Mini USA spy chip key chains
p2pnet.net News:- Might what’s billed as a cool, new gimmick one day become another means of privacy invasion?
As part of a pilot program from BMW subsidiary Mini USA, “select” Mini drivers in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami can use spy chip key fobs to, “initiate personalized messages on billboards containing LED displays,” says the RFID Journal.
The billboard might, for example, “generate a pithy comment based on one’s occupation,” says the story.
But, “I dunno,” says RKW on Motoring File. “Big Brother is watching. Do you want to willingly carry around a tracking device? Who knows where detectors may be besides the billboards, and who can have access to their database?”
Says Griswold, “Do you want to willingly carry around a tracking device? Who knows where detectors may be besides the billboards, and who can have access to their database? reminds me of the security efforts being installed in airports, retinal scanning. Tracks you entering an aircraft more or less, data is gathered and known about you, where you are, where you’re going and where you’ve been. Not good.
“RFID’s are nearly the same when examined closely. Tracking what someone buys, when and how often.”
The idea is, however, simply to, “display Mini drivers’ brand loyalty and sense of community with others – Mini Cooper motoring clubs and fan Web sites abound – while at the same time generating marketing buzz about the diminutive cars,” says the RFID Journal.
Drivers carrying Radio Frequency IDentity-enabled fobs go past the billboards and the signs “read” the identification number in the fob from as as far away as 500 feet, says the story.
“Once an ID is captured, the interrogator sends it to a central server, which looks it up in a database and decides what message to display. It makes this decision based partly on how the driver answered a questionnaire before receiving the fob, and partly on other factors, such as the city it is in or the current day or season.”
Mini USA says cryptographic tools prevent unauthorized interrogation but, “some postings on Motoring File, a Mini owner’s Web blog, reveal perceived concerns regarding drivers’ personal privacy – specifically, that Mini might be turning into ‘Big Brother’ by distributing and reading RFID tags,” says the RFID Journal, adding:
“Mini USA plans to run the pilot trial for the next three months before deciding how to expand the program. Among the potential choices: increasing the number of RFID-enabled billboards in the first four cities, expanding the system to additional cities or employing the fobs in other applications, such as personalizing a driver’s experience upon visiting a Mini dealership.”
Also See:
RFID Journal – RFID-Enabled Billboards Talk to Mini Motorists, January 29, 2007
Motoring File – MINI USA’s Motorby Pilot Program, January 10, 2007
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