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Olympic Tickets Contain Microchip With Your Data

Posted by kdawson on from the what-has-identity-to-do-with-intent dept.

OMNIpotusCOM writes "Tickets to the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies will contain a microchip with information about the ticket holder, including a photograph, passport details, addresses, e-mail, and telephone numbers. The stated intent is to keep troublemakers out of the 91,000-seat National Stadium so that they cannot cause disruptions while China is on world-wide television, but it brings up serious concerns for privacy and identity theft."

12 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. Oh the irony. by mrbluze · · Score: 5, Insightful

    .. it brings up serious concerns for privacy and identity theft. Coming from a nation that brings up serious concerns for pretty much every other human right I can think of, this comes as no surprise.
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    Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    1. Re:Oh the irony. by mrbluze · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ow can you possibly go to China and not expect these sort of massive privacy/rights violations? Because for a second people might be thinking China might at least try to be nice for a change, at least to foreigners with whom they might want to do business.
      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    2. Re:Oh the irony. by mrbluze · · Score: 5, Informative

      And the question still remains, how is that irony? There is an incongruity or discordance between what a speaker or a writer says and what he or she means. China is touting itself as a country that is reforming and ever more foreigner-friendly, yet this is what happens. Ok, it's not surprising, but it's still ironic. That good enough for you?
      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
  2. Scalpers? by mrbluze · · Score: 5, Funny

    Chinese authorities initially considered tying all 6.8 million tickets to individuals .. and then it says..

    The plan [tried once in Germany] was aimed at deterring scalpers... Why don't they just attach them to people's scalps. Scalpers can then go about their business in the traditional fashion, possibly as was once practiced at the original Olympics thousands of years ago.
    --
    Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
  3. Just wait this is only the first by arthurpaliden · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually the real scarry thing is that if it works there then we are sure to see it used in other venues where security is a consern such as the World Cup (Soccer).

    --
    Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
  4. Those pesky troublemakers, eh? by Attaturk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The stated intent is to keep troublemakers out of the 91,000-seat National Statdium so that they cannot cause disruptions while China is on world-wide television, but it brings up serious concerns for privacy and identity theft.

    I'd say it also brings up pretty serious concerns about the various definitions and interpretations of the word "troublemaker". Perspective is a wonderful thing - until they take it from you. ;)
  5. Re:Inevitable by MsGeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Look guys, certain things are inevitable.

    I don't buy this.

    They will eventually clone a human - somewhere in the world - regardless of laws.

    Arguably this has already taken place. If you mean clone a human and implant the clone in a human womb, or else have some sort of artificial womb technology to bring the cloned embryo to term...that may take a while.

    We will eventually have computer chips embedded under our skin - it will start with a way to track children, then a way to expedite purchases, then a way to hold critical medical info and so on.

    Do this in the US and you will have a million zillion Christians up in arms. Literally. The "Left Behind" book series was a huge-ass bestseller in a country where most people don't read if they don't have to. This might happen elsewhere, like the PRC, Vladimir Putin's Russian Federation, Japan...in fact, my prediction is that it will happen first in Japan and it will be promoted as a youth trend. It will never happen in the US. It will probably not happen in Alberta, Canada. It will probably not happen in certain Central and South American countries. It will probably not happen in South Korea, which is almost as Christian-centric as the US is.

    Nothing is inevitable except death and taxes. Period.

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
  6. Uhm... Why? by MaliciousSmurf · · Score: 5, Informative

    If it's for one event, it strikes me that they could have a unique ID number for each ticket, and then just cross-reference that number with an external database. Methinks that'd take care of a lot of problems.

  7. China does not have to be nice. by arthurpaliden · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So long as everyone wants to buy cheap stuff at WalMart, the foreigners will not care about the human rights record of China only that they saved 'all this money' buying stuff they do not need with money they do not have.

    --
    Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
    1. Re:China does not have to be nice. by bm_luethke · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you think it is only cheap stuff at wal-mart you may want to start checking your labels again.

      There are many high dollar products crappily made in China and sold at whatever your favorite retail outlet happens to be.

      I don't find wal-mart to be particularly worse than the vast majority of stores in terms of amount of crappy Chinese goods. The others, for whatever reason, make people feel good for paying more for the same crap they could have gotten for 20% less (and a different brand stuck on said products coming off the same assembly line with the same materials).

      To find non-crap you not only have to be lucky enough to have a store locally that sales such items but also know enough about whatever you are purchasing to know what is and isn't crap.

      In the end people purchasing crappy products made in china at a high price contribute more than people purchasing cheaply made items at a cheap price. The profit margin there is HUGE even when you take into account the extra money spent on advertisement to get people to hate the less expensive place to purchase it.

      And, to note, one can very much find some quality items made in China - I have some cookware and cutlery that is quite good (and yes, I have several good kitchen knives - a few Henckel "s" grades and a Shun - but it is really hard to beat a Chinese high carbon steel cleaver and the hammered carbon steel woks are great).

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      ------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
    2. Re:China does not have to be nice. by vux984 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I don't find wal-mart to be particularly worse than the vast majority of stores in terms of amount of crappy Chinese goods. The others, for whatever reason, make people feel good for paying more for the same crap they could have gotten for 20% less (and a different brand stuck on said products coming off the same assembly line with the same materials).

      Sometimes yes they are the same.

      Sometimes the materials going in aren't quite the same quality. (using lower quality steel, or cheaper plastics, or whatever...)

      Sometimes the goods coming out are held to lower standards. (ie stuff that would have been rejected for the 'premium brand' is good enough for the 'walmart brand'.

      I recall film in particular was like this some years ago. The brand name stuff and the generic stuff was indeed made in the same factory on the same line from the same stuff. But QC on the brand name stuff was higher. Flaws in batches that didn't meet the brand's QC levels but were still 'ok' were sold under the generic brand.

      Bottom line, knowing a product came from the same factory and even assembly line as product X means squat. It might be the same product. Or it might be highly inferior.

  8. Re:If you are not a Chinese citizen... by pythonist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You tell the foreign side of story. I will tell you from the Chinese side. As a Chinese, I don't see any problem neither. As long as I buy tickets using my credit card, my info is already there. Ticket contain my name in DB is not a problem at all. We can tolerate some level of privacy violation for safty reason, just as Americans can tolerate tight security check in airport. Check in Chinese airpot is like a joke before recently for Olympics but we dont' think it has anything to do with freedom. We simply don't need such security level before Olympics. Foreigners simply don't understand the way Chinese people do things --- we don't deem personal freedom in No.1 priority and there are many things more important to our value system such as family and social harmonious. PS. I'm new to writing here so If someone tell me how to paragraphing I will appreciate much.