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."
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
It's to track kids - never mind that it tracks everyone whether they have kids in tow or not.
But if it finds a few lost kids then great. Who can disagree with that? Unless of course it might substantially lessen a child's safety.
Why? Well the parents will be more inclined to leave a tagged child on his / her own because he / she can be tracked. As a consequence there are more separated children within the park. Even an unsophisticated abducter could just grab a random lone child and make a beeline for the exit - once out the park the RFID is no good. A smarter abductor would remove the RFID tag first. A smarter one yet might use the RFID to find out the where the parents were in order to avoid them before discarding it.
In other words, it's hard to see how an RFID helps that much at all. It will help in your everyday lost child situation, but it instills a false sense of security at the same time.
Perhaps it is better that kids are chaperoned by their parents rather than tracked by chips after all.
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.