Product details

For teaching purposes, this is the case-only version of the HBR case study. Tracking technologies - in products and services like TiVo and electronic toll collection - make people's lives a lot more convenient. But the public is understandably concerned about the privacy issues such technologies raise. No one is more aware of those issues than Dante Sorella, CEO of Raydar Electronics, which develops and sells radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers. So Dante is troubled when executives from one of his client companies approach him about integrating RFID technology into retail operations. KK Inc, a manufacturer and retailer of teen clothing, wants to embed flat RFID tags into the bills of its caps and visors. The tags would be activated at the registers with customers' purchasing data. When a customer wearing a hat next visited a KK store, the tag would be scanned by readers mounted at the entrance, and a video screen would greet the shopper. Armed with data about the individual's preferences, store personnel could steer her toward her favorite styles or appropriate sale items. Dante appreciates the technology behind the idea - and, of course, its business potential for Raydar - yet he can't help thinking that this particular application smacks of Big Brother. How should Dante respond to KK's interest in tagging the caps and visors?