Spirited News and Observations and Opinions ...

[Hakunamatata]

They didn't need to spend $1.5B to entice me into buying a Mickey Bar. A cheap cardboard signs is all it takes

As far as I'm concerned they don't have enough churro carts.

 

[jlsHouston]

That was the quote that jumped out at me, too. We've known that Disney wants to track guest spending habits through NextGen. But now they can sell your data to other companies -- AND, according to the post, sell the NextGen technology to other corporations...

Wowwee. Imagine if every big box store you entered had a similar "program" -- Target, Walmart, department stores tracking you...

Makes me a little queasy.

Wow I really hate the idea of anyone paying too close attention to my spending habits... I have become the expert of sorts on how to get into the house 6 shopping bags worth of items in 2 bags...I don't dare let new shoes EVER be seen entering either, or purses. In fact in the case of the last two items I cannot even be seen internet browsing those categories without causing a problem..so you can imagine I certainly do not want anyone I don't even sleep with paying attention on how much I am spending and on what... I will definitely get one of those RFID devices if they work..

 

[GoofGoof]

I could be missing something (I never count out that possibility! ), but the change that Disney is proposing reads to me like this: they want to create a class of website where the COPPA rules apply to children under 13 and don't when not dealing with children under 13. That reads to me like right now it's all or nothing. Either you have a "grown-up" website (notice which word I didn't use there!) or a website "directed at children". Which segments of the company draw audiences on both sides of the "13" line? It's not Doc McStuffins. Movie studio and Parks & Resorts is my guess. So which part of the company draws an audience with a wide age range AND thinks it can gain $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ by collecting mountains of personal data about its customers?

They can collect data on children with parents' consent; maybe the deal is that you need explicit consent from an adult to collect this sort of data on anyone if your website is "directed at kids". You could provide your own consent, of course, but if Disney is forced to provide you with a box that says "check here if you want us to track you all over property to milk more money out of you", nobody will go along with it.

Here are the COPPA rules from COPPA.org.
http://www.coppa.org/comply.htm
The rules apply to the online collection of personal Information from children under 13. If your site is determined to be directed at children under 13 you must comply. If it is not you only need to comply with the rules if you know you are collecting data from children under 13. Nothing prevents you from collecting data it just requires parental consent, an enhanced privacy policy and some other disclosures. I am not sure what the specifics of the Disney case You referenced are, but for Next Gen data it seems that they could easily obtain parental consent or if the parents dont consent opt the children out.

 

[GoofGoof]

As far as I'm concerned they don't have enough churro carts.

Maybe the enhanced Next Gen data mining will point out the lack of churro carts. There's always a silver lining.

 

[MKCP 1985]

I'm not too worried about them stealing my brainwaves when they can't even keep their rides working

 

[GoofGoof]

It is most certainly a game changer when you add in the new COPPA extension to moble apps/devices. Part of FP+ allows users to add/change FastPasses via mobile devices. Since some of the recipients of these FastPasses are children and Disney wants to collect this data for datamining purposes it could potentially be a huge hole in their plan.

Even if you don't track kids 12 and under at all you know exactly where they went by tracking their parents. Teenagers may be free to roam the parks alone. Most people aren't letting their 8 and 10 year olds out in the parks alone. Typically the first marketing demographic is 18 to 24 since that is the age kids start to have their own money to spend.

 

[SirOinksALot]

WDW survived the "PR nightmare" when the biometrics scans were ranted against in the same manner. "OMG they're fingerprinting me and sharing it with the CIA!" was the inanity of the day. They'll comfortably survive this not matter how much '74 stirs the paranoiac pot.

There's nothing illegal being done or even suggested by Disney that I can see. But "haters gonna hate".

The thing is, 74 isn't really the one stirring the pot. The hilarious part of everything is that this is some manager/exec throwing a Waterloo-esque tantrum in an effort to damage the project. Someone somewhere is butthurt because they didn't get things their way - and it certainly isn't 74.

I personally think the money would have been better spent on tangible projects, but I'm not the one writing the checks. I also tend to think/know that a lot of the fearmongering here is just that, but projecting both of those views here would probably make me look like the most bipolar of the bunch.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I'm not too worried about them stealing my brainwaves when they can't even keep their rides working

That is a valid point.

 

[orky8]

If you turn around and sell your competitive edge.. its no longer a competitive edge. That is the #1 reason you wouldn't sell the platform and technology developed.

Second, Disney is not in the IT consulting business. Why on earth would you guys keep suggesting they get into it.. and in turn erase the very competitive edge they are trying to build.. at an investment of over a billion dollars and many years of work.

I agree with your sentiment, but my answer would be because NextGen doesn't actually give them any competitive edge. It was a $2B waste of money into a line of business that they had no business entering. The only way they may be able to salvage their investment is to sell or license the technology.

 

[Monty]

The thing is, 74 isn't really the one stirring the pot. The hilarious part of everything is that this is some manager/exec throwing a Waterloo-esque tantrum in an effort to damage the project. Someone somewhere is butthurt because they didn't get things their way - and it certainly isn't 74.

