From: [email protected]
Subject: [Caspian-newsletter-l] CASPIAN Newsletter 2-1-07: "REAL ID Victory!"
Date: February 1, 2007 2:41:08 PM PST
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CASPIAN NEWSLETTER 2-01-07: REAL-ID Victory!
Consumer privacy and RFID newsletter
This week's newsletter was edited by Fran Ogren and Katherine Albrecht.
To share feedback or a news item, write to: newsletter(at)nocards.org
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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BREAKING NEWS:
* Maine becomes the first state to reject REAL I.D.!
* Flashback: How NH CASPIAN helped spark the REAL ID revolt
RFID NEWS:
* Trial: RFID keyfobs trigger billboards 500 feet away
* Shiseido tests spychips in cosmetics
* Could sensor networks run on thin air?
* Where is RFID being deployed today? (IDTechEx report)
* Somark tracking tattoos spark privacy controversy
* Tech companies join US senators to promote RFID Use
* Spychipping kids at Legoland
* Tagging babies: Security or security theater?
FOOD AND RETAIL NEWS:
* Supermarket asks 87-year-old man for ID
* Drivers license scanners reveal more than your age
* Albertsons to close 11 unprofitable stores
* California may require labels on cloned food products
* Organic buying clubs growing in popularity
CASPIAN ACTIVISTS CORNER:
* Tools you can use - Decode your driver's license
* Successes and inspiration
* Member feedback
* How you can get involved
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MAINE BECOMES THE FIRST STATE TO REJECT REAL I.D.!
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Great news! Maine overwhelmingly rejected federal requirements for national identification cards last week, making it the first state to formally oppose the REAL ID legislation scheduled to go into effect next year. This is just the first domino to fall; we expect many more states will soon follow Maine's lead in rejecting the much-hated national ID
plan.
CNET
http://news.com.com/Maine+rejects+Real+ID/2100-7348_3-6153532.html
Text of Maine's resolution:
http://www.mainesenate.org/mitchell/realid.htm
Declan McCullagh's Real ID FAQ:
http://news.com.com/FAQ+How+Real+ID+will+affect
+you/2100-1028_3-5697111.html
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FLASHBACK: HOW NH CASPIAN HELPED SPARK THE REAL-ID REVOLT
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New Hampshire will forever be remembered as the first state to draw large-scale citizen opposition to REAL ID, thanks in large part to the efforts of CASPIAN's New Hampshire chapter. NH CASPIAN, led by state coordinator Joel Winters, worked tirelessly last year to try to get the state out of the REAL ID program, bringing together over a dozen organizations to rally for freedom.
Check out this MUST-SEE video of our anti-REAL-ID rally at the Concord state house last April – the event which helped sparked the revolt.
Speakers include Joel Winters, Katherine Albrecht, Rep. Elbert Bicknell,
Carol Shea-Porter, Don Gorman, and Rep. Neal Kurk:
NH CASPIAN's Granite State ID website:
http://www.granitestateid.com/
GraniteStateID.com was created with assistance from the Identity
Project:
http://www.papersplease.org/wp/
"N.H. Leads Revolt Against Federal ID Rules" - CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/25/ap/politics/mainD8H7B9OG8.shtml
Coverage of the statehouse rally - Concord Monitor http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/REPOSITORY/604230386/1037/48HOURS
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TRIAL: RFID KEYFOBS TRIGGER BILLBOARDS 500 FEET AWAY
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MINI, the trendy BMW car brand, is offering owners of its cars a way to broadcast their presence to company billboards, and receive a personalized message in response. The company's press release
(paraphrased below) explains:
An electronic key fob – a small hardware device with a built-in authentication mechanisms – fits on a regular keychain and electronically communicates with the billboard. As the MINI driver approaches, the fob triggers a personalized message on the billboard that will "entertain, awe, and delight the driver" To deliver their
Motorby messages, MINI will utilize Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) technology – or, as MINI likes to call it, "Really Fun
Interactive Devices." With this groundbreaking new use of RFID, MINI
will engage its community in a conversation in a fun, engaging, dynamic and personalized way.
The four MINI Motorby launch locations are:
CHICAGO: I-294 (North Tri-State) .25 mile south of Wolf Rd, south of
Chicago O'Hare airport (faces southbound traffic).
