Metro announced at the end of last week that it will stop placing _smart tag_ chips inside customer identification cards. The retailer has given out about 10,000 of the cards with embedded Radio Frequency Identification chips since last April as part of a broader effort to bring wireless technology into its stores and warehouses. Card holders will now receive replacements with bar codes, after growing concerns over the use of the cards by privacy consumer groups. According to a statement from Metro, "There are concerns about having customer cards with RFID chips. We have to take them seriously and discuss them. With such an emotional debate going on, we said it's just not worth it."
Planet Retail, 1. März 2004
Original: http://www.planetretail.net/default.asp?PageID=EAlert&Article=16539&Date=2004-03-01