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March 13, 2006
Checkpoint Showcases a Spychipped Shoe
Photo by Todd Fox
CASPIAN volunteer Todd Fox snapped this photo at the recent RFID World 2006 trade show held in Dallas, Texas. The advertisement depicts a boot with a hidden Checkpoint Systems Performa RFID tag molded into the rubber sole. RFID tagging of any consumer item poses a threat to your privacy, but that threat gets up close and personal in the things we wear--especially shoes.
Why are shoes such an issue? Simple. Ask yourself when was the last time you lent your shoes to someone else. The answer is likely "never." So if someone can scan your shoe to glean its unique RFID tag number that's linked to you, that person could have a pretty good idea of who is standing in it.
Imagine now that someone tracks you through your spychipped shoe via RFID readers hidden under floor tiles in your workplace or in public venues like shopping malls. Philips Electronics has clearly been thinking about this possibility. In a sworn U.S. patent application, a Philips' inventor observes that "the placement of [the RFID tag] in [the] shoe may be particularly advantageous where the [RFID] interrogator is located in a floor." (See page 52 of Spychips.)
Checkpoint's spychipped shoe display comes as no surprise to those of us who have been keeping a close eye on the publicly traded company. Back in the Fall of 2004, Katherine and I documented Checkpoint's scandalous display of prototype flexible clothing labels laced with hidden RFID devices. These labels looked very much like the ones that are sewn into the collar of clothes that might be hanging in your closet, bearing brand names like Calvin Klein, Champion, and Carter's.
- Liz McIntyre
Posted by liz at March 13, 2006 5:58 PM