Privacy in the Woods?

Rorschach1 asks: "I work with a local Search and Rescue team, and for some time I've been thinking about the possibility of installing sensors at a few critical trail junctions in the local back country. The sensors would detect passing hikers and report timestamps to an Internet gateway in near real-time. When a hiker goes missing, this information could be very valuable in determining where search efforts should be directed. However, I've spent enough time on Slashdot to know that whenever you start monitoring or tracking people and their activities, someone's going to get upset. So I'd like to hear from the tinfoil hat brigade - what are your objections to such a system, and how might your concerns be addressed?"

Comments

Just...

[Tebriel]

Implant RFID tags in everyone. That way anyone can know where you are at any time! How convenient!

Re:Just...

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

If you happen to be less than a few cm away from a RFID reader.
Just give everybody an active radio beacon. Divide the landscape in large "cells" and put a few receivers in each of them. Perhaps we could build a phone in those devices.

get out of the wilderness you toad

[Anonymous Coward]

if i see shit like that out hunting, I will happily serve it a hot one.

It's a good idea

[Rylfaeth]

2 days ago this redneck I know flipped his quad over in a creek and tore his ear off. He called a friend's mom and cussed her out when she didn't believe he was hurt. It took a little while to find out where he was. If only he had had sensors in the trees to track his flowing mullet...

-Rylfaeth

Simpler, quicker, and exists already

[Grax]

Make sure the area has good cell phone coverage. Require all missing hikers to carry a cell phone.

Re:Simpler, quicker, and exists already

[stienman]

1. Make sure the area has good cell phone coverage.
2. Require all missing hikers to carry a cell phone.
3. Spam them with text messages. r u short on wood? msg me!!! c14Iis wrks!!!
4. Profit!

-Adam

Only me

[Dawang]

I'll be fine with it as long as it only counts me, and not the body I'm carrying through the woods.

attn echelon and other busybodies: that was a joke.

To paraphrase an old saying:

[Anonymous Coward]

With adequate surveillence, we will finally have a definitive answer to the question of what a bear does in the woods.

And so in a puff of smoke

[Eudial]

And so in a puff of smoke Your Rights Outdoors appeared.

12H>look yro.
You see a small box on the floor.
12H>take yro
The YRO zaps you and you immediately let go of it.

eh... better cut down on my MUD dosage.

As long as no logs are kept.

[Javert42]

I don't think you'd have any complaints as long as no logs are kept, the logs should be left alone. You'll only get grief from the environmentalists if you start logging in the woods.

(Sorry, but it was just so obvious! The void needed to be filled with the obvious pun.)

Why not use...

[Inda]

Why not use bread?

Give each person a loaf before they set out on their hike. Instruct them to sprinkle the bread behind them as they walk. If they have the misfortune to get lost, the trail of bread will show them the way home.

Hyperlink withdraw is my problem.

Re:Tron Woods

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless the person who saved the life is a member of the CIA...

Trees

[Anonymous Coward]

How about installing sensors to see if the falling trees make a noise...

Life-call woods

[www.sorehands.com]

I've fallen and I can't get up.....a bear is eating me and I still can't get up.

Not the last place...

[vwjeff]

It's really one of the few places left where one can go to be completely alone and unreachable. I find the bathroom to be my personal sanctuary.

Sounds more like a reason to ban cell phones

[Anonymous Coward]

then mullet-wearing, jerkoff rednecks will just bleed to death and save me the effort of shooting them myself.

Re:The thing is

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

For a lot of people, the woods is where you can be Not monitored, where you Are at risk of getting lost or getting mauled by a bear. That's the point.

Then train the bears to report hiker sights over the radio. The hikers will be none the wiser...

Lighten up!

[yoshi_mon]

So I'd like to hear from the tinfoil hat brigade

Why do you attempt to make fun of people who have serious concerns about their privacy?

Uhm, if you expect to be taken seriously while wearing a tinfoil hat I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you...

Re:as long as no logs are kept

[tftp]

Forest is the place where all the logs are kept, in case you didn't know :-)

I can see it coming

[jjoyce]

People get dehydrated out there as well. I think we need bottled water available for sale every 300 feet. Someone might also ruin his or her shoes -- there ought to be niketowns out in the woods. And sometimes people camp and they forget their silverware. There should be an establishment that sells silverware. And what if those mountains and waterfalls start to seem a little dull? There needs to be a Blockbuster video accessible with all the latest releases.

Gee, the forests seem so inconvenient and intimidating. I think you've stumbled onto something.

Re:a thought

[lewp]

Unfortunately, this only works until grizzly bears learn to hit the "I'm OK" button.

There is not a people shortage

[bratgrrl]

You should be looking for more ways to lose people.

Re:what about the children?

[B'Trey]

So why stop at helmets? Why not just ban motorcycles? They're much more dangerous than cars. If we'd banned motorcycles, you wouldn't have had that sore neck to deal with.

And the amount of tax-paid health care consumed by non-helmet wearing motorcycle riders is only a fraction of the amount consumed by people with health problems caused by inactivity. So I'm sure you'll welcome a mandatory exercise program enforced on all citizens. After all, its for their own good.