Grocery stores apologize for attack on anti-grocery card activist [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Subject: GMA Issues Apology to RFID Privacy Activist
From: Katherine Albrecht <kma () nocards org>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 03:15:37 -0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 12, 2004

Grocery Manufacturers of America Issues Apology to RFID Privacy Activist
Character assassination not condoned, says GMA CEO

GMA CEO C. Manly Molpus issued an apology for an errant email that 
suggested the organization might be formulating a smear campaign against an 
RFID privacy activist. According to email evidence, a GMA employee emailed 
Katherine Albrecht, Founder and Director of Consumers Against Supermarket 
Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), to request a copy of her bio, 
"for our sources." Ms. Albrecht found the request unusual and emailed a 
request for further information.

To her surprise, she received a message that was clearly intended for 
someone else:

I don't know what to tell this woman! "Well, actually we're trying to see 
if you have a juicy past that we could use against you."


In his response, CEO Molpus explained that the comments were made on the 
part of an intern and were a "youthful indiscretion." He added, "Her 
request for a copy of your bio was simply part of a normal effort to obtain 
information about those who lead organizations with an interest in industry 
issues."

When Ms. Albrecht was asked whether she found the explanation plausible, 
she said, "Most people I've spoken to think GMA had less than honorable 
intentions, but regardless of the original intent, I want to thank Mr. 
Molpus for his prompt response to this issue and his assurance that such 
behavior is not condoned by GMA."

She indicated she also received an apology by phone from Richard Martin, 
GMA Vice President of Communications, who oversees the department in which 
the intern works.

"GMA has expressed an interest in participating in further discussions 
about the use of RFID in consumer goods," said Albrecht. "We look forward 
to a future dialog with them and member companies about the serious privacy 
and civil liberties implications of RFID technology."

CASPIAN, along with the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the ACLU, the 
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Electronic Privacy Information 
Center (EPIC), and others, recently issued a position statement calling for 
"a voluntary moratorium on the item-level RFID tagging of consumer items 
until a formal technology assessment process...can take place." The 
statement, which was endorsed by over 40 of the world's leading privacy and 
civil liberties organizations, is available at 
http://www.spychips.com/jointrfid_position_paper.htm.

"Perhaps we have now created the bridge to facilitate the talks we need," 
says Albrecht. "Hopefully, that's the 'silver lining' to this unfortunate 
incident."

CEO Molpus's complete response, as well as the email evidence, is posted at 
the CASPIAN RFID web sites: http://www.spychips.com.


Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a 
grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999. 
With members in all 50 U.S. states and over 20 nations across the globe, 
CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade 
their privacy and to encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the 
retail spectrum.

For more information, see http://www.spychips.com and http://www.nocards.org.
Katherine Albrecht, CASPIAN Founder and Director: (877) 287-5854
Liz McIntyre, CASPIAN Communications: (877) 287-5854 or liz () nocards org

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