NoSSN - RFID Chips in clothing (Benetton) Updates

+ CASPIAN calls for worldwide Benetton boycott
+ "Spy chips" in clothing have ominous implications:
Moratorium needed on consumer RFID applications
+ "I'd rather go naked": Boycott Benetton website now online
+ AP Radio's "Consumer Watch" alerts nation to Benetton's plans
+ CASPIAN makes talk radio appearances across the U.S.
+ Boycott Benetton message reaches 1.3 million Australians
+ Has Benetton already chipped its clothes or not?
+ Dispelling the myth of "disabled at checkout"
+ Do your part: Contact the media!

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CASPIAN CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE BENETTON BOYCOTT
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CASPIAN is calling on consumer-citizens around the globe to BOYCOTT
BENETTON PRODUCTS until the company takes a more socially reponsible
position with regard to RFID technology. Specifically, we are asking
Benetton to:

(b) Provide a guarantee to customers that all garments available for
sale by Benetton are "RFID-free"

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"SPY CHIPS" IN CLOTHING HAVE OMINOUS IMPLICATIONS; MORATORIUM NEEDED
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Imagine clothing imbedded with tiny computer tracking devices that can
be read at a distance -- RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips.
Imagine those tiny chips, linked to your identity through your credit
card information, beaming out who you are any time you pass within three
feet of a reader device.

Imagine a future where such reader devices form a pervasive "global
network," hidden in everything from doorways, carpet, and floor tiles,
to the refrigerator and medicine cabinet in your home.* Imagine this
system surveilling you and your personal effects from dawn until dusk,
everywhere you go, in airports, seaports, highways, and retail stores.*

Now imagine an Italian fashion company kicking off this future with the
announcement that it has put RFID tracking chips into 15 million of its
garments -- garments to be worn by unsuspecting young men and women in
160 of the earth's countries.

Benetton made that announcement earlier this month, launching a shocked
public into a debate it did not even realize it needed to have. Whether
or not Benetton realizes the societal implications of tagging clothing
with RFID devices, the company cannot be allowed to unleash powerful
surveillance technology on a society almost wholly ignorant of its
existence -- and unprepared to protect itself against it.

To allow time for all interested citizens to get "up to speed" on what
RFID remote surveillance technology is and what it can do, CASPIAN is
calling on all consumer goods manufacturers and retailers to impose an
immediate worldwide moratorium on RFID applications impacting consumers
until a full public review of the technology can be conducted.

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*Each example above, from the airport, to the floor tiles, to the
refrigerator, is drawn directly from statements and writings of
individuals at the highest levels of involvement in RFID technology.
Citations are available upon request.

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"I'D RATHER GO NAKED": BOYCOTT BENETTON WEBSITE IS ONLINE
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Our Boycott Benetton website is now online.
Many thanks to our dedicated, professional volunteers for creating the
site.

If you manage web content anywhere on the Internet, please consider
linking to this site.

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AP RADIO'S "CONSUMER WATCH" ALERTS NATION TO BENETTON "SPY CHIP" STORY
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Millions of AP Radio affiliate listeners in dozens of US cities heard a
one-minute "Consumer Watch" story this weekend warning of Benetton's spy
chip plans and spotlighting CASPIAN's call for a worldwide boycott.

The story blanketed the nation from one end to the other. AP affiliate
radio stations include: WTOP Washington D.C.; WBBM Chicago; KABC Los
Angeles; KOA Denver; KRLD Dallas, WSM Nashville; WSV Atlanta; KCMO
Kansas City; WLS Chicago; KFAS Omaha; WCCO Minneapolis; WJR Detroit;
WHAS Louisville; WLW Cincinatti; WWL New Orleans; KING Seattle, and many
more.

