Spychips: The Book and Reviews
Filed in archive Privacy and Security by Anita Campbell on November 07, 2005
You get an immediate sense for the angle and approach the book takes from its extended title: Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID.
Spychips is written by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre. Katherine Albrecht has been a controversial figure in the world of RFID for some time now. As head of CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering), she has been active in trying to influence retailers about their RFID initiatives, especially to avoid item-level tagging. And even her critics concede that she has been effective in these efforts, to a degree.
A book like this generates strong feelings on both sides -- for and against.
Originally I had planned to do my own Book review
of Spychips and interview Katherine Albrecht, the author. However, I soon realized that everybody and his uncle was reviewing the book and / or doing interviews.Instead, I decided it might be more useful to pull together cites to the different reviews and interviews. When I started looking, I found a broad range of perspectives about the book, from highly critical and negative, to positive and affirming. So here goes.
AIM Global's review - One of the main arguments critics make against Spychips is that it ignores the physics and limitations of the technology of RFID. They say the book engages in unsupportable speculation. AIM Global, the trade association, has this to say about Spychips the book:
AIM Global has a lot more to say about the book. In addition to pointing out in great detail various technical flaws, the AIM Global piece also makes another point I consider significant. It suggests that privacy advocates have had an impact over the past two years, and that their concerns have been taken into account as manufacturers, retailers and others implement RFID technology. And that those adjustments by industry have not been been given due credit in the book:
RFID Journal's review - The RFID Journal does a painstakingly thorough job of picking apart the book, in an article entitled "Spychips Book Fails to Make its Case":
The RFID Journal's review raises another crucial point about Spychips: that the flow of information will out. It points out how in today's society, digital information is incredibly difficult to control, and just because a company or organization has information, it does not translate into power to use it to control people:
New York Times - The New York Times follows up on a religious aspect of the book, referring to the Mark of the Beast , and somewhat skeptically noting: "Convincing Christians that radio tags are a glide path toward the end of days may be a stiff challenge."
Wired magazine - Wired also follows up on the religious angle:
Interview by TechWeb - The next perspective comes via Laurie Sullivan of TechWeb, who recently conducted an interview of Katherine Albrecht. Sullivan podcasted the interview, which you can download and listen to (you can find the link at Sullivan's blog). The interview also has been redacted into a written Q&A interview of Katherine Albrecht.
This interview is scrupulously objective and unskeptical, and useful for hearing Albrecht's point of view in her own voice -- a voice that does not sound altogether unreasonable. At one point Albrecht says quite reasonably: "Sure, there are potential benefits to using RFID if you're in supply chain management and your job is getting widgets from point A to point B. It's effective for tracking physical objects."
Albrecht spends quite a bit of time describing patents that have been applied for and / or possibly issued about RFID. Albrecht describes how she and her co-author went through 30,000 documents for the book.
Let me add this thought, however: just because a company or an individual files a patent application does not mean it will come to pass. Throughout history countless patent applications have been filed for inventions that never made it into the marketplace and remain nothing more than oddball curiosities today.
Conservative Voice - Another Q&A style interview and book review appears at The Conservative Voice. This one is a pretty straight forward interview, also, even if the writer clearly supports the book.
CIO Insight - Evan Schumann over at CIO Insight seems to have been swayed by the book, calling for corporate responsibility and roughing up the marketing profession in the process (undeservedly, IMHO):
Blogs - This entry at the "Entering the Networked World" blog supports the book. One of the things I find notable about this blog entry is that it gives voice to a kind of visceral reaction that some consumers have when they hear or read about RFID:
Amazon.com Reviews - You can also find a number of highly positive reviews of the book over at Amazon.com, as well as the occasional highly negative review. Those reviews are a lot easier to read over at Amazon, and so I will simply point you there.
Conclusion - In summary, you can find opinions all over the ballpark on this book. Either it is roundly criticized as being misguided and misleading, or it is glowingly praised as outing secret plans of government and business -- with just about anything else in between.
The book is unlikely to convince those who work with RFID technology of anything. Most likely if you work with the technology, you will be puzzled at times, irritated on occasion, and now and then amused.
For marketers and public relations professionals who want to understand how the other side thinks and what concerns them, and how to avoid raising their ire, this can be a valuable book. It may just keep you from stepping on a land mine the next time you are working on an RFID-related initiative.
