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RFID Not Just for Kids

Posted by samzenpus on from the big-brother-carney dept.

dritan writes "News.com is reporting that a theme park in Florida is tagging all members of your group when you enter. The park has kiosks throughout the park that let you find the other members of your group in "real time." The park's web site makes it seem that you will only be able to find members of your group, instead of seeing everyone in the park. Slashdot has previously reported about tagging kids with RFID in order to keep track of them."

3 of 335 comments (clear)

  1. Splash Country does this already by Scutter · · Score: 4, Informative

    Dollywood's Splash Country in Tennessee does this. For a couple of bucks, you can tag your kid with a radio transponder and one or more of the parents. The tags are paired at rental time. At any kiosk throughout the park, you can hold your transponder up to the scanner and it will show you the location of all other matching transponders on a little video map, as well as the last time it was detected.

    I found it *extremely* useful since I could let my daughter ride the waterslides without worrying about how to find her when it was time for lunch or time to go home. Likewise, she could find me quickly and easily if she needed to. I certainly didn't feel that my privacy was being invaded and I wasn't able to track any other users in the park.

    Is there potential for abuse? Of course there is, but it's like any other tool. It can be used for good or evil. In this case, I feel there's no evil intent and it helps prevent lost kids.

    --

    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
  2. Re:sigh... by maxpublic · · Score: 3, Informative

    Funny, when I was a kid parents thought nothing about letting their 8-year-old kids wander off to play in the woods or go down to the swimming hole themselves. Now people scream about how 'irresponsible' that is and wonder what sort of parent would allow such a thing.

    Max

    --
    My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
  3. Re:sigh... by Dashing+Leech · · Score: 3, Informative
    Funny, when I was a kid parents thought nothing about letting their 8-year-old kids wander off to play in the woods or go down to the swimming hole themselves.

    Absolutely. I even used to walk 30 minutes to and from school alone every day when I was 8. No wonder kids get no exercise these days, they're not allowed more than 6 feet from their parents. We used to call that overprotective, now it seems to be the norm. (I can say this now because I am a parent myself.)