Disney’s RFID "Magic Band" arrives on the FCC

[RSoxNo1]

I dunno... This looks like a piece of flare.

 

[koryadams]

I think this is a great idea for many reasons! I just hope they come in nicer more "Disney" colors. But it will save plastic, and paper from all the fast passes and room keys and it will be easy to use. I need to count how many times I have to stop and look for my room key, park ticket, fastpass, and other cards. People who think this is just horrible need to get ahold of themselves lol its so sad reading all of those comments!

 

[MissM]

Thank you for being a rational voice in the wilderness of mis-information. Too bad there's not more like us, who know and actually understand how these things work. There's just too much paranoia and fear of the uncertainty of the new tech. I really wish people would spend a few minutes and try to understand these kinds of things, before they start running around screaming like it's the end of the world or that Disney will be watching their every move in some attempt to control them. Little do many know, Disney's already been doing this for years.

Oh heaven forbid someone dares to disagree with you - clearly they must just be ignorant or crazy.

I know what RFID's are and understand them fine. And that's exactly why I do not like the technology. There is so much room for abuse with that level of easy access to your every move. Can you be tracked now? Yes. But it's a hell of a lot harder to plot your every step and move as opposed to being duped into believing that your Lo-Jack bracelet somehow benefits you. Disney did not spend a BILLION dollars on something to make your life easier. They're just selling it that way. If you want to drink the Kool Aid and believe there's no room for abuse, maybe you're the one who needs the tin foil hat.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I'm a healthy conspiracy theorist, but this doesn't worry me at Disney. For a week on vacation, Disney can track me and I'm okay with it. They already know which park I'm at, what I'm buying, where I'm eating and which Fastpasses I procure. Now if I worked for someone and they wanted me to wear this thing, that'd be a big no. If the government gets involved, I'm out, but WDW...doesn't bother me.

 

[TTA94]

This sounds Very cool and a great idea to me! This will get you in the parks a LOT faster! Just scan it and your in! Also if you can have your credit card info, etc on it then you do not have worry about getting your card out to buy food or merchandise. This would be great for APs who visit the parks often! Instead of having a ticket for the whole year you are given this bracelet with all your info on it! Awesome idea! IF that is what they are going for...

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I don't wear anything on my wrists like watches, on my neck like necklaces or anything else. Usually the heat in WDW would make you sweat and feel uncomfortable. Someone said you can put it in your pocket. That works for me. Then I guess the point is, why a bracelet and not just a card? Don't think I will like this at al.

 

[AEfx]

For a couple of reasons, I don't like the battery inclusion. I'd rather something tied to my room, credit card, etc, to be passive rather than transmitting. While it specifies two passive radios, the battery makes me think it can/will be the source of transmissions as well.

Any type of actual readable card/device that isn't magnetic is going to have some battery. Even those little flat cards some people have to use to get into buildings at work, etc. (security badges) that are extremely thin have a battery in them. It will be miniscule, not even one of the "watch" batteries but smaller. And they last for years and years (you are more likely to break the card or otherwise lose it than the battery dying).

Regardless, the entire resort is going to be wired - you will be tracked using this. They will use it to measure how many people go into bathrooms, how long they take, and how many times a day they go. Disney is about to get very personal...all data will be anony-imized, I'm sure (at least they will promise, LOL).

 

[AEfx]

Oh heaven forbid someone dares to disagree with you - clearly they must just be ignorant or crazy.

I know what RFID's are and understand them fine. And that's exactly why I do not like the technology. There is so much room for abuse with that level of easy access to your every move. Can you be tracked now? Yes. But it's a hell of a lot harder to plot your every step and move as opposed to being duped into believing that your Lo-Jack bracelet somehow benefits you. Disney did not spend a BILLION dollars on something to make your life easier. They're just selling it that way. If you want to drink the Kool Aid and believe there's no room for abuse, maybe you're the one who needs the tin foil hat.

I think the point is - what really is one worried about? Some person tracking you around the park to murder you when you go to the bathroom?

Stolen financial information? The info isn't on the bracelet - no more than your actual credit card info is on your current KTTW card - it's stored in Disney's database, and your KTTW just has a code that identifies you and relays that code back to Disney.