And for those who are already supporters of the privacy movement, you probably do not need book reviews to convince you, anyway.
UPDATE: I forgot to hat tip Oliver at the Mobile Weblog for the tip!
To truly point out all of the flaws in this tome would, itself, require an entire book, but it is important for us to point out the most egregious errors and faults immediately. Left unchecked, consumers, the media, business leaders, and government officials could proliferate this misinformation, draw faulty conclusions, and ignore the current benefits and promise of RFID.
For conspiracy buffs, this book makes a great read. It has just enough technical detail to lend it an air of credibility and more than enough nightmarish speculation to make it truly frightening -- which is exactly the point of any good horror novel.
For conspiracy buffs, this book makes a great read. It has just enough technical detail to lend it an air of credibility and more than enough nightmarish speculation to make it truly frightening -- which is exactly the point of any good horror novel.
AIM Global has a lot more to say about the book. In addition to pointing out in great detail various technical flaws, the AIM Global piece also makes another point I consider significant. It suggests that privacy advocates have had an impact over the past two years, and that their concerns have been taken into account as manufacturers, retailers and others implement RFID technology. And that those adjustments by industry have not been been given due credit in the book:
If this book had been published in 2003, some points that were raised might have been valid. The fact is, however, many of the concerns expressed in the book have either been (or are being) addressed, and many of the scary "facts" have been shown to be highly overstated, not technically feasible, or just plain bad judgment on the part of some marketing concerns.
RFID Journal's review - The RFID Journal does a painstakingly thorough job of picking apart the book, in an article entitled "Spychips Book Fails to Make its Case":
There are three problems with the book. First, the authors either don't understand how RFID and related technologies work, or they simply hide the reality from readers in order to scare them. Second, the book almost always fails to draw conclusions from history or the real world. And third, when it does look at history, it completely misreads it. * * *
Despite the numerous shortcomings of this book, it does serve a useful purpose. It highlights the need to have an open discussion about both the potential benefits and potential abuses of RFID. It's only through such a discussion that we will arrive at the best applications of the technology and the best possible future. If only the authors hadn't slanted their arguments so heavily, they would have done more to educate people and advance the debate.
Despite the numerous shortcomings of this book, it does serve a useful purpose. It highlights the need to have an open discussion about both the potential benefits and potential abuses of RFID. It's only through such a discussion that we will arrive at the best applications of the technology and the best possible future. If only the authors hadn't slanted their arguments so heavily, they would have done more to educate people and advance the debate.
The RFID Journal's review raises another crucial point about Spychips: that the flow of information will out. It points out how in today's society, digital information is incredibly difficult to control, and just because a company or organization has information, it does not translate into power to use it to control people:
... the point they miss is that digital information is nearly impossible to control, no matter how powerful you are. You only have to look at how hackers are able to do so much damage to corporate networks despite the billions spent to stop them, or how music companies and movie studios are struggling -- and largely losing the battle -- to prevent the sharing of songs and movies over the Internet. The only way to control the flow of information would be to shut down the Internet. But if you did that, then RFID readers couldn't be used to track anyone. You'd wind up with just a bunch of boxes going 'beep' as a leader of the opposition walked by.
New York Times - The New York Times follows up on a religious aspect of the book, referring to the Mark of the Beast , and somewhat skeptically noting: "Convincing Christians that radio tags are a glide path toward the end of days may be a stiff challenge."
Wired magazine - Wired also follows up on the religious angle:
Those who have been following the RFID privacy debate will find no shocking revelations of smoking guns in Spychips. But by assembling in one place a vast amount of documentation and history, and stretching it all together into a coherent narrative, the authors clearly hope to reach a broad group of ordinary consumers -- enough, perhaps, to mobilize a movement against the technology.
Spychips is published by the Christian media publisher Thomas Nelson, and a forthcoming Christian edition of the book will contain an additional chapter linking RFID to the Mark of the Beast passage in the Bible's Book of Revelation, as well as "minor updates throughout the text to reflect Christian concerns," said Albrecht.
Spychips is published by the Christian media publisher Thomas Nelson, and a forthcoming Christian edition of the book will contain an additional chapter linking RFID to the Mark of the Beast passage in the Bible's Book of Revelation, as well as "minor updates throughout the text to reflect Christian concerns," said Albrecht.
