from Wired News - 2004-07-07

European retailer Metro built the Future Store to be the premier live testing ground for RFID tags, and the world's biggest consumer goods manufacturers are lining up to have a gander. Gillette, Kraft, and Procter & Gamble are among the companies banking on RFID chips to track each cream cheese container, razor blade, and bottle of shampoo. They know precisely which package occupies what bit of shelf space and how long it takes the Future Store's staff to replace a purchased item.

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"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." Katherine Albrecht is reading aloud from chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation. " and that no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.'"

This is no wild-eyed street preacher. Albrecht is a Harvard PhD candidate in educational psychology and a reliable media staple, appearing on seemingly every TV or radio talk show on the topic of RFID. Red-haired and apple-cheeked, she's wearing a tasteful sweater with a silk scarf draped around her shoulders. Albrecht is the founder of Caspian, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering. She's well-informed, appealing, and adept at rebutting the pro-RFID arguments of industry shills and tech wonks. Most of all, she sees the danger and she's spreading the word.
An interesting, albeit long (4 pages) read...