Marketing fallout through Facebook

(Smeal is the Business School at U of Penn)
   This post is a bit delayed, from August second. It's focus is purely Global Business and Marketing. I follow Smeal on Facebook; here's the exchange verbatim:
Smeal College of Business As of yesterday, Wal-Mart is putting electronic identification tags on items as a way to control inventory. Is this a smart business strategy or an invasion of privacy? You decide.Wal-Mart plan to use smart tags raises privacy concerns - USATODAY.com - http://www.usatoday.com/:
Wal-Mart Stores is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like jeans starting Aug. 1 as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more control of its inventory. But the move is raising eyebrows among privacy experts.
6 hours ago • Comment •LikeUnlike • Share
Dave Swiderski Wal-Mart is not trying to pry into our lives with these tags. The idea behind them is within seconds, an employee will be able to know what sizes are missing and will also be able tell what it has on hand in the stockroom. Such instant knowledge will allow store clerks to have the right sizes on hand when shoppers need them. The company is simply out to improve customer service.
See More 3 hours ago • LikeUnlike •
Frank Davis That's what I was thinking ... RIFD tags or some such. Are you talking about a tagging system that lingers with the product?
about an hour ago • LikeUnlike •
Smeal College of Business ‎@Frank: According to the article, the RFID tags are removable. A spokeswoman from a group called Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering says that although the tags can be removed, they cannot be turned off, which means they are able to be tracked even after they are thrown away. I guess this concerns people. @Dave: That's a valid point as well. It would surely improve inventory.
17 minutes ago • LikeUnlike •
Frank Davis There are known issues with RIFD tags, including recycling & reprogramming, but this is among the easiest to ensure not only privacy but the issues just mentioned: leave them with the store so the vendor gets them back! The idea that a manufacturer would waste such mini equipment just to GPS someone's garbage when they could glean so much more (from Facebook!) for so much less is just a ridiculous waste. If any manager is participating in such a spurious justification they don't deserve to stay in management.
a few seconds ago • LikeUnlike •