Soon, your blue jeans' back pockets will be your first line of defense against fraudulent credit card charges and identity theft. Hi-tech pickpocket will have a harder time stealing your credit card information when you wear a pair of jeans by Betabrand, which has two pockets lined with RFID-blocking devices. These prevent thieves from stealing the information encoded in your card.
The San Francisco-based company teamed up with Norton to create the $151 READY Jeans Protected by Norton. The same company also has a five-pocket sweater made with the same RFID-blocking fabric that is currently being crowdfunded.
The company explains on its website that 10 million identities are stolen every year. By 2015, 70 percent of all credit cards will be vulnerable to attack.
Part of Betabrand's solution is this new pair of jeans, which is based on the design of another product they already have on their list. The fabric of these new pants has silver material in it to block the signals of readers that can be used to remotely scan and steal your information right out of your pocket. The same technology has already been used in bag linings and wallets, but Betabrand is the first think tank to come up with pants and sweaters for this purpose.
According to reports, the company began collaborating with Norton, which is known for Internet security, in October.
"We'd been experimenting with use case for RFID-blocking fabric, when Grey, Norton's creative agency approached with the idea of applying it to jeans. [We] can't imagine a better partner to work with than Norton on a project like this since they are the known leader in digital security," said Aaron Magness, Betabrand's vice president of marketing.
When the crowdfunding campaign for the RFID-blocking jeans went live online, it reached its goals in 24 hours. Another crowdfunding campaign is currently being raised for the sweater, which is projected to retail at $198.
Although it won't be ready in time for gift-giving this holiday, the pants are scheduled to go on sale in February.