I do get what you are saying - but to be honest, I feel like I do with TiVo. My TiVo records everything I do - if I skip back a few seconds to see Vampire Bill's butt again on True Blood, they know. They know I like The View and The Talk, and that I used to watch That's So Raven. And it sends this data back to TiVo. And, frankly - I am aware of it, but I don't care (I'm actually happy, because it allows me to show support for shows I like without being a Nielsen family).

I guess I just see this as "meh, if Disney wants to know how many times I go to the bathroom today, I don't care". I honestly cannot see any actual abuse or damage they could cause, any more than if you lose your credit card or admission and someone else uses it. Actually, I think in those terms it's far safer - surely Disney will have a way to shut down the bracelet remotely, which is easier than trying to get cell reception and call all your credit card companies if you lose your card.

I don't think this is a GREAT thing, I think the whole Next Gen thing is a farce and have said from the beginning that it's just a way to track you and make money, but as it only works at Disney. I don't care if they know what I do at Disney.

I do get the concern in general, I just don't see any practical scenario where the information is really dangerous - except to our wallets, as the entire thing is engineered to give them data to figure out how to milk more money out of the existing folk.

All that said - it's really just a feature for on-site guests and I don't think anyone that doesn't book vacation packages (i.e., many of us who post here) will ever have to worry about it. You might have to tell Mickey your name, though - he won't automatically know it. I think most of us will be OK with telling him the old fashioned way.

 

[G00fyDad]

My one and only true concern about this bracelet is......do they have my size? I have had large wrists since I was in high school. It isn't because of a weight issue, I'm just 6'4" tall and wear a size 14 shoe and a 9.5" wrist size. I have a very hard time finding watches that fit me.

 

[The Legend]

This looks like something from a futuristic prison

I have a hard time believing this is going to actually happen and there will be 60,000+ people wandering around MK with these

 

[danlb_2000]

Any type of actual readable card/device that isn't magnetic is going to have some battery. Even those little flat cards some people have to use to get into buildings at work, etc. (security badges) that are extremely thin have a battery in them. It will be miniscule, not even one of the "watch" batteries but smaller. And they last for years and years (you are more likely to break the card or otherwise lose it than the battery dying).

Regardless, the entire resort is going to be wired - you will be tracked using this. They will use it to measure how many people go into bathrooms, how long they take, and how many times a day they go. Disney is about to get very personal...all data will be anony-imized, I'm sure (at least they will promise, LOL).

This is not actually true. Passive RFID tags do not have an internal power source, the RF energy received from the reader is used to power the read out process.

Nothing will be stored IN the device except a link to your record in the Disney master database. Even if someone could snoop on the device and pick up the code it was sending, that person would also need the ability to access the master database (or one of the MANY smaller databases).

Perhaps your first name could be cached on a chip in the device for retrieval by rides that can be personalized, but I doubt that they would put anything more than that.

Do you know this for a fact? I work in the auto-id industry so I know how these things works. Yes, the most common practice it so store an id code that is used for a database look-up, but there is no reason that additional information couldn't be stored in the tag. I would hope they are just storing an ID number, but there are no guarantees.

 

[jt04]

I think the point is - what really is one worried about? Some person tracking you around the park to murder you when you go to the bathroom?

Stolen financial information? The info isn't on the bracelet - no more than your actual credit card info is on your current KTTW card - it's stored in Disney's database, and your KTTW just has a code that identifies you and relays that code back to Disney.

I do get what you are saying - but to be honest, I feel like I do with TiVo. My TiVo records everything I do - if I skip back a few seconds to see Vampire Bill's butt again on True Blood, they know. They know I like The View and The Talk, and that I used to watch That's So Raven. And it sends this data back to TiVo. And, frankly - I am aware of it, but I don't care (I'm actually happy, because it allows me to show support for shows I like without being a Nielsen family).

I guess I just see this as "meh, if Disney wants to know how many times I go to the bathroom today, I don't care". I honestly cannot see any actual abuse or damage they could cause, any more than if you lose your credit card or admission and someone else uses it. Actually, I think in those terms it's far safer - surely Disney will have a way to shut down the bracelet remotely, which is easier than trying to get cell reception and call all your credit card companies if you lose your card.

