Legoland Introduces Wi-Fi Tracking for Kids

mindless4210 writes "Lego announced today the successful deployment of a full-scale child-tracking system within Legoland Billund in Europe. The tracking system, deployed by Bluesoft, Inc and KidSpotter, allows park visitors keep track of their children using one of the world's largest Wi-Fi tracking networks. The children must wear a wrist band with a Wi-Fi tag on it, and if they become separated, parents simply send a text message from their mobile phone, and receive an automated response giving them the accurate location of their child."

Comments

Privacy Concerns

[frazzydee]

The AeroScout Location System can locate the tags which I believe is in use with Lego's Kidspotter Wi-Fi tracking watch. The tag itself seems to be very small. Privacy concerns, anybody?

Re:Privacy Concerns

[frazzydee]

OK, you're right :). Until all cities have one wifi connection covering it, not much of a privacy concern- but just to clear up something:
it doesn't only work at legoland. this page says that "Bluesoft's Aeroscout(TM) wireless LAN location system is a novel technology platform that location-enables a standard Wi-Fi wireless network". So even if you have the tag and the location system, it would only work within a Wi-Fi connection (and that's ANY wi-fi area, NOT just legoland's)

Re:Privacy Concerns

[SEWilco]

There is hardly anything underhanded you can do in an amusement park anyway.

At Legoland, the adult entertainment is not underhanded. It's just hard to see, and entertaining to an adult mind.

Re:Privacy Concerns

[edrain]

I guess I assumed that this would be used for kids who are too young to have a phone. Like the poor kids who get those leashes attached to them. They might even be young enough (6 yrs old?) that 15 minutes would be meaningless to them.

They are late

[Snaller]

Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen has already installed that a month ago, and before them another park in Jutland - so they are a bit late :)

Re:Peace of mind

[M. Silver]

If you're scared that he might be kidnapped, just teach him to cry in the loudest way possible, it's very easy.

You've never been the parent of a toddler, huh?

I've never put mine on a leash, but I can think of some situations in which it would have been the best, safest thing to do. Some times and places you get tired of carrying him, but it's too crowded to put him down (trust me, a two- or three-year-old can move through a dense crowd a *lot* faster than a grownup can), and he's not tall enough to make holding hands workable unless you enjoy walking like Quasimodo, and strollers are just intolerably rude in a crowd. A leash, held short enough not to tangle up with other people, is sometimes the most practical option there is.

That said, I don't get the people who put 6-year-olds on leashes. *That* just looks wrong. A toddler doesn't have the impulse control to keep from running off after things and forgetting your instructions, but an older kid really ought to be able to.

Re:This doesn't belong at 2.4GHz...

[wronskyMan]

...perfectly legal denial of service...

Umm... no. While it is true that the FCC says "this device must accept interference", this is more of a technical approval measure - manufacturers would ideally be required to build their devices to be resistant to other unlicensed/licensed uses of the band, in orfer to prevent interference under normal conditions. The FCC has held that *deliberately* interfering with radio communications would be illegal, even if it is against a part 15 (unlicensed ) service. The part 15 designation means that these devices have lowest priority - i.e, they couldn't complain if a 2.4Ghz amateur radio satellite were transmitting over them, not that John Q. Pedophile could set up a broken microwave oven for a few hours as cover without getting in trouble.

Seen similar before

[Anonymous Coward]

I was at a waterpark in Colorado a few years back that had a somewhat similar system, but cooler (imho). All the family members wore wristbands, parents and kids. Then you could go to a kiosk and scan your wristband, and it would tell you where every other member of the family was. That way you could let kids do their thing (like, wait in line 5 times in a row for the big slide), and the parents could do their thing, and anybody can find anybody else.

I believe also, the gates would sense the wristbands and the guards could stop any kid with a wristband that tried to leave. So you couldn't kidnap a kid with a wristband, and they couldn't wander off either.

Re:Tracking implications

[MooCows]

You would be happier I think somewhere like the Netherlands.

Not exactly, not with our current minister of justice winning the annual Big Brother Award

One of the brilliant ideas of our government is to oblige everybody of 14 years or older to have identification with them at all times.