips.com/get_involved.html
-
-
- ==========================================
-
- ABOUT THE BOOK
-
- "Spychips" is the winner of the 2006 Lysander
Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty and has received
wide critical acclaim. Authored by recent Harvard graduate Dr. Katherine
Albrecht and former bank examiner Liz McIntyre, the book is meticulously
researched. "Spychips" draws on patent documents, corporate source
materials, conference proceedings, and firsthand interviews to paint a
convincing -- and frightening -- picture of the threat posed by RFID.
-
- Despite its hundreds of footnotes and academic-level
accuracy, the book remains lively, readable, and hilarious, according to
critics, who have called it a "techno-thriller" and "a masterpiece
of technocriticism."
-
- "A chilling story about an emerging future in which
spychips run amok as Big Brother and Big Shopkeeper invade our privacy
in unprecedented ways."" - Chicago Tribune
-
- "Paints a 1984-ish picture of how corporations would
like to use RFID tags to keep tabs on you." - The Associated Press
-
-
- =========================================
-
-
- FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE
CONTACT:
-
- Katherine Albrecht (<mailto:kma@spychips.com>kma@spychips.com)
877-287-5854 ext. 1 or Liz McIntyre (<mailto:liz@spychips.com>liz@spychips.com)
877-287-5854 ext. 2
-
- See: <http://www.spychips.com>http://www.spychips.com
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