Slashdot Mirror
RFID Not Just for Kids
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."
... slashdotters will spot the magic phrase "RFID", and remember that this is something the hivemind has told them they're against. They will proceed to explain why a private entity using RFID tags -- entirely on its own property -- to track and locate lost children is an appalling infringement of their civil liberties.
This should be good.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
To me, this sounds more like a boon in marketing research than a breach in privacy. After all, theme parks have guards & cameras everywhere these days.
link you to any vandalism or trouble making.
:)
They can pin point your location so lets say a little boy and a "older man" magicly end up in the same toilet cubicle..... well then
Could be very useful for this kinda thing
I like muppets.
Am I the only one who is gets a bit freaked out by theme parks?
Sure, there is this nice image of happiness and friendliness.. but it's also obviously fake and false. (Even as a 7-year old at disneyland, I felt it)
At the same time, there are guards and surveillance cameras everywhere, not to mention the rigorous safety measures.
It's like being inside a Soviet propaganda movie or something.
And that was before they started tagging people. I can't say I'm surprized.
move on, nothing to see here
OK, I not a die-hard libertarian, but this seems like a good idea. This is not the same as tracking someone's movements all the time, as a theme park is ostensibly not the real world. It should stop kids from being getting lost; and it would save school and youth organisation groups from having to hammer around in those big chain gangs with flags, etc.
You've probably noticed that people's noses get bigger as they get older. That's because old people are huge liars.
Slashdot says the park is tagging everybody, but the article says it's issuing tags to everyone. So is the park really 'tagging' everyone as they enter? Like what happens to cows?
Anyway, unless it's mandatory, it should be okay. It's pretty close to being watched by CC cameras when you wonder around a department store.
Uselessful technology (Air-Charged
RFID is IMO not inherently "evil". It is a tool, like a screwdriver. Now, a screwdriver can be used to turn screws, or it can be plunged into someone's head. RFID is fine with me, as long as:
1. I know it's being used
2. I'm not required to use it
3. I can turn it off
I wonder when workplaces will start using rfid in security badges to monitor start and finish times, lunch breaks, toilet breaks etc..
generic
Simple solution for you, then. Don't go into this theme-park. It's their park, they can set whatever rules they want. If I don't like them, I won't go there.
No "rights" issue here, move along...
Most of these have RFI tags in them. Seems like a good idea to me, for fairly ovious reasons.
Regards,
treefrog
as long as the technology can't be used by pervs to find kids that are alone... the technology is more of a threat than an aide for groups if it isn't implemented properly...
finding loopholes in this type of system isn't something that you can afford to do after it's been widely put into use.
All the torrents you could want.
You allow your 8 year old to wander off by herself? FFS what kind of a parent are you?
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
Well, at least they aren't implanting it.
Huh? How exactly does this technology turn the visitors of the park in to "serfs"? How does it make them property of the park?
if you hate the idea so much, the solution is simple: Don't go to the frigging park!
Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
With the right controls, I'd welcome this. Whenever my family and friends head to Cedar Point, we always take 2-way radios to keep in touch (emergencies, when its time to eat, etc). They really help out though when you can't find someone at 4 PM where we're all supposed to be meeting for dinner. Well, with these little kiosks, we can leave the radios at home and have one less thing to worry about losing on a ride. Just pop onto a kiosk and see where they're at. Most likly they're STILL in line for (insert newest ride here) and that they're not going anywhere any time soon.
"On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the article. If I have to wear some tag to help protect thousands of kids from getting lost or being kidnapped then by all means. This is about child safety, not tracking people to help the gestapo.
Yeah! Who cares about freedom, saving the life of even just one child trumps all of that stupid stuff. Who needs freedom anyway when our children are being slaughtered in theme parks all across this great country, home of the free, land of the brave?
My only concern is if a child is abducted, the abductor can just remove the wristband and throw the police off for a while and buy some time.
Yeah! If it makes abducting even just one child easier then that trumps all that stupid freedom stuff!
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
For larger families with older children that are old enough to reasonably be out on their own and where the parents (assuming there are two) will occasionally go different ways to indulge the differing interests of their children, I can see this as being a fairly useful 'enhancement' to the park. There were several times when my family (myself, 15-year-old brother, and parents) went off on our own and then took some time in meeting back up in spite of having arranged doing so earlier where something like this would have been useful- we could have checked and seen, "OK, Matt is still stuck in line at such-and-such ride, we can go wait for him where it lets out." Not saying it's completely good- the already mentioned possibilities of it being used by someone looking for a child to abduct do exist, but hopefully there would be other measures in place (like, decent security, and good parents) to prevent that.
Since the YRO section was originally created it has been posting stories about "technology and your rights". Every story I have read fits that qualification. Every story I have read has met the "news for nerds, stuff that matters" qualification. Every story that I have read has generated interesting discussion among readers of this site who do care about these issues.
So basically what your entire complaint boils down to is the pedantic fact that they could have chosen a better title than YRO. Give it a rest - if you're not interested don't read it. Until then, I will continue to mod down any posts complaining about "relevence" of a story. I don't care whether the poster is intentionally karma-whoring, trolling, or just being off-topic, these posts increase the signal/noise ratio for those who are interested in the story, and thus should be moderated down.
If they are lying, then why is it wrong to raise questions about what their real motives might be?
Because if they aren't lying, it is ok. If they are lying, then everything brought up is acceptable to me so far as well.
If your real objection is being lied to by corporations, your only recourse is to move to your own private island. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but corporations lie all the time, and it isn't illegal (and since corporations have no morals, isn't immoral or unethical either).
As for peace of mind, I suggest that leaving your children unattended (and being encouraged to by the supposed benefits of the system) just because you can track them from afar is bullshit.
Uh, I've not seen anything suggesting that is the reason for the system. I know that parents have fears of losing children. I also know that if you split with a group of adults, it is sometimes hard to meet back up. This helps with both. You don't leave your 3 yr old alone in Mickey Land becuse you can track him. You use the system if you are watching him, get distracted, lose track of him, and are upset because you've lost your child.
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