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Gillette Photo Surveillance Hits Asda

Carl Privacy-First | 11.09.2003 17:26 | Technology | Liverpool | World

Unaware shoppers are being photographed and tracked by "Smart shelf" surveillance cameras and RFID, radio frequency transmitters hidden in the packaging of Gillette razor products.

Shoppers at Asda in Ellesmere Port, and probably many other locations, are being photographed by a camera at the top of the Gillette display unit which goes unnoticed by most people. A photograph is taken of every shopper picking up Gillette products, whose packaging contains a tiny RFID device which transmits to readers up to 30 feet away (for more, see  http://www.nocards.org/). Opponents claim the photograph taken can then be compared to ones taken at the tills, and should you put your razors down on another shelf or put them in somebody else's basket, or otherwise not make a purchase, you could be branded as a shoplifter! A similar experiment in Tesco at Cambridge was abandoned after a 10 day protest. An active campaign against Gillette is ongoing.

Carl Privacy-First