New Tag Aims to Protect Consumer Privacy

Atherton says retailers want to discourage consumers from returning or exchanging goods that no longer have their original tags attached (though many retailers would likely accept goods back if the tags were removed, as a service to customers). The tamper-evident element to the tag, he says, is a means of enforcing that guideline.

Both tag designs, Atherton explains, are appropriate only for attaching directly onto packaging such as cardboard boxes or hard plastic shells used for consumer electronics and other products. The designs would not make sense for hangtags used in apparel applications, because the entire hangtag could be removed and placed on another item without triggering the anti-tampering feature. However, he says, Mikoh is working on future versions of the Smart&Secure Retail Tag that could be adhered directly to apparel fabric or care-instruction labels.

Atherton says Mikoh would like to launch pilot tests of the first tag design within the next three to six months, and that the company timed the announcement of the Smart&Secure Retail Tag concept last week to generate interest among manufacturers and retailers that might wish to participate in the pilot.

Presently, Mikoh is still optimizing the manufacturing processes it will use to produce the initial Smart&Secure Retail Tag. As such, Atherton says he cannot yet forecast a price. "Whatever [price] I quote you today would likely be too high in the future, because we are still working on ways to efficiently produce the tag," he notes. "But the markets we are addressing with this product are price-sensitive, and we have reason to believe we can be competitive [with other product tags]."

Last year, IBM introduced a passive RFID tag allowing consumers to tear off most of a tag's antenna on a purchased item, thereby reducing the tag's read range from 20 feet to just a few inches (see Marnlen Makes Privacy-Friendly Tags for Retail Items). But with IBM's design, as well as with other similar solutions, the tag's reduction in the read range is irreversible.