Appendix
The development of RFID technology in retail
From around 1965, to prevent shoplifting, the first forerunners of security tags were attached to garments. The first RFID tag dates from 1973, and since then the application of RFID technology has taken off. Around 2005, Walmart's top-100 suppliers fitted all pallets and boxes with RFID tags for the first time, in order to automate inventory management. This introduction was picked up by retail worldwide at a rapid pace.
The fast-fashion industry, with Uniqlo and Decathlon as trendsetters, has been taking more and more steps since 2015 to make the application of RFID technology leading for all of its business processes, including 100% source tagging. This leads to POS innovations that are beginning to clash with the Sunrise 2027 initiative, under which the barcode will be replaced worldwide by the new GS1 Digital Link QR code. Namely: large international fashion, sports and department stores are increasingly using RFID technology for checkout at self-checkouts.
At Uniqlo, QR codes are no longer read at the self-checkout or by the cashier at all. Everything works by reading RFID tags that use the GS1 EPC standard, encoded according to the SGTIN protocol. The chips in the RFID tag use the GS1 EPC global UHF Class 1 Gen 2 standard (ISO 18000-6C). At Decathlon it is still possible to pay with the QR code. The introduction of this new way of checking out is made possible by applying the following POS innovations:
- Anti-collision protocols (Gen UHF RFID): The RFID reader sends signals to the chips and uses smart protocols (such as Slotted Aloha or Tree-walking). These let the reader and the chip determine the order in which they respond, so that they do not talk over or interfere with each other when dozens of tags respond at the same time.
- Shielded checkout bin: The checkout unit or bin in which you place the bag with your items (Uniqlo), or into which you put your items loose (Decathlon), is lined on the inside with material that blocks radio signals. As a result, the scanner only reads the products in the bin and does not respond to the clothing of the customer standing next to it to pay (the ‘Faraday cage’ principle).
With this, having the customer scan the QR codes themselves has been replaced by the RFID tags on the shopping in the checkout bin, which are automatically read in one go by the RFID reader. However, the way shoplifting is signalled has not changed. The alarm at the gate at the exit still goes off if the RFID tag has not been removed or — as is now possible with current RFID technology — has not been deactivated.
Being able to deactivate the RFID tag is an efficiency gain that only minimises the false alarms caused by forgetting to remove the RFID tags manually. However: those who want to can still steal. And this is increasingly done through RFID blocking with aluminium foil. In Japan, organised crime is very creative at this.
The difference with the 2FA anti-theft method
Applying the ‘Faraday cage’ principle is also an essential part of detecting the RFID tag in the 2FA anti-theft method described on this website. The difference with the shielded checkout bin of Uniqlo and Decathlon is that here not only the shopping but also the customer falls within the range of the RFID reader. And for the record: this RFID radiation and the related NFC technology are not harmful to health.
The 2FA ‘Faraday cage’ is directly linked to the checkout system and thereby also replaces the separate alarm gates used by Uniqlo and Decathlon that stand somewhere near the exit. If a mistake is made, two-factor authentication ensures that the customer can only pay once this mistake has been corrected. In the meantime, it is impossible for the customer to start packing the shopping and/or leave the store.
At Uniqlo and Decathlon, the ‘Faraday cage’ is the checkout system where, after scanning the RFID tags, the shopping is paid for without any further checks worth mentioning. After that, people can stay in the store as long as they like. For those with bad intentions, there is therefore plenty of opportunity to continue shopping for a while with a ‘booster bag’.
Only when the alarm goes off upon leaving the store does a security guard have to try to catch the shoplifter.
Conclusion
The RFID tag is no miracle cure against shoplifting, but is positioned by the fast-fashion industry above all as a new, customer-friendly way to pay for the shopping quickly.
The 2FA solution for the RFID-tag checkout method
Fortunately, the patented 2FA anti-theft method also offers a solution for the new RFID-tag checkout method. Namely: if all elements of claim 1 of the patent are met, the embodiment described in claim 4 can be applied.
The RFID tags on the shopping from the trolley in the 2FA ‘Faraday cage’ are still read as at the self-checkout, but now as RFID shopping list 1. But just as with the self-checkout, plastic shopping trolleys are more suitable for this than metal ones. Self-scanning the shopping with the QR code is replaced by now reading the RFID tags in one go as RFID shopping list 2. This can be done in a similar way to that used in the Uniqlo ‘Faraday cage’.
The new theft-proof CPS RFID checkout then looks as follows. Situation 4 with the 2 shopping trolleys, as shown for the self-checkout, is then no longer needed because the RFID checkout speed is at least as fast.
The shopping trolley has been driven in up to the security gate. When the customer presses the start button, the system closes the privacy gate. The system has then automatically read, unnoticed by the customer, all RFID tags inside the 2FA ‘Faraday cage’ to create shopping list 1. In situation 1 shown here, shopping list 2 is being created.
After automatically reading the RFID tags on the shopping placed by the customer in the ‘Faraday cage’ checkout bin, the system has successfully performed the two-factor product authentication. In situation 2 shown here, the shopping is paid for, after which the system will open the security gate.
Immediately after the customer has passed the security gate, the system has closed it again, and the customer has transferred the shopping from the checkout bin to the trolley. In situation 3 shown here, the customer is about to leave the store and the CPS RFID checkout is ready for a new customer.