RFID: Another Consumer Privacy Backlash Looming?

Seana wrote a column on Monday about RFID and its implications for marketers. I wrote a counterpoint on Tuesday, showcasing RFID as the next big sacrifice of consumer privacy.

Not surprisingly, there are plenty of marketers chiming in on the Spin Board about how there's nothing to worry about. They cite Catalina's couponing technology, credit card based consumer profiles and all sorts of other stuff as evidence that RFID is nothing new from a marketing perspective. Sorry, but as a consumer, I don't want every purchase I make broadcasting its existence to anyone with a scanner, even if it is over a short distance. I'm picturing the day when someone with a handheld scanner walks into my apartment building, walks by my apartment door and instantly knows the titles of the DVDs in my collection, what shampoo I have in my bathroom and when I'm likely to need a refill on my dishwashing detergent.

I have a supporter or two on the Spin Board, but most are dismissing my concerns as paranoid. I guess we'll see.

Kristof: Someone's Going To Drop The Big One Any Day Now

Nicholas Kristof thinks we're all in danger of falling victim to nuclear terrorism. We may very well be, but when I see alarmist articles like this one, I like to know that there are some credible facts backing up the decision to yank the alarm lever.

The only real value I see in this piece is Kristof's promise to "explain how we can reduce the risk of an American Hiroshima" in his next column. I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks to James for pointing out the article.

Oil For Food Investigation Dragging Along Nicely

Josh Marshall has a nice piece on Judith Miller's article on Paul Volcker's investigation of the Oil For Food scandal.

From Miller's piece...

Mr. Volcker said his panel had not yet received the original list of oil vouchers supposedly awarded to diplomats and United Nations officials, which was published by an Iraqi newspaper several months ago. Nor had he determined how his panel would vet such documents to see if they were forgeries, he said.

Yes, you read that correctly. They haven't received the original list of oil vouchers. They've got 15 million pages of documents, but not the most important document of all. Meanwhile, the list published by the Iraqi newspaper has been circulating around the Internet for months now. Considering Volcker will probably never get a credible list (considering pretty much the only places he can get it would be from the Iraqi paper or from our in-hiding friend Ahmed Chalabi) and has no way of determining whether what he does get is credible or not, where the hell can we expect this investigation to go?

Wonderful. The program was supposed to help get the Iraqi people the food and medicine they needed. Instead, powerful politicians (including Saddam Hussein and his political allies) lined their pockets with billions of dollars and will probably never be brought to justice.

Weekend Highlights

Camped right on the beach this weekend in Montauk at Theodore Roosevelt County Park. What a nice time. Craig, Jen and Kayla let us stay in their new 31' camper, which they parked right next to Dennis and Cami's camper. We were literally right on the beach. Some highlights...

• I caught some fish. On Sunday morning, Dennis, Craig and I were sitting in our beach chairs when we looked down the beach and saw the birds diving. So we threw the poles into Dennis' Jeep and took off down the beach. On my first cast, I got a hit right away, but the fish didn't seem to be fighting much. I reeled it in and it was a nice fluke - a keeper. Dunno how I caught him, since I was using a spoon and not anything a fluke would normally be interested in. Must have been luck. Within about 15 minutes I landed three nice size bluefish. We took the fish home and cooked fillets on the barbecue. The fluke turned out great. The bluefish wasn't all that great, though, but not bad.
• Sara and I met the crew at the campground. We would have gotten the Corvette stuck on the beach, so we parked it up by the check in station and started carrying our bags down to the beach. We walked about a half mile down the access road to the beach - I was expecting to see a tiny campground with maybe 8 or 10 camping spots. We get down to the beach and look left and there are maybe 3 or 4 trailers there. Then we look to the right and see trailers all the way down the beach, as far as the eye could see. It reminded me of Cape Canaveral during the shuttle launches - nothing but campers for miles. Thankfully, Craig drove by in his truck within about 10 minutes and gave us a ride. Otherwise, we would have been walking down the beach with our stuff for miles.
• Craig, Jen, Dennis and Cami sang Happy Birthday to me on Saturday night. They even got me a cake, which was delicious. As special bonus gifts, I got a Montauk fleece (size: XXXL) and a handmade card from Kayla.