Interview by TechWeb - The next perspective comes via Laurie Sullivan of TechWeb, who recently conducted an interview of Katherine Albrecht. Sullivan podcasted the interview, which you can download and listen to (you can find the link at Sullivan's blog). The interview also has been redacted into a written Q&A interview of Katherine Albrecht.
This interview is scrupulously objective and unskeptical, and useful for hearing Albrecht's point of view in her own voice -- a voice that does not sound altogether unreasonable. At one point Albrecht says quite reasonably: "Sure, there are potential benefits to using RFID if you're in supply chain management and your job is getting widgets from point A to point B. It's effective for tracking physical objects."
Albrecht spends quite a bit of time describing patents that have been applied for and / or possibly issued about RFID. Albrecht describes how she and her co-author went through 30,000 documents for the book.
Let me add this thought, however: just because a company or an individual files a patent application does not mean it will come to pass. Throughout history countless patent applications have been filed for inventions that never made it into the marketplace and remain nothing more than oddball curiosities today.
Conservative Voice - Another Q&A style interview and book review appears at The Conservative Voice. This one is a pretty straight forward interview, also, even if the writer clearly supports the book.
CIO Insight - Evan Schumann over at CIO Insight seems to have been swayed by the book, calling for corporate responsibility and roughing up the marketing profession in the process (undeservedly, IMHO):
But they also make a stunningly powerful argument against plans for RFID being mapped out by government agencies, retail and manufacturing companies. Sources and evidence for their arguments come from patent applications, interviews and confidential documents carelessly left on vendors' Web sites.
This won't be comfortable reading in the IT departments of major retailers and manufacturers, but it is essential. IT is the group charged with being creative and making the technology do the magic that marketing needs it to do.
But who is charged with being the corporate conscience? Whose job is it to make sure that the corporation, in its pursuit for greater profits and market share, doesn't go too far in exploiting information on their customers? Far too often, that decision falls on marketing executives who, the book eloquently argues, are stunningly ill-suited to the task.
This won't be comfortable reading in the IT departments of major retailers and manufacturers, but it is essential. IT is the group charged with being creative and making the technology do the magic that marketing needs it to do.
But who is charged with being the corporate conscience? Whose job is it to make sure that the corporation, in its pursuit for greater profits and market share, doesn't go too far in exploiting information on their customers? Far too often, that decision falls on marketing executives who, the book eloquently argues, are stunningly ill-suited to the task.
Blogs - This entry at the "Entering the Networked World" blog supports the book. One of the things I find notable about this blog entry is that it gives voice to a kind of visceral reaction that some consumers have when they hear or read about RFID:
It is important to remember that the direction RFID tech is going will result into affecting almost every area of our lives. Already, we are touched by RFID in areas such as transportation. I use an RFID access card and many people in Northeastern US use the EZ-Pass toll system. Soon, the US "electronic passports" will incorporate an RFID to transmit the bearer's data. (Note: The US State Department and others often called the RFID other names, such as "contactless chip" or "contactless smart card". But, they are usually RFIDs nonetheless.). RFIDs are beginning to show up in medicine. Even in death, RFIDs are are showing up as was the case of deceased victims of Hurrican Katrina being chipped. Will RFID join "death and taxes" as things that one cannot escape?
Amazon.com Reviews - You can also find a number of highly positive reviews of the book over at Amazon.com, as well as the occasional highly negative review. Those reviews are a lot easier to read over at Amazon, and so I will simply point you there.
Conclusion - In summary, you can find opinions all over the ballpark on this book. Either it is roundly criticized as being misguided and misleading, or it is glowingly praised as outing secret plans of government and business -- with just about anything else in between.
The book is unlikely to convince those who work with RFID technology of anything. Most likely if you work with the technology, you will be puzzled at times, irritated on occasion, and now and then amused.
For marketers and public relations professionals who want to understand how the other side thinks and what concerns them, and how to avoid raising their ire, this can be a valuable book. It may just keep you from stepping on a land mine the next time you are working on an RFID-related initiative.
And for those who are already supporters of the privacy movement, you probably do not need book reviews to convince you, anyway.
UPDATE: I forgot to hat tip Oliver at the Mobile Weblog for the tip!
Permalink: Spychips: The Book and Reviews
Tags:
RFID privacy rfid book have spychips+book book+reviews have+been
Trackback: http://www.creative-weblogging.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.pl/10880