MIAMI: Palmetto Expressway, 25 feet north of NW 50th Street (faces northbound traffic).
NEW YORK: 10TH Avenue & 30TH Street, just before the entrance to the
Lincoln Tunnel (faces northbound traffic).
SAN FRANCISCO: 1-80 Skyway at 4th Street (faces eastbound traffic)
All locations can be found on the MINI website.
PR Newswire via Yahoo http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070129/nym025b.html?.v=1
Photo link here:
http://www.newscastonline.com/media/
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JAPAN ALERT: SHISEIDO TESTS SPYCHIPS IN COSMETICS
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High-end cosmetics company Shiseido is promoting item-level RFID-tagged cosmetics to consumers in Japan. The company has linked the tags with a voluntary photo-capture setup and envisions a day when consumers will want RFID readers in their homes. Here are a few excerpts from the RFID
Journal article:
"Shiseido is affixing 13.56 MHz RFID tags...to seven of its skincare product samples. If a customer wishes to sample or learn more about a product, she removes the item from the display and waves it near an RFID
reader....The trial also includes a kiosk with a camera, display and
RFID tag reader so a customer can view herself on the display and sample
'virtual real-time makeup' to see how a specific lipstick, eye shadow or other cosmetic product would look on her face.
"Shiseido has attached RFID tags to lipstick, mascara and other makeup products in...tester stands...embedded with RFID readers designed to capture a read every time a customer tests a makeup item, thereby counting how often the product is sampled. That information can then be used for marketing purposes....
"In a separate portion of the trial, Shiseido is attaching RFID tags to products at its distribution centers in Fukaya City and Saitama
Prefecture, near Tokyo, for in-store inventory. The firm is also testing
RFID tags for use in customers' homes...[and has created] a laboratory setting designed like a consumer's home - with PCs and tag readers installed. 'In the future, some customers who do not have time to view product information in-store may prefer to view such information at home,' Ishida says. 'Yes, it is anticipated that some customers may wish to have a tag reader at home.' Those readers could be purchased or rented, Ishida' adds, though details have not yet been determined."
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) is sponsoring the project.
RFID Journal http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3011/1/1/
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COULD SENSOR NETWORKS RUN ON THIN AIR?
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"Imagine a patient free to move around, but with his heart rate constantly being monitored.... Removing the cables takes monitoring to a new level."
-Medical page, EnOcean website
If you're worried about ubiquitous sensor networks, the German company
EnOcean may keep you up nights. Here is a description from the company's website:
EnOcean "sensors are wireless, batteryless and maintenance free. Our groundbreaking components create energy seemingly from nothing, the slightest change in pressure, the smallest variation in temperature is enough to generate power for our ultra efficient sensors to make their readings and transmit their results.... [T]he harvesting of energy from the environment and...the use of radical power management techniques...
enable our devices to run on minuscule amounts of energy. The net result is that EnOcean devices do not need batteries or an external power source, they can be deployed where they are needed, without the need to schedule retrieval for battery changing. By removing the need for maintenance we have revolutionised what is possible with wireless sensors."
Their website shows a sensor affixed to a tree.
EnOcean http://www.enocean.com/indexenc6.html
Thanks to Bruce Sterling's Wired blog for giving us a heads up:
http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2007/01/spime_watch_swi.html
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WHERE IS RFID BEING DEPLOYED TODAY? (IDTECHEX REPORT)
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The RFID analysts at IDTechEx have produced a report offering "an unprecedented level of insight into the total RFID industry and what is really happening." Click the link to read about tagged clothing, airline baggage, animals, drugs, and more, along with forecasts for the future of RFID.
Packaging Essentials http://www.packagingessentials.com/indnews.asp?id=2007-01-31-19.37.06.000000
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Business Week offers this PR advice to fledgling tracking company
Somark: "Go on the offensive!" Here's an excerpt from BW's writeup:
"How can a company that makes radio frequency identification ink for use on animals and humans head off criticism? Somark says its product, a bio-compatible ink applied like a tattoo, just under the skin of animals or people, acts in much the same way as an RFID tag, emitting a signal that can be picked up by a scanner a few feet away....But when I ask [a company founder] about the application of the Somark product to people, he gets nervous....
