Eyes on You, the Shopper
In the end, it comes down this: Would you, O Shopper, strolling the aisles in your favorite supermarket, consider a beep telling you that you just passed your family's favorite peanut butter:
(a) an appalling intrusion into your privacy and an unacceptable degree of customer profiling?
(b) manna from heaven, in that now you won't get bawled out by the kids for again forgetting to buy that heavenly paste?
Whether you and I answer (a) or (b) is going to determine whether a new kind of technology called RFID makes it out of the warehouse and on to the retail floor.
Okay, so what am I going on about? RFID stands for radio frequency identification, and in the past couple of weeks it has caused a bit of a commotion. (More about this later.) RFID is basically a way of tagging a product, a bit like a bar code, only smarter. Bar codes, swiped by a reader (one of those gun things the checkout person wields), reveal what the product is and who makes it. Then the register can match it with a database to determine price and get an idea of how the product is selling.
Not bad, and the technology has been in our shops for a decade or so. But there are some things bar codes don't do: They don't say anything about which batch the product is in or how long it's been on the shelf. They can't identify each product individually. Someone actually needs to point a reader at the thing, or drag it over a till with a reader built in, for the bar-code data to volunteer itself. In short, bar codes are relatively dumb.
This is where RFID comes in. What if a tag on each product contained a lot more data, such as when it left the warehouse, or whether it's been kept in a place that's too hot or cold? What if the tag was smart enough that you didn't need to point a reader at the product for the information to leap back at you? What if you were able to press a button on the computer in your office and "ping" all the products in your warehouse for an instant inventory? This is basically what RFID offers.
And of course, retailers and suppliers are pretty excited about it. In fact, it's already in place in quite a few industries, including, for some strange reason, the livestock community. A lot of pets also get RFID-tagged these days, so when they stray they can be identified and returned to their owners. As folk agree on standards, and prices of the actual tags fall, this kind of thing is spreading. Fast.
So where is the hoo-ha? The problem comes when you deploy it in a shop. These RFID tags are very efficient. They can store a lot of data, for a long time. If you buy a pair of shoes, the tag in those shoes could contain data about when and where you bought them and how much they cost. That's now. In the future, the same tag could have stored information since you bought them, such as where you've been with them, how often you've changed the laces, whether you have foot odor issues (theorizing here, but it's possible) and whether you might have been breaking the law in them.
Needless to say, it's a sticky area. In early July, British supermarket chain Tesco caused a stir when it used RFID tags on Gillette Mach3 razors at one of its stores to trigger an in-house security camera. Why razors? It turns out that they are popular with shoplifters, because they're small and they're expensive. Check out eBay: I counted more than 50 brand new Mach3 sets at a fraction of their retail price.
Privacy groups are upset, and bound to get more so if retailers start introducing technology like this without explaining it first. And it's not just theft. You and I are not going to be too happy if we find out that our shopping habits are being monitored any more than they are already.
There could be benefits. Some washing machines and refrigerators already come with RFID readers that can advise users on how to wash, store or cook tagged products. But what I don't want is an RFID tag on every product, banknote and stored-value card I have, transmitting information about me that allows shop clerks, bank tellers, policemen and my mother to know where I've been, what I'm wearing, how much money I have in my pocket and what diseases I'm entertaining. That's not about to happen, but the technology allows it. And some retailers would love it.
We as customers need to figure out what we're comfortable with. Finding the peanut butter is well and good, but we'd better be careful we know what comes along with it.
当心商品背后的"眼睛"
假设你正在最喜爱的超市购物，当你在货架中穿行时，突然传来"哔"的一声，提醒你刚刚错过了家人最爱吃的花生酱，对此你的第一反应是－－
(a)为隐私遭到侵犯而大感震惊，认为客户档案收集到如此地步让人无法接受。
(b)视之为上天的恩赐，因为这样你就不会因忘记购买这一美味而被孩子们埋怨了。
作为顾客，你对上述问题的回答将决定一种名为RFID的新技术的命运：它能否走出储货仓库、进入零售店就看你我的态度了。
我到底在说些什么呢？RFID是无线频率识别(radio frequency identification)的缩写，它在过去几周掀起了一点小小的波澜。其实RFID就是一种给产品做标识的方法，有点类似于条形码，不过智能化程度更高。条形码在读卡机（收银员用的那种外形像枪一样的东西）上刷过后就能显示出产品及制造商的名称。这些登记信息就能将其与数据库中的内容自动匹配，以显示产品价格并可获取销售状况信息。
这是一种不错的技术，并且在商店的应用历史也有十年了。但条形码也有些办不到的事：它无法反映产品属于哪一批来货以及在货架上的留存时间。它无法逐个识别产品。而且要让条形码显示出来，需要人工将读卡机对准产品，或者让产品从一个带有内置读卡机的机器上划过。总之，条形码的反应是比较迟钝的。 RFID就在这种情况下应运而生。如果每个产品的标签上包含更多的数据－－如产品何时从仓库运出，是否被保存在过冷或过热的地方，情况会怎么样呢？如果标签足够智能，让你无需使用读卡机就能获取相关信息，又会怎样呢？如果在办公室的电脑上按一下按钮，仓库中所有产品的存货纪录立即就显示出来，你又会作何感想呢？这就是RFID的智能之处。
零售商和供应商当然如获至宝。实际上，该技术在不少行业中已有应用，出于一些特殊需要，甚至应用在了牲畜身上。如今，许多宠物也佩戴了RFID标签，这样在它们走失时就能被识别出来并送回主人手中。随著人们在标准上达成一致和标签价格的下降，这种标签迅速流行起来。 这又有什么可大惊小怪的呢？当它被用在商店里时问题就出现了。这些RFID标签是非常有效的，能长时间存储大量数据。如果你购买了一双鞋，鞋子的标签中就可能纪录你买鞋的时间、地点及费用。这些只是现在存储的内容。今后，同样的一个标签可能会存入你购买鞋子后的许多其他信息，比如你穿这双鞋去了什么地方，多长时间换一次鞋带，是否有脚臭问题（这些都只是理论上的猜测，但并非无法实现），以及你穿这双鞋时是否干了违法的事。
不用说，这是个敏感地带。7月初，英国超市连锁店Tesco就因此引发了一阵骚动，因为它的一家分店在吉列(Gillette)的Mach3刮胡刀上使用了RFID标签，以便启动室内安全摄像系统。为什么选择刮胡刀呢？因为该产品体积小价格高，很受商店扒手垂涎。在eBay上查看一下就能发现，以折扣价格出售的崭新Mach3不下50个。
隐私保护组织为此 心忡忡，而如果零售商事先不打招呼就开始引入这种技术，则更会让他们惶恐不安。这不仅仅是防盗的问题。如果我们发现自己的购物习惯受到比目前更多的监控，恐怕谁都不会太高兴。
不过RFID技术也有它的好处。有些洗衣机和冰箱已经装有RFID读卡机，能为用户提供如何使用带有RFID标签的产品洗衣、储存食品或烹饪的指导。但我不希望RFID标签贴在我拥有的每件产品，每张钞票和储值卡上，并将我的这些个人信息传送出去，让店员、银行出纳、警察和我的母亲知道我去了哪里，穿什么衣服，口袋里有多少钱，以及患了什么病。这种情况大概不会发生，但上述技术使之成为可能。况且有些零售商会爱上这种技术。
作为顾客，我们需要想清楚自己的底线。找到花生酱固然不错，但对随之而来的其他影响，我们最好还是心中有数。