I personally think the money would have been better spent on tangible projects, but I'm not the one writing the checks. I also tend to think/know that a lot of the fearmongering here is just that, but projecting both of those views here would probably make me look like the most bipolar of the bunch.

So you're suggesting that '74 was just manipulated by an upset exec into spreading this to the interwebz?

 

[Monty]

wdwmagic dropping the ball!?!?! Never LOL

What has been going around today was originally published on Jan 3 2013 as an internal document for cast members. It looks like someone has decided to publish that on the internet. Not something I would do.

Nah, you didn't drop the ball, but not enough people are crediting him with his "scoop" so he's stroking his ego at your expense. *Shrug*

 

[jlsHouston]

What I see as most intriguing as I'm sure @ParentsOf4 does as well is tracking. What will they do when DVC members check in and spend zero dollars in property.

Hmmm...bury those numbers from the shareholders ? Continue to listen to excuses and explanations from the current bunch that has been managing operations in the world these past 10 or so years?

 

[flynnibus]

I agree with your sentiment, but my answer would be because NextGen doesn't actually give them any competitive edge

Well I'll simply disagree with you. Just because you may not like the services being offered - doesn't mean they don't exist and aren't things that offer competitive differences.

 

[SirOinksALot]

So you're suggesting that '74 was just manipulated by an upset exec into spreading this to the interwebz?

Are you suggesting that he just made it all up? Or worse, spends his days hacking into Disney servers trying to obtain documents? It's well-known that there are a lot of people who hate the project with a passion, either rightly or wrongly so.

 

[Monty]

Are you suggesting that he just made it all up? Or worse, spends his days hacking into Disney servers trying to obtain documents? It's well-known that there are a lot of people who hate the project with a passion, either rightly or wrongly so.

No, you suggested it was an upset exec...

The thing is, 74 isn't really the one stirring the pot. The hilarious part of everything is that this is some manager/exec throwing a Waterloo-esque tantrum in an effort to damage the project. Someone somewhere is butthurt because they didn't get things their way - and it certainly isn't 74.

I just made a joke.

 

[jlsHouston]

They wouldn't REALLY force you to wear a bracelet 24 hours a day during your duration would they??? That would be absurd and not something I would do.

Well I remember my first trip to Cabo on one of those all-inclusives..what was the first thing that guy did was hand Jim and I these colored wristbands, which Jim promptly put on since it involved getting his free food and drinks and I of course found it itchy so I refused to wear, which caused all kinds of headaches at meal time for the first 24 hours on property until the help figured out I just wasn't going to wear it and they had better feed me regardless...so in answer to the bracelet thing, heck yes I can see them handing them out to wear if you wanted to be able to eat on your chosen dining plan or even get back into the hotel you were checked into...

 

[Disneyhead'71]

What is this "Data Mine Ride" everyone is talking about? Is it a coaster? Probably "TRON" themed, right?

 

[jlsHouston]

I'll take it as a no then. The vast majority of people won't be given a wristband.

Well I missed that in the thread but I didn't start at the beginning.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I differentiate between my beliefs and what actual law is.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” – U.S. Constitution

“Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order, to efficiency of operations, to scientific advancement, and the like. The cause of privacy will be won or lost essentially in legislative halls and in constitutional assemblies. If it is won, this pluralistic society of ours will experience a spiritual renewal. If it is lost we will have written our own prescription for mediocrity and conformity.” – Justice William Douglas, Points of Rebellion

"It is not the breaking of a man's doors and the rummaging of his drawers that constitutes the essence of the offense; but it is the invasion of his indefeasible right of personal security, personal liberty and private property, where that right has never been forfeited by his conviction of some public offense." - Justice Joseph Bradley

“The real danger is the gradual erosion of individual liberties through automation, integration, and interconnection of many small, separate record-keeping systems, each of which alone may seem innocuous, even benevolent, and wholly justifiable.” - U. S. Privacy Study Commission, 1977

“This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.” – Ben Franklin

“Liberty exists in proportion to wholesome restraint; the more restraint on others to keep off from us, the more liberty we have.” - Daniel Webster

“The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.” - Alex Carey

“No matter how many times a privileged straight white male technology executive pronounces the death of privacy, Privacy Is Not Dead. People of all ages care deeply about privacy. And they care just as much about privacy online as they do offline.” – Danah Boyd, Making Sense of Privacy and Publicity

“The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.” - Noam Chomsky

“There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.” - George Orwell, 1984

"Big Brother is Watching You." - George Orwell, 1984

“Be seeing you.” - Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner

The Mouse will be tracking your every move.

Our beliefs are what make us who we are. Once we begin to accept that we should not fight for our beliefs, that we should passively accept current interpretation of the law, we have conceded that the fate of our democracy rests in the hands of “kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.”

“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.” – Robert Hutchins

For some reason, the words of Peter Clemenza in the Godfather seem appropriate - “You know, you gotta stop them at the beginning. Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for trouble.”

 

[GoofGoof]

What is this "Data Mine Ride" everyone is talking about? Is it a coaster? Probably "TRON" themed, right?

It has the 7 dwarfs and is in a mountain and takes 4 years to build...nevermind, wrong mine ride.