"By being so cautious, Somark has in a sense allowed the blogging community to define the company. And that definition isn't often very favorable.... What I am suggesting is that a young startup facing passionate opposition to its first product may need to think more deeply about the implications of the product and then go on the offensive in an engaging way, rather than simply hunkering down."
BUSINESS WEEK
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2007/sb20070125_543288.htm?chan=smallbiz_smallbiz+index+page_david+e.+gumpert
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TECH COMPANIES JOIN US SENATORS TO PROMOTE RFID USE
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Eight technology trade groups that count heavyweights such as Microsoft,
Verizon Communications, and Motorola among its members have formed an ad hoc council to promote the use of radio frequency identification (RFID)
technologies. The RFID Technology Council will support the U.S. Senate
RFID Caucus co-chaired by Sens. Byron Dorgan and John Cornyn. Privacy groups have raised concerns...
CRM Buyer http://www.crmbuyer.com:80/rsstory/55310.ht ml
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SPYCHIPPING KIDS AT LEGOLAND
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Talk about social conditioning! Denmark's Legoland now offers an RFID
bracelet called the "Kidspotter" to help parents keep track of their children. The park is rigged with Wi-Fi access points that track the child by picking up the bracelet's signal. (Of course, the bracelet company also boasts that their product collects valuable marketing data by recording visitors' movements throughout the park.)
On the safety side, we can't help wondering why parents would let children wander off by themselves armed only with only a tracking device, rather than watching them with their own eyes. If a child is so young or irresponsible that his parents want to fit him with an electronic nanny, what he probably really needs is for those parents to hold his hand and pay attention to him instead. Alienating, authoritarian technologies only contribute to an alienated, cowering populace, whether the setting is an amusement park, a school, a hospital, a birthing center, or a home.
Fortunately, there is some good news: the article acknowledges that
"there is some controversy surrounding the tracking of people, particularly in the US." A company VP laments, "The tracking of people is not penetrating in the US, since in the U.S. people seem to be much more sensitive to it."
Bravo! Let's help keep it that way.
Israel21C
http://www.israel21c.org:80/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%
5El1537&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Technology
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SECURITY OR SECURITY THEATER?
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Security expert Bruce Schneier has popularized the term "security theater" to describe measures that give the impression of security without really providing it. He offers hospital RFID anklets for newborn as one example, saying the RFID bracelets are not particularly useful for security, but merely help allay parents' fears of kidnapping without much cost or harm.
(Many would argue, however, that conditioning people to embrace tracking devices is deeply harmful to society's long-term interests.)
Bruce Schneier's security blog http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/01/in_praise_of_se.html
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SUPERMARKET ASKS 87-YEAR-OLD MAN FOR ID
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When 87-year-old Jack Archer recently tried to buy a bottle of sherry at a British supermarket, an employee required him to prove he was over 21.
This highlights a growing trend to require ID swipes for alcohol and tobacco purchases, even in cases where the requirement is clearly ridiculous. In the U.S., over-the-counter cold remedies have also begun prompting ID requests.
Will we someday have to report to authorities when and how much we drink, what brand of cigarettes we smoke, and what medications we are taking – regardless of our age? The point-of-sale ID scanning infrastructure being built today will certainly make that a possibility.
BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/6296637.stm
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DRIVERS LICENSE SCANNERS REVEAL MORE THAN YOUR AGE
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Here's even more reason to say "no" when a store clerk wants you to hand over your driver's license. Few people realize that driver's license scanners, widely used in liquor stores and bars to verify that a patron is over 21, can do more than merely check your date of birth. The scanners can be configured to capture additional data encoded in the magnetic stripe or bar code on the back of your license, including your name, birthdate, height, weight, hair color, home address, and more.
What's more, the days when you could simply show your ID to the clerk to prove your age – without a swipe – may be numbered. In at least one
New York town, a district attorney wants bars to use a swipe device that determines whether a driver's license is real or fake.
To learn how you can decode the information hidden in your own driver's license, see the "Tools You Can Use" section below.
