Tesco yesterday began piloting the use of controversial electronic radio tags in DVD packaging, at a supermarket in Sandhurst. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, which are used to track the movement of every individual product on the shelves, have been criticized by human rights campaigners as the first step towards a 'Big Brother' style surveillance system.
The designers of the RFID tags, based at the MIT Auto-ID centre – a collaboration between more than 100 global companies and six leading research universities – aim to develop an 'Internet of Things'.
Yesterday they unveiled the first platform of the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network in Chicago, which allows computers to track any product from the production line to the shelf, and into the purchaser's home.
Tesco is reassuring customers that it would never compromise their privacy while using the network to track their products, but privacy campaigners are not so sure.
"Imagine a world where you could be tracked because what you are wearing, buying or carrying has a small chip inside dedicated to informing others of your movements and consumer habits," warn the
notags.co.uk website.
The consumer organization also points out that a similar trial on Gillette products at a Tesco store in Cambridge was recently abandoned after protests over the privacy implications.
