Big Brother’s Umbrella

Posted on June 10, 2007 at 8:17 pm (PST)

RFID umbrellas are part of an experiment in mobile advertising by Dutch Umbrellas which is selling advertising on the umbrellas to shopkeepers in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia.

What people may not know, is that there is an embedded Motorola RFID tracking device in the handle, presumably to keep track of the umbrella. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that it will also track the movements of the person carrying it.

Dutch Umbrella later sends out a person to "track down" these courtesy umbrellas with a handheld reader and retrieve them. This information is later loaded into software developed by Concept2 Solution so that merchants (who pay $100 per month for this service) will know where customers went. "Marketing Intelligence" they call it and want the information to target particular areas for advertising and promotion.

My concern though is, what other ways can this technology be used — against us? The downside of technology is an issue we must pay attention to. Food for thought.

source: Daily Wireless