New Jersey Star Ledger http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-1/116997033621830.xml&coll=8
Flashback: Boston bar uses scanned license information to create marketing database. New York Times, reprinted at We Swipe:
http://www.we-swipe.us/nytimes.html
We-Swipe (privacy organization opposing use of DL scanners)
http://www.we-swipe.us/plain.html
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ALBERTSONS TO CLOSE 11 UNPROFITABLE STORES
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Wow, the Dallas Albertsons we picketed back in 2002 for imposing surveillance ca– er "Preferred Customer" cards on their shoppers is finally closing due to lack of sales. Maybe these stores wouldn't have been so unprofitable had they not gone to cards. We know they started losing money just after the cards went in. Coincidence?
"Albertsons LLC plans to close 11 unprofitable stores in Texas including six in the Dallas area, the company said today..."
You can't say we didn't warn them.
The Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/013007dnbusalbertsons.2f9dd831.html
Flashback: For a slideshow of CASPIAN's Albertsons protest click here:
http://www.nocards.org/protest/IrvingAlbertsons/gallery.htm
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CALIFORNIA MAY REQUIRE LABELS ON CLONED FOOD PRODUCTS
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"Legislation has been introduced in California to require the clear labeling of all products derived from cloned animals if these are approved for human consumption. The move comes weeks after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued draft guidance on allowing meat and milk from cloned cows into the food chain...." Good! Who wants to eat cloned meat? Yecch.
Food Navigator http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=73614&m=1FNU124&c=patkwfhmplrlwmj
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ORGANIC BUYING CLUBS GROWING IN POPULARITY
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"Organic-buying clubs are growing in popularity, with at least 10,000 in the U.S. today, according to an industry group. Members of clubs either pay fees for shipments of organic produce at lower prices than retail, or can buy shares in organic farms...."
The Miami Herald (free registration)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/16530181.htm
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TOOLS YOU CAN USE - DECODE YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE
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The good folks at We Swipe (a privacy group that opposes the skimming of data from driver's licenses) have created an interactive map showing what information is encoded in your US or Canadian driver's license.
Click on your state or province to learn what a scan could be telling stores and bars each time they swipe your card.
To see what your state encodes in the machine-readable portion of your
DL:
http://turbulence.org/Works/swipe/state_analysis.html
Download a program to read the data on your own license:
http://turbulence.org/Works/swipe/barcode.html
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SUCCESSES AND INSPIRATION
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MAKING HEADWAY ON NAIS: USDA PROVIDES AN "OPT OUT" PROCEDURE
In a dramatic reversal of policy, the USDA has decided to provide an
"OPT OUT" procedure for people whose premises have been registered in the National Animal Identification Program. Complaints have continued to mount in several states from landowners who have discovered that their premises were registered in the NAIS without their knowledge or permission.
Liberty Ark Steering Committee member Randy Givens says: "Everyone in the grassroots community should take heart at this evidence of their joint efforts, but people should also remember that this is a proposed protocol that can be changed at any time. This opt-out procedure is just one aspect of the evolving plans for NAIS at both the federal and state levels."
Liberty Ark Press Release http://libertyark.net
More at Worldnet Daily http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53978
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SERBIAN CITIZENS QUASH BIOMETRIC ID CHIPS
"While opposition grows to a national ID card in the U.S., citizens of the southeast European nation of Serbia have successfully pressed their government to back off on a plan to make biometric data chips compulsory in the country's new citizen cards..."
WorldNetDaily http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53945
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N.H. LAWMAKERS RENEW PUSH FOR GREATER PRIVACY
New Hampshire State Rep. Neal Kurk is one of our all-time heroes. He authored the bill to take NH out of REAL ID last year and supported a bill to require RFID labeling. This year he's back, stronger than ever, and it appears he may finally be getting the support he needs.
According to the Fosters Daily Democrat, "NH Lawmakers pushing a range of bills aimed at protecting privacy say they hope to benefit from a shift in public awareness about their concerns. Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, one of the Legislature's fiercest privacy advocates, has proposed several measures meant to protect New Hampshire residents from a variety of technological intrusions. This year, he's not alone."
You can see Neal Kurk speaking at our Anti-REAL-ID Rally here:
Foster's Daily Democrat http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070129/NEWS0201/70129019/-1/CITIZEN
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MEMBER FEEDBACK
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We can count on our members to keep our spirits high and remind us why we do this work. Here are just a few snippets from our mailbag this week:
I have been trying to educate people for years about this insidious evil. Most don't think it is a big deal or think that I am the one with the problem. So glad to have found this site and can get many copies of your book [Spychips]. I would be happy to help get the word out.
