#142 Itty-bitty footprints

An article in e-Week today (Dec. 15, 2003) comments on the problem Campbell’s Soup is having with RFID tags on its Chunky Soup supplied to Wal-Mart. An RFID is a radio-frequency identification tag that is smaller than a grain of sand and destined to eventually take the place of the barcode, but with some significant differences--it just might continue tracking you after you’ve left the store with the item. Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense have set deadlines for companies to comply with supplying RFIDs. Wal-Mart accounts for 12% of Campbell’s sales, so they need to quickly find a way for that frequency to pass through liquid and not bounce off cans--although that isn‘t required--yet.

Current applications include tracking moving things--like boxcars, packages and children in theme parks who can wear little sensors so parents can be less personally vigilant.

The first big test for RFID will be for the 100 major suppliers of Wal-Mart to have boxes and pallets tagged by January 2005. And when Wal-Mart talks, all retailers listen. Wired covered this in November. The Department of Defense is requiring that its top 100 vendors must supply RFID tags on their pallets and cases by January 2005; the top 500 vendors must comply by July 2005, and all vendors (more than 10,000) must be on board by January 2006.

With deadlines like this from these heavy hitters in the economy, someone needs to quickly figure out how to deactivate these little guys once we leave the store. I won’t even use a loyalty card--I sure don’t want this kind of digital trail with its itty bitty footprints.