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CASPIAN MAKES TALK RADIO APPEARANCES ACROSS THE NATION
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Public response to the Benetton announcement has been overwhelming!
CASPIAN director Katherine Albrecht (who, in addition to being a Harvard
doctoral student is a former television co-host), has made numerous talk
radio appearances across the country to discuss the issues involved. It
has been heartening to hear radio listeners from Atlanta, Boston,
Denver, Dallas, and everywhere in between, call in to voice their
opposition to Benetton's plans and their unanimous support for the
boycott.

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BOYCOTT BENETTON MESSAGE REACHES 1.3 MILLION IN AUSTRALIA
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1.3 millions Australians read about Benetton's clothing tracking plans
and CASPIAN's calls for a worldwide boycott this weekend in the Sydney
Morning Herald:

Privacy advocates have called for a worldwide boycott of Benetton after
the fashion label revealed plans to implant 15 million microchips into
its garments.... a group called Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy
Invasion and Numbering has warned the chips may be used to track
shoppers for marketing and may threaten customers' privacy.

"Benetton could easily link your name and credit card information to the
serial number in your sweater," said the group's US director, Katherine
Albrecht. "Then any time you go near a radio frequency reader device the
sweater could beam out your identity to anyone with access to the
database."

The group has asked consumers to avoid Benetton products until the
company renounces the technology. Benetton's Australasian office said
many consumers had expressed concern at the reports.

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HAS BENETTON CHIPPED ITS CLOTHES OR NOT?
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Philips' press release says that Benetton garments have ALREADY been
fitted with RFID tags, but in recent interviews Benetton claims that it
has not yet tagged any garments. Which is it? We'll keep you posted as
we find out.

1. YES: Press release dated March 11, 2003:
"Clothes produced under Benetton's core brand Sisley have been fitted
with RFID-enabled labels based on Philips' I.CODE semiconductor
technology."

2. NO: Sydney Morning Herald article dated March 22, 2003:
"a spokeswoman from Benetton's Italian head office stressed that no
garments now contained the chips."

3. NO: AP Radio "Consumer Watch" interview dated March 21, 2003
Federico Sartor, Head of Benetton's Press Office in Italy, also said
that no Benetton clothing has been fitted with the chips

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DISPELLING THE MYTH OF "DISABLED AT CHECKOUT"
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Benetton is claiming that it will disable the garment tracking chips at
checkout, but the truth is that the tracking chips CANNOT BE PERMANENTLY
DISABLED, they can only put into "sleep" mode. Anyone with a
reactivation device within three feet of the chip can turn it back on
again at any time -- without the wearer's knowledge or permission.
Three feet is more than enough distance to reactivate the chip when a
person walks through any doorway equipped with such a device.

Here are the Philips technical specs explaining how easy it is to turn
the chip back on:

"The Special Functions block holds the two EAS bits (Electronic Article
Surveillance mode active -> the label answers the EAS command) as well
as the two QUIET bits (QUIET mode enabled -> the label is permanently
disabled but can be activated again with the "Reset QUIET Bit" command.)
The state of QUIET mode does not influence the functionality of the EAS
command."

By the way, Japanese manufacturers are working on a $20 hand-held RFID
chip reader which will put tracking and remote ID technology within the
range of the average person (including the neighborhood voyeur).
http://216.121.131.129/article/articleview/279/1/1/

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DO YOUR PART, CONTACT THE MEDIA!
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In addition to forwarding this message to everyone you know, please take
a few minutes to forward it to television, radio, and print media.

The link below will help you quickly find media outlets in your area and
around the United States where you can forward this message.

If you are a member of the media and would like to request an interview
with a CASPIAN spokesperson, please contact Katherine Albrecht
<kma@nocards.org> or Mary Starrett <mstarrett@nocards.org>. Please
include the words "media request" and your organization name in the
subject line.

CASPIAN - Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering
A national consumer organization opposing retail surveillance schemes
since 1999

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CASPIAN mailing list, click the
following link or cut and paste it into your browser:

If you have difficulty with the web-based interface, you may also
subscribe or unsubscribe via email by writing to:

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or corporations." -- Andrew Jackson

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