- Anonymous
I'm a concerned citizen. We use organic products when ever possible. We don't want the government or any one else monitoring us.
- David Tampien in Washington
AS I RAISE ANIMALS AND SELL EGGS, I STARTED OUT WITH FIGHTING THE NAIS...LO AND BEHOLD WHEN I GOT ONLINE I FOUND SO MUCH MORE TO FIGHT AND FIGHT I WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Lin in Moscow Mills, Missouri
I am totally disgusted and outraged by the blatant actions of certain individuals in power to undermine and erode our collective rights as
FREE people, and HUMAN BEINGS - we are NOT CATTLE! I will do anything and everything within my power to stop this and stop ID Chips. I would die before knowingly taking some chip like that, and all of my comrades feel the same. We will fight this tooth and nail. Only God has the right to track and see me like that, and He doesn't need a CHIP to do it!
- Amy in Canton, Ohio
I'm all for hi-tech and robotics, etc., but we MUST revive robust constitutional protections of our rights & liberties (including
PRIVACY!!).
- MCP in Texas
I am glad that organisations such as yourself are flourishing on the
Internet. I am fed up up franchises and fat cats. They ruin the high street and people's lives. Keep it up!
- Nico in London, England
I just want to know where these stalking RFID chips are so I can boycott them all in my lifetime.
- Anonymous
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HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
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Here are some ways you can help CASPIAN and protect your privacy:
JOIN CASPIAN - IT'S FREE!
* Signup form: http://www.nocards.org/feedback/index.shtml
* Learn more about us: http://www.spychips.com/about_us.html
CONTACT YOUR LAWMAKERS
* Find your local representative at: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
* Send them this article:
http://www.spychips.com/alec-big-brother-barcode-article.html
* Ask them to pass labeling and anti-chipping legislation
SHOP RESPONSIBLY
* Make your purchases in cash; avoid numbered cards and accounts
* Only purchase from companies that do not monitor shoppers
* Boycott offenders like Gillette, P&G, Tesco and Wal-Mart
WRITE, WRITE, WRITE
* Write an E-mail of complaint to companies
* Write your local newspaper, radio host, or TV news anchor
* Discuss the issue in your organization or company newsletter
INFORM OTHERS
* Forward the CASPIAN newsletter
* Link to Spychips.com and NoCards.org from your website
* Distribute books and show our DVDs to friends and family
(http://www.spychips.com/book/spychips-order-form.pdf)
* Arrange to have a CASPIAN representative speak at your next event
* Teach your children the importance of privacy
CONTRIBUTE TIME OR RESOURCES
* Provide a service from your company (printing flyers, bumper stickers, letterhead, envelopes, advertisement, legal advice, web hosting, etc.)
* Buy CASPIAN a banner ad on a high-traffic website
PROTEST!
* Start a local CASPIAN chapter
* Get your group (political, social, religious) involved
* Organize a protest
JUST SAY "NO"
* Never give personal information to retailers or marketers
* Get rid of your car toll transponder (it can be used to track you)
* Say "no" to programs that offer "convenience" or "rewards" in exchange for your privacy
DONATE
We welcome financial help to support CASPIAN's efforts. If you would like to help us with a monetary gift (we are not a 501c3 corporation), please contact Dr. Katherine Albrecht:
http://www.spychips.com/media/katherine-albrecht.html
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CASPIAN: Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering
Protecting consumer privacy and opposing retail surveillance since 1999
http://www.spychips.com/
http://www.nocards.org/
You're welcome to duplicate and distribute this message to others who may find it of interest.
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To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CASPIAN mailing list, click the following link or copy and paste it into your browser:
http://www.nocards.org/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi
If you have difficulty with the web-based interface, you may also subscribe or unsubscribe via email by writing to:
[email protected]
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CASPIAN: Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering
Opposing supermarket loyalty cards and other retail surveillance schemes since 1999
http://www.spychips.com/
http://www.nocards.org/
You're welcome to duplicate and distribute this message to others who may find it of interest.
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To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Caspian-newsletter-l mailing list, click the following link or copy and paste it into your browser:
http://mailman.nocards.org/mailman/listinfo/caspian-newsletter-l
If you have difficulty with the web-based interface, you may also subscribe or unsubscribe via email by writing to:
[email protected]
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