[privacy] Can RFID-Tagged Umbrellas Take Philly by Storm?

[<rms () computerbytesman com>]

June 14, 2007

Editor's Note 
Can RFID-Tagged Umbrellas Take Philly by Storm?

Dutch Umbrella has launched a pilot using 300 RFID-tagged umbrellas to
collect market research for Philadelphia merchants. Eight sponsors are
taking part in the trial, including a coffee shop, hair salon, restaurant
and real estate agent. A sponsor's logo and/or contact information is
printed on each panel, with up to eight advertisers per umbrella. Six
sponsors have also been supplied with RainDrops, umbrella stands at the door
of each business, so that customers can borrow and return umbrellas when it
rains. 

Each umbrella contains a Motorola passive EPC Gen 2 RFID inlay. During the
pilot, company founders Joseph Carlson and Karen Rostmeyer visit each stand,
using a handheld RFID reader to capture the IDs and redistribute any excess
umbrellas to other sponsor sites. They then return to their office, place
the reader in a PC cradle and download the data, associating the tag IDs
with the RainDrop locations. Within a year, the company hopes to equip the
stands with fixed Wi-Fi-based readers that will collect and store the data
online for sponsors to access in real time. This will enable advertisers to
determine where their customers are coming from. 

Eventually, Dutch Umbrella plans to reward patrons who return specific
umbrellas to chosen RainDrops. Upon the pilot's conclusion, the vendor plans
to offer RainDrops at hundreds of locations across Philly's Center City
district, and ultimately to branch out to other cities in the United States.

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