Slashdot Mirror
MIT Mapping Students WiFi Access in 3D
GuitarNeophyte writes "Ever wished that you had a way to just look at a map and find your friends across campus? Or wanted to find an open study lounge without having to foot it on over? Well, with MIT's new WiFi Mapping project, you can. They've set up large plexiglass maps, projecting dots over a campus map, allowing you to know the concentration of WiFi users in various parts of the grounds. With over 2800 access points, locations of individual students (if they have opted to reveal their information) can be found with accuracy as close as the individual classroom (even in multi-story buildings). It's also had the affect of providing some interesting research on study patterns, '[R]esearchers also found that study labs that once bustled with students are now nearly empty as people, no longer tethered to a phone line or network cable, move to cafes and nearby lounges, where food and comfy chairs are more inviting.'"
Did you even read the article? Students have to opt in. Not opt out. Which means they arnt automatically displayed, they have to use their hands and do some typing to be shown on this grid. I dont see any privacy problems when its up to an individual if they want to be shown.
As one of the student developers I can say that that is one of our primary concerns, and part of Phase 2 of iSPOTS is a way to keep the logged data safe from unscrupulous admins, and law enforcement.
Here is the iSpots (MIT's WiFi mapping and tracking) home page @ MIT with great pictures and more information
http://ispots.mit.edu/
Enjoy!
Sig