I don't think this is a GREAT thing, I think the whole Next Gen thing is a farce and have said from the beginning that it's just a way to track you and make money, but as it only works at Disney. I don't care if they know what I do at Disney.

I do get the concern in general, I just don't see any practical scenario where the information is really dangerous - except to our wallets, as the entire thing is engineered to give them data to figure out how to milk more money out of the existing folk.

All that said - it's really just a feature for on-site guests and I don't think anyone that doesn't book vacation packages (i.e., many of us who post here) will ever have to worry about it. You might have to tell Mickey your name, though - he won't automatically know it. I think most of us will be OK with telling him the old fashioned way.

I would be more concerned about who gets the tech as it is perfected. The concerns people have are very legitimate. Not that there is any big concern specific to Disney. It is the entities that will be implementing this tech in the future. Disney will be selling this tech to governments that do not give a crap about freedom or people. I refuse to participate in this experiment. If it is required I will find other places to spend my travel dollars.

PS- Wonder how long it will be before they offer an 'implanted' version?

 

[danlb_2000]

I would be more concerned about who gets the tech as it is perfected. The concerns people have are very legitimate. Not that there is any big concern specific to Disney. It is the entities that will be implementing this tech in the future. Disney will be selling this tech to governments that do not give a crap about freedom or people. I refuse to participate in this experiment. If it is required I will find other places to spend my travel dollars.

PS- Wonder how long it will be before they offer an 'implanted' version?

The government doesn't need to buy this tech from Disney, it's already quite common and the government and anyone else who wants it already can get it.

 

[jt04]

This looks like something from a futuristic prison

I have a hard time believing this is going to actually happen and there will be 60,000+ people wandering around MK with these

It can track as many guests as the computing power driving it. No limit essentially. More sinister than any Disney villan.

People wanted a Villans park. Be careful what you ask for. Bwaaaahahahahah.

 

[jt04]

The government doesn't need to buy this tech from Disney, it's already quite common and the government and anyone else who wants it already can get it.

Really? Than why is it so over-the-top expensive? No, Disney is creating something entirely new here. Something that can track tens of thousands and be scalable. Nobody has that tech. Until now.

And an implantable version is coming. Mark my words.

 

[danlb_2000]

Really? Than why is it so over-the-top expensive? No, Disney is creating something entirely new here. Something that can track tens of thousands and be scalable. Nobody has that tech. Until now.

And an implantable version is coming. Mark my words.

RFID tracking tech, even on a large scale is quite common there is nothing new here. I can't comment on "expensive" since I don't know how much the RFID tech alone is costing Disney. The only number we have heard for next gen is "1 billion" but we have no idea exactly what the cover.

Implantable RFID already exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(human)

 

[DisneyJoe]

RFID tracking tech, even on a large scale is quite common there is nothing new hear. I can't comment on "expensive" since I don't know how much the RFID tech alone is costing Disney. The only number we have heard for next gen is "1 billion" but we have no idea exactly what the cover.

Implantable RFID already exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(human)

Today i can purchase rfid id that would track every employee in my facility as well as every piece of equipment.

 

[John]

OK....I see where this is going. There seems to be somekind of division. I couldnt care less if they know how many bowel movements I have, or what plush I bought. To those who say it isnt a big deal, thats fine. I also dont see it as somekind of conspiracy. I just dont like my personal space being invaded. I am sorry, I just dont like someone looking over my shoulder at all times....even on a minimal basis. I believe it could be used to manipulate what you do. Control FP etc. As I and others have said they invested a huge amount of dollars in this....there is a reason why. I also dont think if I (we) have concerns about this it shouldnt make us somekind of tin hat wearing wack jobs. There is also the concern of going down the slippery slope. But its thier park and they can do whatever they want. Like I said we will have to partcipate if we want to enjoy the parks. I still wont like it.

 

[John]

Today i can purchase rfid id that would track every employee in my facility as well as every piece of equipment.

Which I can understand. These are not considered "guest" in your factory.

 

[TubaGeek]

I do have one question though: what's the reason for the battery?
Sane, levelheaded responses only, please.